Hello Music, My Name is Public School System... Have We Met?

A Re-Introduction to the Concept of the Continuance of insuring the Anti-Dumification of Our Youth When my Grandmother was still alive, she had an old Lowery Organ, the kind with the two levels and foot pedals for the bass notes and all sorts of different switches and knobs and whatnot. She was no professional musician. I'm not even sure if I could count on my fingers how many times I remember her playing it. She was a schoolteacher. I wasn't too far from teenhood when she was ready to move on to the unknowable experience of after-life. I remember it well, I had recently picked up the trumpet (my fingers were too fat for saxophone or violin, according to my stout, chubby-knuckled elementary school music teacher) and she honored me by requesting that I would play Amazing Grace at her funeral. I was terrified, she reassured me that she would give me strength and be with me and that I was playing for her and nobody else. 'OK', I said (or something like OK). Every day for the next 6 months or so I would go up to her room and play for her, stumbling through the notes, slaughtering any sense of rhythm that had been associated with the song. But, by the end of the 6 months I had become fairly good at racing through the whole thing without missing a note. She was good at that. She was a teacher, she taught children how to learn. When the day came to play I felt a little bit nervous, but not nearly as nervous as I thought I would be. I got through the song and thought I sounded pretty good (it probably sounded like an air horn fighting a couple of mating cats...but hey I hadn't been playing too long, gimme a break). As soon as it was finished I remember collapsing into a group of family members, hysterical in tears. It was a wonderfully horrible feeling, but it was the nudge from her that encouraged me to continue playing. It wasn't until later that I realized all of the benefits a love and appreciation for music had to offer. Einstein and the Violin Einstein was a physicist, maybe you've heard of him. What you may or may not have heard about is his musical prowess. According to Al's first wife, music was one way that Einstein would work through his problems."...Music helps him when he is thinking about his theories. He goes to his study, comes back, strikes a few chords on the piano, jots something down, returns to his study..." Not only that, Einstein performed in public and played with the leading virtuosos of his day who seemed to adore him, not for his technical ability, but for his deep understanding for the passion behind a piece and his ability to communicate that passion. He even spoke of music with more passion than his scientific studies - "Life without playing music is inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. I get most joy in life out of music." But he was a genius, right? I mean not everyone can be so smart, and he just happened to play music as well, right? It's just a coincidence...right? Well, lets take a closer look at some of our most influential historical figures. Small List of a Few Musically Talented World Leaders and Historical Figures - Thomas Jefferson - Cello, Clavichord and Violin Woodrow Wilson - Violin Ben Franklin - Guitar and Violin John Quincy Adams - Flute Patrick Henry - Flute and Fiddle Condoleeza Rice - Piano Richard Nixon - Piano and Accordion Mahatma Gandhi - Concertina Harry Truman - Piano ...and the list goes on, but I'll stop there before I am accused of rhythmically beating the idea into your head... Learning a (or multiple) musical instruments improves brain activity. Never Learned, Never Worry!!!! It's never too late to learn. Picking up a musical instrument and learning how to play isn't as daunting as it sounds and Studies show that even people who learn how to play at later stages in life increase their comprehension, and recall. One tip for adults learning music is to keep it light and make sure you adhere to comfort - Adults prefer comfort over newness.... our brains are not like children's absorbing everything as a new experience...most things are old hat to us and our brains become conditioned to be weary of altogether new things.... So practicing for hours in a concert hall will not be as productive as practicing at your leisure in your own home. Have no desire to learn music, well that's OK too! Just listening to certain types of music can increase brain activity. The brain processes the structure of music on a subconscious level so even if you do not know what's going on, part of you has an idea. Which Types of Music Works Best? Well I am sure that you all have heard that classical works best, and metal makes mice kill each other and makes plants die and blahblahblah... I'm not going to go into all that ( I like a lot of different types, and I don't want to stop listening to stuff because some neuro-jerk said it's bad for me) So, what I have found in different studies that do not bias against genre - Music that has very little repetition keeps the brain active - A little repetition is good, it stimulates the part of the brain that accounts for recognition. But studies show that the more a theme is varied and the more the piece moves from theme to theme, the better. Music at or around 60 bpm's (pretty frikkin slow) is best for improving recall - It is shown that this tempo slows the heart-rate (normally around 72bpm) and allow the body to relax making it easier for the brain to function on more conscious things like memories or ideas. Television noise decreases recall - Television is designed to keep the attention span short, it's the best way for the commercials to sell you something you don't want, distractions. Instrumental music is more effective than music with words - Music is a language and when you take the words out, it forces the brain to translate the music on its own. Why is music so influential in our brains ability to function efficiently? The idea goes - you have two parts of the brain - Left - which controls logical things, like meanings of words and math, rationalization, step-by-step processing... Right - which controls conceptual things - Creativity, intuition, randomness, multi-task processing... There are many different aspects of music. Rhythm, Tone, Timbre... yadda yadda... these different aspects work together to create a piece of music. When the brain processes these things it uses both sides of the brain to make sense of the piece of music you're listening to. Music encourages both sides of the brain to work in fluid harmony, rather than cultivating a preference towards one side or the other. Essentially, Music helps to create a balanced brain. Apparently there is an alternative to learning structure and motor skills through sports that are likely to cause just as many concussions as conclusive benefits... So if it comes to cutting something in the education system - maybe we should think about letting music stick around, and going a Lil lighter on the sports.. I mean kids will learn to run around whether you want them to or not, right?