The Profound Influence of Music on Life

As I was getting ready for the GHEA conference, I pulled out a notebook so I could take notes at the classes and guess what I found? All my notes from last year's conference! As I was looking through my old notes I was thinking, "Oh yeah...I remember that!" So, in an effort to RETAIN and implement everything I learned this past weekend, I thought I'd rehash my notes here.

Friday evening Andrew Pudewa gave a talk called The Profound Influence of Music on Life. It was incredibly inspiring and he was, as usual, a delight to listen to. What's interesting is that I've been wanting to put the kids in band for over a year now. I played the flute for years as a child and I loved it. It was part of who I was. I still love music and I really want my kids to have that same love. They took piano lessons last year, but I've been praying about finding a homeschool band nearby for them to participate in. There's just something about each instrument playing it's own part and putting it all together to create something beautiful. So this talk was especially meaningful to me.

So, going off of my notes here, let's see if I can figure out all these little pieces and make them make sense. Mr. Pudewa is very passionate about music and talked about how parents say things like, 'wouldn't it be nice if we had some extra money and we could afford music lessons for little Sally.' He said music instruction isn't 'nice.' Music education is absolutely critical! Why? Because learning to play an instrument 'stimulates and stores in the brain a perfectly ordered set of information through three sensory pathways simultaneously.' Learning to play an instrument is about as multi-sensory as you can get. You see the music, you hear it and you play it so your brain is making 'exponential neuro connections.' He said if possible, his advice is to scrap all the math and phonics and 'formal education' for the first few years of school and focus mainly on music instruction (and of course, all the kids in the audience cheered!). Then, when you start formal academics, your children will not only learn faster, but their brains will be performing at an optimum. Interesting, isn't it?

Mr. Pudewa told us about several experiments performed by David Merrell back in the 1990's involving mice and the effects of different kinds of music. In the first experiment, he got 72 mice and divided them into three groups: one to test a mouse's response to heavy metal, another to the music of Mozart and another group that wouldn't listen to any music at all. Mr. Merrill played music for 10 hours a day and put each mouse through a maze three times a week that originally had taken the mice an average of 10 minutes to complete. Over time, the 24 mice that had no music cut about 5 minutes from their maze-completion time. The Mozart-listening mice cut their time back 8-and-a-half minutes. But the heavy metal mice added 20 minutes to their time. Mr. Merrell even had to cut his project short because all the heavy metal mice began to kill and eat each other. So, if you think the music you listen to doesn't effect you, think again!

Another experiment he shared revealed that human attitudes change with music; hostility, fatigue, sadness & tension decrease with classical music, but dramatically increase with “grunge rock.” And another showed that college students improved their IQ scores after listening to Mozart, when compared with relaxation music and no music.

Mr. Pudewa also told us about an experiment done in a preschool. Preschoolers were given an IQ test and then for six months, 20 minutes per day, one group of children had free-play, one group had singing time, one group had computer time and the last group learned how to play the piano. After 6 months, the group that learned how to play the piano increased their IQ scores 46% higher than the other groups! Astounding, isn't it?

There were many other experiments that he shared with us and all had fascinating results. Mr. Pudewa read an article about a group of Chinese students who were studying Mozart's compositions mathematically. (He referred several times to how music and math are both perfectly ordered and music is actually very mathematical.) This group of students came to the conclusion that THERE MUST BE A GOD because no human brain was capable of creating the music Mozart did without help from a Creator. And they ALL converted to Christianity! Incredible!

Closing remarks: What is the purpose of art? To bring the mind of man closer to the mind of God. How do we know the mind of God? By His two books: The Bible and Natural Creation.

When art imitates nature, it brings the mind of man closer to the mind of God. When art violates God, it leads to disorder and chaos. 

There are 3 elements to music: the melody - which connects our minds, the harmony - which connects our heart and emotions, and rhythym - which connects our body.

How can we judge if music is good? Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8. And we can also flip that around. If it is NOT true, if it is NOT noble, if it is NOT pure, etc...then it is probably not good.

So, remember how I said that I've been praying about putting the kids in band?  Should we do it?  Can we make the time commitment?  Can we afford it?  Well now I'm thinking we can't afford NOT to do it.  I did some checking around last week and couldn't believe how affordable band is compared to piano lessons.  If you're thinking about homeschool band for your kids and you live near me, check out Grace Notes Homeschool Ensemble.  This group meets in Lilburn and there's another band that meets in Cumming.  I also found bands in East Cobb, Jasper, and Stockbridge.