A Fun Cartoon For Music Teachers
By janice | May 21, 2012
Enjoy this fun and zany fun music cartoon! You can freely share this on your blog or website provided you give acknowledgement to the cartoonist, Mark Anderson from Andertoons for his work. Just click on the SHARE button to pass it on to your friends and students.
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Topics: Just for Fun!
Music Teaching Quotes
By janice | May 18, 2012
Inspire your music classroom or studio with these music education quotes. Post them in your classroom, share music quotes with your colleagues, or add these inspirational music sayings to a band, choir or school newsletter.
“You are the music while the music lasts.”- T.S. Eliot
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination…”-Plato
Albert Einstein was once asked how he discovered the Theory Of Relativity. He said “ I didn’t discover it. I was listening to music and the whole thing dropped in.”
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”- Maya Angelou
“Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.”- Plato
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” – Victor Hugo
“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.” – Stanley Kubrick
“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.” – William Shakespeare
“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.’”- Barack Obama
“For me, everything definitely comes from music.” – Mike Myers.
“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.” – Martin Luther
“I would say that music is the easiest means in which to express, but since words are my talent, I must try to express clumsily in words what the pure music would have done better.” – William Faulkner
“Tell me, I forget; Show me, I remember; Involve me, I understand”- Carl Orff
“To play without passion is inexcusable!” – Ludwig von Beethoven.
“Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts.” – Franz Joseph Haydn
“A great work of art is made out of a combination of obedience and liberty.” – Nadia Boulanger.
“Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” – Jimi Hendrix
“Music can change the world because it can change people.” – Bono.
“It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts.” – Ella Fitgerald
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” – Judy Garland
“I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water.” – Ray Charles
What’s your favorite music quote?
Please feel free to share your most inspirational quote or story in the comments section below. What quotes have made the biggest impact on you and your students? By networking together we can build an extensive resource of the best quotes to save time in finding them when we need them. We’d love to hear from you!!
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Topics: Classroom Music, Just for Fun!, music teaching inspiration, studio music teachers
How Does Music Stimulate Left and Right Brain Function and Why is this Important in Music Teaching?
By janice | May 16, 2012
Music research indicates that music education not only has the benefits of self-expression and enjoyment, but is linked to improved cognitive function (Schellenberg), increased language development from an early age (Legg), and positive social interaction (Netherwood). Music listening and performance impacts the brain as a whole, stimulating both halves – the analytical brain and the subjective-artistic brain, affecting a child’s overall cognitive development and possibly increasing a child’s overall intellectual capacity more than any other activity affecting the brain’s bilaterism (Yoon).
How does music stimulate the right and left hemispheres?
We often hear about an analytical person, like an accountant, being left-brained while a more “free spirit”, like an artist or poet, is considered “right-brained”. Yet music research indicates that the average professional musician or composer, despite incorrect personality stereotypes, encompasses both the analytical traits of the left brain and the more creative aspects of the right brain.
The right hemisphere engages in synthesizing several different parts to create a cohesive whole when processing new information (Williams). Almost nonlinear in processing information, the right brain is adept at visual imagery. The left hemisphere, sequential and linear in its data processing, moves step by step when processing new information (Williams). Just like any part of the body, any activity that stimulates the brain helps increase its overall functionality. While most activities like visual art, computing, and language largely work in only one hemisphere, music is one of the few activities that stimulates both sides of the brain.
The right brain, often considered the more subjective and creative hemisphere, focuses on the melody in music. The left hemisphere, considered the analytical part of the brain, is responsible for the understanding of musical structure and motor skills, such as playing the violin (Yoon). Rhythmic structures uniquely affect the brain extensively, such as supplementary motor areas and the basal ganglia, especially when compared to musical styles lacking a steady beat pattern (Phillips-Silver). Nonmusical activities, such as walking or martial arts, also aid the brain bilaterally when combined with a steady rhythm (Manjul).
Music Listening vs. Music Performance/Activity
Music research indicates that both music listening and music performance have significant benefits. Several years ago popular culture was abuzz with the Mozart Effect, the incorrect notion that simply listening to Mozart for several minutes a day increased a child’s IQ on a permanent basis. While subsequent music research indicates Mozart Effect does not exist, there have been several studies that indicate the listening to music does have significant physiological benefits.
- The act of listening to music has several noted benefits (Yoon):
- Stress relief and emotional release
- Increased creativity and abstract thinking
- Positive influences on the bodies overall energy levels and heart rhythm
Music research on music education suggests that musical activities like dancing, playing an instrument, and singing demonstrate long term benefits in memory, language development, concentration, and physical agility. (Netherwood, Schellenberg). Added memory and language skills help the average musician gain a better understanding of human language than those who do not engage in musical activities. (Moreno) Long term cognitive and language skills increased for student musicians who maintained long term commitments to music by studying an instrument or engaging in vocal performance.
Key Points
Music research shows that music education benefits students notably by its positive effects on the brain’s functions.
Some key points to remember:
- Music research indicates the music education benefits students by increasing self-expression, cognitive abilities, language development, and agility.
- Music is unique in its ability to affect more than a single brain hemisphere, incorporating both the right and left sides of the brain.
- While music listening has marked benefits regarding physiological effects of stress, playing an instrument or taking vocal lessons offers a marked increase in the benefits of music education, especially in regards to memory, language, and cognitive development.
Share your Feedback:
Please feel free to share your thoughts on the benefits of music education in the comments section below. Networking is a great way to be informed of the research so that we can educate students and schools about the great benefits of learning music.We’d love to hear from you!!
SOURCES:
Legg, R. (2009). Using music to accelerate language learning: an experimental study. Research in Education, (82), 1-12. Retrieved from the Professional Development Collection database.
Schellenberg, E. (2005). Music and Cognitive Abilities. Current Directions in Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell). 317-320.
Vitale, J.L. (2011). Music Makes You Smarter: A New Paradigm for Music Education?
Perceptions and Perspectives from Four Groups of Elementary Education Stakeholders. Canadian Journal of Education, 34(3), 317-343.
Netherwood, C. (2007). Music to your ears. Autralian Parents, 64.
Yoon, J. (2000, January 1). Music in the Classroom: Its Influence on Children’s Brain Development, Academic Performance, and Practical Life Skills.
Phillips-Silver, Jessica. (2009, June). On the Meaning of Movement in Music, Development, and the Brain. Contemporary Music Review. Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 293-314.
Williams, Linda. Teaching for the two-sided mind: a guide to right brain/left brain education. Simon & Schuster. 1986.
Bajaj, Manjul. Personal Growth – Cross train your brain. Lifepositive.com. http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/Personal_Growth/Cross_train_your_brain12003.asp.
Moreno. S. (2009). Can Music Influence Language and Cognition?. Contemporary Music Review, 28 (3), 329.
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Topics: Music Advocacy, Research into the Benefits of Music
