The Mozart Effect (2B29)
Date: 10/12/2019
Music Book Sharing - 2B29 黃澤鋒
The Mozart Effect
Good morning Principal, teachers and fellow schoolmates. I am Javin Wong from 2B. What sort of music do you enjoy listening to? Who is your favorite singer? Surely not many of you are fans of classical music? But do you know that classical music, especially those pieces composed by Mozart, may carry a magical power that will make you smarter?
Recently, I read a book called The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell, who claimed that music can heal the body, strengthen the mind and unlock the creative spirit. How amazing is it if that’s true? In fact, the term “the Mozart Effect” was coined in 1991, the year in which a study was conducted to look into the power of Mozart on the development of the brain. This could be very useful for us students as we are often faced with an avalanche of homework. In this book, the author mentioned that our concentration, memorization, spatial reasoning and creativity can be enhanced through listening to Mozart’s music. Different kind of illnesses can be avoided and relieved by listening to Mozart’s Music.
Have you ever had headache? Some, if not many students have headache before tests and exams out of stress. It is not just annoying, but also very painful. Now, music may be of help. Psychologist Janet Lapp of California State University found that 83% of sufferers who did toning, in other words humming, had fewer headaches over the next year.
Of course, not all of us will feel unwell before exams. But I am sure everyone of us would want to have good results in tests and exams? Good concentration will definitely help you perform better. And listening to music might make you feel relaxed so that you could work more efficiently and effectively. So what sort of music should we listen to? Researchers found that the adult subjects who listened to Mozart showed a significant increase in their spatial reasoning skills for at least 10 to 15 minutes whereas the performance of the four-year-old subjects who were given keyboard lessons for six months in a spatial-temporal reasoning test were also 30% better than those who had no special training. These encouraging results took public imagination by storm and even prompted the governor of Georgia to send a CD of classical music to all infants, hoping that the little kids would become more intelligent.
Without a doubt, Mozart was a genius and we all want a little of that intelligence to rub off on us. But is it possible for us to harness the power of music for our own good? Indeed, there has been a heated debate about the usefulness of the Mozart effect ever since its introduction in the 90s. Some have become its followers and strongly believe in the power of music to inspire, educate and heal. They consider music to be medicine for the body and the soul, rather than mere entertainment. Whereas others question its benefits claiming they are short-lived. They believe that the key to our enhanced spatial reasoning is not any magical, mysterious power of Mozart’s music, but our enjoyment and appreciation of music.
In my opinion, the explanation of the latter is more plausible because I believe that our minds work better if aroused. In other words, our minds function better if they are active. And to activate our minds, music - be it Mozart’s, Bach’s, Beethoven’s, or whatever kind that appeals to us - is the best stimulus because we all have an innate musical capacity which allows us to enjoy music. No matter what, there are some countries using music as a tool to cure some people’s disease. One example is the music therapy program implemented in Calagary Hospital in Canada.
as Christmas is approaching, besides celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, maybe it is a good time for us to listen to some Mozart while studying for our examination. You never know…...maybe listening to Mozart can really give our brain a bit a of a break. Concentration and memorization may also be enhanced for our studying. Hope you can all study successfully during Christmas. Thank you.