|
By David Amos
 SAN DIEGO—A few years ago, a very serious study at a very serious California university concluded that if young people are exposed to the music of Mozart, their I.Q. points would increase. Further experiments with college students also showed that test results were better in the group that was given musical excerpts of Mozart to hear, as opposed to the control group which did not.
For a while, a mad avalanche took place, mostly with commercial profits in mind, to bring out products, mostly toys, which played the music of Mozart in every possible way, exposing toddlers, infants of all ages, and even the pre-born to Eine Kleine Nacht Musik and many other tunes which you would surely recognize.
Most of us involved in the world of serious music were skeptical on all of this, but, as we say, “It couldn’t hurt," and as long as young people were being exposed to good music, under any conditions, it would not be all that bad. But only recently, alas, new research has concluded that all of this “Mozart Effect” was nonsense, and all the theories that came with it were summarily debunked.
There is a comical and a serious side to all of this, and I would like to address both of them.
Maybe you have seen them also, but I have received by e mail from friends many other “effects," which were, at least in jest, extensions and parodies of the original by Mozart. Here they are:
LISZT EFFECT: Child speaks rapidly and extravagantly, but never really says anything important.
BRUCKNER EFFECT: Child speaks very slowly and repeats himself frequently. Gains reputation for profundity.
WAGNER EFFECT: Child becomes a megalomaniac. May eventually marry his sister.
MAHLER EFFECT: Child continually screams, at great length and volume, that he is dying.
SCHOENBERG EFFECT: Child never repeats a word, until he has used all the other words in his vocabulary. He sometimes talks backwards. Eventually, people stop listening to him. Child blames them for their inability to understand him.
BABBIT EFFECT: Child babbles nonsense all the time. Eventually, people stop listening to him. Child doesn’t care, because all his playmates think that he’s cool.
IVES EFFECT: Child develops a remarkable ability to carry on several separate conversations at once.
GLASS EFFECT: The child tends to repeat himself over and over, and over, and over, and over again.
STRAVINSKY EFFECT: The child is prone to savage, guttural and profane outbursts that often lead to fighting and pandemonium in the pre-school
BRAHMS EFFECT: The child is able to speak beautifully as long as his sentences contain a multiple of three words (3, 6, 9,
|
|
12, etc...). However, his sentences containing 4 or 8 words are strangely uninspired.
A few more?
THE CAGE EFFECT: Child says nothing for 4 minutes, 33 seconds. This one is preferred by nine out of ten classroom teachers.
COPLAND EFFECT: Where the child speaks only in colloquialisms.
BERNSTEIN EFFECT: Where there is an odd syncopation to everything the child says, and,
THE PUCCINI EFFECT: Where the child is pretty much trying to seduce everyone he speaks to.
But, in spite of the above nonsense and fun, I am convinced that a child, who is exposed to a variety of serious, classical music of every kind, has a lot to gain, has the potential to lead a happier, spiritual life, and be a better person. How is this possible?
Classical music, when it is a part of the everyday family life, gives a young person a sense of balance, an expressive art form, and comfort during times of tension. Later in life, it brings fond memories and a desire to be part of the arts community, either as a patron and supporter, or as a passive listener of serious music. Together with the sense of smell, musical sounds are the senses most retained in our long term memory banks.
If a child takes to instrumental or vocal music in an active way, he or she does not necessarily have to pursue a career in music. There are so many benefits to be part of the school music program…..middle school, high school, or college.
Students are immediately benefited by associating with quality friends, relationships which may last a lifetime. Leisure time is spent in healthy activities such as band or orchestra rehearsals, or individual practice. Trips, concerts, recitals, parades, competitions; all these stress discipline and perseverance. Students develop team spirit, a common goal, and end up sharing many healthy, positive hours together. The advantages are endless.
Even if music making may come to a stop after high school or college, these people develop a serious appreciation for good music and become the next generation of concertgoers. Musical skills and its related disciplines spill over into other studies, such as science, math history, literature, and logic.
As we all sadly know, and I recently mentioned in this column, our concert audiences are shrinking due to the simple fact that young people are not exposed to quality music at home or at school. You and I may have a passionate love for classical music, but you can not blame others who do not share our enthusiasm for Beethoven Brahms or Ravel if that music was never part of their upbringing.
True, we see converts to classical music in adults who had little or no exposure earlier in life, but the cases are few.
I can state without hesitation, that I firmly believe that our society will have less crime, drugs, and juvenal delinquency if serious music and the other creative art forms are part of peoples’ daily lives during the formative years.
|
|
