We’ve all heard the claims that listening to classical music can actually increase a person’s brain power, but where did that idea come from? Here’s a quick history:
During the mid-90s, the College Entrance Exam Board Service shepherded a study with students taking SAT exams. They found that the students who sang or played a musical instrument scored substantially higher on verbal and math portions of the test than those who didn’t. Though this wasn’t a shut-and-dry case of causation, it did get the ball rolling in a direction that seemed to point to the overall benefits of classical music.
Shortly thereafter, author Don Campbell released the groundbreaking book titled “The Mozart Effect.” In the book, Campbell put forth many claims regarding the benefits of listening to classical music while studying, among other things. Generally speaking, according to Campbell’s research outlined in the book, musical pieces, like those composed by Mozart, can diminish stress, improve communication and increase mental efficiency.
Around the same time, renowned Bulgarian psychologist Dr. Georgi Lozanov showed that Baroque pieces help people learn foreign languages astonishing quickly – claiming 85-100% effectiveness in a specific foreign language in about 30 days! While this research was making waves, huge corporations (e.g. Shell, IBM, and Dupont) as well as countless schools and universities began using classical to cut learning times and aid in the retention of the newly learned material.
So the next time someone asks if those theories about classical music and teaching are true, just refer them to this article. Listening to Mozart isn’t just entertaining, it’s good for you!