Notes From a Curious Listener

Last week's post was about the false hope of the Mozart Effect which states that simply listening to Mozart makes you smarter. Nope, it isn't that easy. But, new research does show a correlation between brain development and music education. While there has been hyperbole in the past, the latest research is factual and compelling.  

It is also complicated. Here is my layman's view along with references if you care to exercise your brain on this topic. Of course, I believe that music education has, in and of itself, strong benefits.  But, for those of you looking for a connection between music education and read, writing and arithmetic, read on:

Basically, scientists now believe that there are pathways in our brain which allow us to regurgitate past experiences and information. Each new piece of information we learn requires a change in our brain. Brain plasticity is, according to Erin Hoiland, "...the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences." It appears that if you add to or re-arrange these pathways often, brain plasticity is enhanced, allowing you to more easily learn new, similar concepts.  

Does listening to music make us smarter? I want to scream, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" because I would love to justify more spending on music; but after an admittedly short internet search, I'm convinced that the answer is, "Sort of, maybe, and we need to do more research."

This is a wacky video that induced a big ole wide-eyed grin on my face; so I just have to show it to you, my dear readers. It is only 1:37 minutes long, and you need only watch the first 56 seconds to see the best of it. Of course, if you like latin music as much as I do, you'll watch the whole thing and then disseminate it further, as I am doing now.

According to Wikipedia, the band, Santana, pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion. Then, Michael Akkerman added Laurel and Hardy! Sony Music Entertainment, who owns the rights to the music, video or both, insists that we watch it on youtube rather than on this blog, but it is worth the extra click! And, who can blame them. Artists need to be paid, too.  

While I knew that music could sweep me away, making me  lose myself and my troubles in the emotion created by the composer, I didn't realize that it could do this for people in the darkest of circumstances. But, according to this holocaust survivor, music can and did.

When I started watching this video from my friend, David Kleinfeld, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Opera, I never thought I would view the video to the end. I expected it to arouse too much sadness and horror; but this video is actually about optimism, laughter and music; so watch and enjoy.