Drum Circle

With funding to education being cut nationwide, most schools are focusing on reading and math as a consequence of the Center on Education's policy, No Child Left Behind. Because funding overall is limited, money that had previously supported programs in physical education, the arts, and other areas of study is disappearing in favor of state-tested subjects.

However, schools are making a mistake when they cut funding to their music programs over their math or English programs. As reported by the College Entrance Entrance Examination Board, students who have studied music score at least 40 points higher on each section of the SAT - 44 points above their peers in math, 63 points above in verbal.

These findings are reflected in the average American's views as well, as a Gallup poll by NAMM (the trade association of the international music products industry), show that almost all Americans, 94%, believe that studying music increases intelligence.

NAMM has also shown that music studying can help in other avenues of life as well. Students who have undergone music training are better adjusted, and work well in groups. They also exhibit a higher level of confidence than their less musical schoolmates, and later in life, turn to academia rather than alcohol, cigarette, or drug use.

A study performed in 2003 backs up these views: researchers in Hong Kong analyzed the effect of musical training on ninety students over the course of five years. Half of students were given lessons on traditional instruments and played in the school's orchestra, while the other half took no lessons. After five years, students who played with orchestra showed a greater increase in verbal memory than their nonmusical peers.

In fact, learning to play music has been linked with increased development of brain tissue, which leads to a better sense of proportions and verbal skills. This helps in an increase in intelligence that helps not only the SAT test, but in life as well.

Virgil Griffith, a CalTech grad student, recently charted his peers' taste in music against their average SAT score. During this test, he found that students who listen to music, like Beethoven, scored around a 1300 SAT score, while his peers who listened to music forged on a less classical tradition, like reggaeton or country, scored between 900 and 1000 on the SAT. By cutting funding to arts programs, schools are limiting their students abilities and their opportunities to exceed.

The First Lady has begun a program from the White House that teams professional musicians with music students in order to foster their interests and provide a positive outlet for creativity. This program, which began in June, is planned to continue during Obama's term of office. Although changes have begun in the White House, they're taking hold elsewhere as well.

In Boston, schools are struggling to hold on to their music programs. Despite cuts to music programs, 70% of Boston students are still enrolled in some variety of a music program. For students in other states, there are a number of programs outside the classroom you could try.

X8 Drums is proud of the relationships we have developed with school districts and music teachers across the country. We have worked with state boards of education, school principals and private drum instructors to develop complete drum circle packages for a variety of classroom environments. Find out more about integrating drum circles at your school.

Labels: Learn Music, Mozart, music, Music Education, music.therapy, NAMM, Pagan Drumming, the.healing.power.of.the.drum

One of the most popular therapeutic programs in practice today is the usage of music. This treatment, dramatized in the Oscar-nominated film Awakenings starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, is used successfully on patients with any number of conditions, from those in comas to those with autism. Music therapy has been used in classrooms for ages to keep kids concentrated and minds at attention. Yet researchers are applying the same concepts to dozens of conditions today, in pursuit of a low-priced, high-benefit mode of treatment.

Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis outlined the Mozart effect in 1991. In his book, Pourquoi Mozart? Tomatis claimed that listening to music is an effective form of therapy for neurological conditions, because music "retrains" the listener's ear, and that variations of musical frequency encourages development of the brain while promoting regeneration of cells.

Continuing on the theme of Mozart, the Mozart effect also refers to studies on brain activity after listening to Mozart’s music. Researchers have found that after listening to Mozart’s compositions, spatial-temporal reasoning momentarily improves. Another branch of this belief is used with children, as some researchers believe that exposure to classical music in a child’s infancy can assist in development. A study in Nature actually supports that listening to Mozart can increase IQ by almost 10 points for short periods of time.

Classrooms use music as motivation and reward. Why not use the same ideas in therapy? Researchers are finding that by using music that patients engage in, music therapy is an efficient stimulator, regardless of the mental condition of the patient. In fact, therapists use music therapy to reduce negative actions in disabled patients by providing socially acceptable impulse outlets.

For example, music therapy is becoming increasingly popular in the treatment of stroke victims. People who have suffered stroke often lose their speech, making communication almost impossible. Listening to music helps to stimulate blood flow to the brain, and stimulates a cross over effect between regions. This cross over effect causes brain cell regeneration, helping to restore normal brain function. Music therapy can be hugely instrumental in regaining speech as a result.

In regards to the traditional understanding of the Mozart effect, as a way of improving IQ and aiding in mental development, aspects of health can still apply. Music is processed in both left and right hemispheres of the brain, meaning that the artistic side, responsible for speech and language is not the only side to benefit.

The rhythm of Mozart, classical music or any other genre can be used in the development of cognitive functioning. Particularly in patients with autism, music therapy helps to organize the sensory system of the patient by providing an association with the rhythm. This helps in the processing of sound, and the development of motor skills. Music therapy also eases patients into other forms of therapy, as it provides a feeling of familiarity in the therapeutic setting. This can encourage more traditional forms of therapy, as it comes with a sense of comfort.

Labels: Mozart, music.therapy, the.healing.power.of.the.drum