Take that, Baby Einstein

[velvetpage]

There's no evidence that playing Mozart to a newborn makes them smarter.

I play classical music around my house because i like it. I sing songs and play games with my children because we all enjoy it. It's the interaction, the use of high-level linguistic and cognitive skills, and the physical activity, that develop their brains. The best way to encourage a child's intellectual development is to play with them, talk to them, sing to them, and engage them in activities that you both enjoy. If you're doing that, it won't matter if the music is Mozart or Metallica - it will still benefit them.

Thanks sassy_fae for the link.

Comments

[neebs.livejournal.com]

My sister actually did an experiement for her psych class and found that if you listen to music you KNOW and enjoy while doing a simple memorization test, it can improve your score more than classical.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Which makes me wonder: if you enjoy classical music, do you get more benefit out of classical than out of other types of music that you enjoy, or is the enjoyment the deciding factor?

[neebs.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, good question. I have no idea what the answer might be! I always wondered if classical was supposed to be best because there are no words to interrupt your using words to study.

[etherlad.livejournal.com]

Some classical arias have words. Conversely, some modern stuff I really enjoy (like some Delerium and Jam & Spoon) does not.

sassy_fae just pointed out to me that the arias are still likely to be in a foreign tongue, so there's less pressure to listen to what they're saying.

We could go back and forth on this for hours. (:

[neebs.livejournal.com]

I should probably admit that I pretty much LOATHE classical music and so have only ever in my life probably heard 10 pieces, none of which have words. I defer to you on this one. =)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

What do you loathe about it? And what have you heard of it? (I'm not trying to grill you, btw. I just want to know because I can't imagine my life without classical music. Many of the people I've known who have started out with an aversion to classical music have actually come to enjoy some of it, once they realized that Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was not the be-all and end-all of it.)

Would you be open to a few suggestions of routes to take to learn about it?

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I think that's part of it - the value of white noise. But I don't think using music as white noise would have the same benefit, because it's the act of listening and applying spatial awareness to it that brings the benefit.

In any case, i can't use music as white noise. I listen actively to practically everything. I can have music on and do something mentally challenging, but when I do that, I'm blocking out the music and everything else, so there's no point in having it on. I only listen to music when I can give a good chunk of my attention to it without losing anything from my other tasks.

[failstoexist.livejournal.com]

i listen to music i like while studying...music i have known for a while and have memorized. that way when I take the test, I can hum to myself/run the song through my head and think about what i was reading when i listened to it.

simply memory trick, i find it totally worth it. Sometimes i use classical though...pachelbels cannon is my "study music" at times...it only works because I know it well, though.

[neebs.livejournal.com]

I did this in college for generic memorization stuff, too. Now that I have to to more analyzing and interpreting, I have to have quiet.

I think I'm getting old... =(