Why Study Music?

I have a son who is in a very "Left Brain" environment! Ben's a sophomore at Michigan Tech studying mechanical engineering. He does keep his right brain involved! He plays his viola with the Keweenaw Symphony.

• A 2000 Georgia Tech study indicates that a student who participates in at least one college elective music course is 4.5 times more likely to stay in college than the general student population.
  – Dr. Denise C. Gardner, Effects of Music Courses on Retention, Georgia Tech, 2000
  
• The part of the brain responsible for planning, foresight, and coordination is substantially larger for instrumental musicians than for the general public.
  – “Music On the Mind,” Newsweek, July 24, 2000
  
• A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reports that music training - specifically piano instruction - is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills necessary for learning math and science.
  – Dr. Frances Rauscher and Dr. Gordon Shaw, Neurological Research, University of California at Irvine, February, 1997
  
• Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medial school applicants. He found that sixty- six percent (66%) of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. Forty-four percent (44%) of biochemistry majors were admitted.
  – “The Case for Music in the Schools,” Phi Delta Kappan, 1994
  
• College students majoring in music achieve scores higher than students of all other majors on college reading exams.
  – Carl Hartman, “Arts May Improve Students’ Grades,” The Associated Press, October, 1999
  
• Music students demonstrate less test anxiety and performance anxiety than students who do not study music.
  – “College-Age Musicians Emotionally Healthier than Non-Musician Counterparts,” Houston Chronicle, 1998
  
• On the 1999 SAT, music students continued to outperform their non-arts peers, scoring 61 points higher on the verbal portion and 42 points higher on the math portion of the exam.
  – Steven M. Demorest and Steven J. Morrison, “Does Music Make You Smarter?,” Music Educators Journal, September, 2000
  
• Researchers at the University of Muenster in Germany have discovered that music lessons in childhood actually enlarge parts of the brain. An area used to analyze the pitch of a musical note is enlarged 25% in musicians compared to people who have never played an instrument. The earlier the musicians were when they started musical training, the bigger this area of the brain appears to be.
  – Pantev et al., Nature, April 23, 1998
  
• Research shows when a child listens to classical music the right hemisphere of the brain is activated, but when a child studies a musical instrument both left and right hemispheres of the brain “light up.” Significantly, the areas that become activated are the same areas that are involved in analytical and mathematical thinking.
  – Dee Dickinson, “Music and the Mind,” New Horizons for Learning, 1993
  
• The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania School District analyzed its 1997 dropout rate in terms of students’ musical experience. Students with no ensemble performance experience had a dropout rate of 7.4 percent. Students with one to two years of ensemble experience had a dropout rate of 1 percent, and those with three or more years of performance experience had a dropout rate of 0.0 percent.
  – Eleanor Chute, “Music and Art Lessons Do More Than Complement Three R’s,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 13, 1998

These quotes I found here at UAH's Music auditions webpage. It's this article: Why Study Music? by Dr. Don Bowyer and the whole page is fun to read.

Smart Toy Buying

What's going to be under the tree for your children this year? How will these new toys affect your child's imagination and thinking skills? Do you know what really makes a toy a GOOD toy? Do you have an opinion that counts?

Do you want toys that entertain your children or ARE you more interested in the important work that children call "PLAY"?

Toys that spark imagination and pretend play rarely need batteries! They are objects that can become many different things....a big silky scarf or squares of fabric can be a cape, a hat, an apron, a blankie for a teddy bear, a purse, wrapping paper for the hymnal in church, a peek-a-boo toy.... Blocks can be towers, cars, trains, cell phones, musical instruments..... Board books can be tunnels, towers, peek-a-boo play objects....

Puppets, stuffed animals and dolls for girls and boys can be tools for pretend play that helps children work through their social development, processing life events, working through growing up.....

Boxes can be so many things! Forts, toasters, hiding places, post offices, trains.....

Music instruments like shakers, bells, drums, rhythm sticks can inspire parades, concerts, spontaneous singing, stories with sound affects.....

Do you think those toys mentioned above would pass the strictest safety criteria? Wouldn't they made of materials you could trust? The simpler the toy the easier it is to be sure it is safe!

Electronic toys do not allow children to be the leader in their own play. Pushing the buttons is the extent of the control they have. After that they become a spectator. For that reason these toys are the ones that end up neglected in the long run. After they annoy the adults with the volume and clutter the children's rooms, these toys are the first to find their way into the garage then the garage sale/give-away pile.

Our grown-up ears that have listened to plenty of loud music. Babies have very sensitive hearing compared to ours. Have you ever listened to a child's toy cell phone? Up next to your weary ear it BLASTS! Imagine how it sounds to them.

There is one electronic toy I do recommend. Cassette tape recorders can open the door to a child's expressive voice! Singing, storytelling, describing, listening skills...If you have a grandparent who lives far away they can exchange audio recorded letters! A parent who must travel for work can make a tape for the family to listen to. Make a point to know that the cassette recorder you purchase is one that the child (3 and up) can operate and be in charge of (with adult supervision).

So you've got the toy basics already. Your family doesn't need anymore blocks and scarves and teddy bears (though my daughter, Anne, says there's never enough stuffed animals...). Well I say there's never enough read aloud books or great music CDs.

So for this holiday season I'll make it easy on you. I'll have my favorites at the studio this week: CDs, books, instruments... the best! I had stockpiled these when Do Re Me and You! went through all those big changes. So you'll find great prices, good selection, great quality....But this is your last chance. Once these are gone you won't find them anymore...

The only thing that won't be easy for you is waiting till Christmas to open them!

Keep singing!
Yvette

Tell Me:

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you
were?

Today at the Maranda Party in the Park event in
Battle Creek Darcy and I sang and danced and acted like 3 year olds. What fun!
Some big kids came over and we handed them a handle of the parachute and said
play with us. Their mom and Grandma joined us. Oh, the laughing!

Later I asked a cheery girl standing next to her dad "How old are you?" With great confidence and poise she said "Eight". Her dad dropped his jaw and said "You're not eight! You're FIVE!" I said "You're five with a great BIG IMAGINATION! And that's GREAT. I know that Albert Einstein said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." He's right. If you have a 4-5 year old with a big imagination run with it. Run right to Kindermusik because we'll support it all the way!

So, tell me, please. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were? I will tell you my answer...in the next 3 days ....I've got some imagining to do.

Yvette

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?" quote by Leroy Paige