For as supportive as my father was while I was growing up (coaching soccer, chauffeuring me to and from swim practice), he could never quite make it through an orchestral concert — comparing sounds of my elementary school ensemble to those of a dying cat. Indeed, steely resolve helps if your child is learning to play a musical instrument. With luck and enough endurance, years of unending honking might bear fruit as a game-day fight song, a night onstage at Carnegie Hall, or, in my case, the sonorous silence of music journalism. I thought I had heard the end of his disparagement when ... Read More
Classical Music an Effective Antidepressant
August 2, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
The Mozart Effect — the notion that listening to classical music will turn your infant or toddler into an intellectual titan — has been largely debunked. But a growing body of research suggests music can play an important role in certain aspects of health care, including pain management. A newly published study from Mexico reports repeated listening to certain classical works — including one by Mozart — helps ease the debilitating symptoms of clinical depression. “Music offers a simple and elegant way to treat anhedonia, the loss of pleasures in daily activities,” the ... Read More
Music Makes the Tips Grow Larger
July 26, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
As we noted last year, songs with lyrics promoting peace and love can increase empathy and encourage charitable behavior — at least in a research laboratory. Now, a new study finds exposure to such music can have real-world consequences. It turns restaurant patrons into better tippers. That’s the conclusion of a study from France, recently published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management. The researchers, led by Celine Jacob of the Universite de Bretagne-Sud, describe a delicious six-week experiment conducted in a restaurant in a provincial town on the Breton Atlantic ... Read More
Do-Re-Mi Promotes a Feeling of ‘We’
July 14, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
Singing together appears to inspire spontaneous cooperative and helpful behavior among 4-year-olds. That’s the conclusion of new research that provides support for an intriguing theory regarding the evolutionary origins of music. Psychologists Sebastian Kirschner and Michael Tomasello of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig gathered 96 4-year-olds from 16 German day care centers. The youngsters, from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, were broken up into pairs. They then took part in a 20-minute experiment that felt to them like playtime. Kirschner ... Read More
Love Songs Linked to Receptiveness to Romance
June 15, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
Ladies: Have you ever given your phone number to a guy in a bar or bistro and then wondered why on earth you did? Sure, your inebriation level probably played a role, but new research suggests you may have acted under the influence of yet another powerful mood-enhancer: that romantic music playing in the background. That’s the conclusion of a study titled "Love is in the Air," just published in the journal Psychology of Music. Lead author Nicolas Guèguen, a professor of social behavior at the University of Bretagne-Sud in France, has published revealing research about courtship cues (a ... Read More
Middle School Music Lessons Enhance Algebra Skills
June 14, 2010 • By • 12 Comments
Algebra, according to the Great Schools website, “is frequently called the gatekeeper subject.” It provides a solid foundation for later learning by teaching abstract reasoning skills. What’s more, its lessons apply to an increasing number of jobs in our technologically sophisticated society. So how can you increase the chances your son or daughter will excel at algebra? A new study provides a surprising answer: Have them learn a musical instrument. Researcher Barbara Helmrich of Baltimore’s College of Notre Dame examined a sample of 6,026 ninth-graders enrolled in six Maryland ... Read More
Musical Beat Enhances Visual Comprehension
May 13, 2010 • By • 4 Comments
The origins of music are, necessarily, speculative. Charles Darwin guessed it grew out of courtship rituals, which would explain the continuing popularity of love songs. But a more recent school of thought suggests it emerged to enhance group cooperation and synchronization. As neuroscientist Steven Brown put it, “Music is a powerful device for promoting group identity, cognition, coordination and catharsis.” All of which would come in handy when a party of prehistoric humans headed out in search of food or when one tribe was threatened by another. Indirect support for this thesis is ... Read More
The Right Notes
May 4, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
As a composer who fuses technology and the orchestra, I think the blending of the two is a great thing ("Triumph of the Cyborg Composer," March-April 2010). It's something that Varese, Frank Zappa and Bob Moog pushed the limits of. Even Beethoven was amazed at the "new technology" of adding two more octaves to the piano within his lifetime. Rather than see it as a threat, it should be welcomed because these are new tools to work with, which creates innovation, new music, ideas and collaboration. I look forward to more music and technology articles from you. It was a great read. Walt ... Read More
Music Festivals Offering a Greener Listening Experience
April 16, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
When you put thousands of people in one place, whether for the Republican National Convention or Bonnaroo, things are bound to get ugly — for the environment, that is. Between the energy employed to power sound equipment, the paper products used to feed the masses and the water bottles necessary to keep people hydrated, concerts and political rallies are hardly climate-friendly events. And that's not even taking into account the fuel it takes to get attendees, staff or performers to the venue. Although some assemblies, like President Obama's inauguration, have been criticized for doing ... Read More
With Music, Ignorance May Be Bliss
March 25, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
Last month, we reported that providing contextual information may diminish viewers’ enjoyment of modern art. A commenter suggested that dynamic may apply to music as well, noting that a class he took on the music of Aaron Copland “lessened my appreciation of the composer’s work.” A study just published in the journal Psychology of Music suggests his experience was far from unique. It finds that reading a what-to-listen-for guide before hearing a piece of music seems to make the actual aesthetic experience less pleasurable. “Descriptions may interfere with the directness and ... Read More
