Music and the Mind

Music is the manifestation of the human spirit, similar to language. Its greatest practitioners have conveyed to mankind things not possible to say in other language. If we do not want these things to remain dead treasures, we must do our utmost to make the greatest possible number of people understand the idiom.                                                                - Zoltan Kodaly

Recently a number of reports have appeared that attest to the connection between music and academic achievement. In a study of the ability of fourteen year-old science students in seventeen countries, the top three countries were Hungary, the Netherlands and Japan. All three include music throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through high school. In the 1960's the Kodaly system of music education was instituted in the schools of Hungary as a result of the outstanding academic achievement of children in its "singing schools." Today, there are no third graders who cannot sing on pitch and sing beautifully. In addition, the academic achievement of Hungarian students, especially in math and science, continues to be outstanding.
Another report disclosed the fact that the foremost designers and engineers in Silicon Valleyare almost all precticing musicians.
A third report reveals that the schools who produced the highest achievement in the United States today are spending 20 to 30% of the day on arts, with special emphasis on music.
Today, research emerging from the cognitive sciences gives us useful informationnto explain the connections. As a result of technology whcih allows us to see teh human brain while it is in the process of thinking, we can observe, for example, that when people listen to melodies with a variety of pitch and timbre, the right hemisphere is activated. It also "ligfht up" when people play music by ear. When, however, people learn to read music, understadn key signatures, notation, and other details of scores, and are able to follow the sequence of notes, then the left hemisphere "lights up." Significantly, it is activated in the same area that is involved in analytical and mathematical thinking.

Why are the Arts Important?

* They are the languages that all people speak - that can cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and sconomic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness.

* They are symbol systems as important as letters adn numbers.

* They untegrate mind, body and spirit.

* They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality.

* They offer the avenue to "flow states" and peak experiences.

* They create a seamless connection between motivation, instruction, assessment, and practical application - leading to "deep understanding."

* They make it possible to experience processes from beginning to end.

* They develop both independence and collaboration.

* They provide immediate feedback and opportunities for reflection.

* They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.

* They merge the learning of process and content.

* They improve academic achievement - enhancing test scores, attitudes, solcial skills, critical and creative thinking.

* They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and "problem-finding."

* They are essential components of any alternative assessment program.

* They provide the means for every student to learn.

Dr. Paul MacLean's "triune brain" theory suggests that the human brain is really three brains in one. The smallest part of the brain, the reticular formation, is the gateway for most sensory input and is devoted to maintaining the operation of automative body process, such as respiration and heartbeat. It is also the seat of habitual or automatic behavior. The second part, the limbic system, is another 10% of the brain and is the seat of teh emotions, certain kinds of memory, and glandularcontrol. The largest part , the cerebral cortex, which is about 85% of the brain, is devoted to higher order thinking processes.

The limbic system is so powerful that it can literally facilitate or inhibit learning and higher order thinking. It appears that positive emotions, such as love, tenderness, and humor, can facilitate higher order thinking skills; whereas negative emotions, such as anger, hostility, and fear, can literally downshift the brain to basic survival thinking.