Learning and Music 1

Group Investigation Project: How does music facilitate learning?

EDP 101A

Dr. Sherman

April 20, 2006

Group A:

Jennifer Neff

Brittany Cruickson

Brandon Niehaus

Matthew Reed

Ian Sobole

Jennifer Lowe

Music has been a major role both inside and outside of the classroom for many generations. When developing a central question our group was curious about the relationship between music and learning. After reading Daniel Levitin’s Your Brain on Music and relating it to Davis and Palladino’s text, there are frequent overlaps between these two texts. We found this inspiring, thus pursuing the question: “How does music facilitate learning?” In order to achieve a more comprehensive answer to our question, we divided it into several subtopics. The first subtopic that our group researched is how music helps with creativity in the brain. Our second subtopic of choice is how music affects the mood of a learner. Our third subtopic is the different genres of music and how these different genres affected a learner’s ability in different ways. The fourth subtopic is how background music influences elementary level learners. The fifth subtopic is how music plays a role in memorization skills, especially with the younger generations. The last subtopic our group chose to research is the study of higher cognitive learning as age progresses. We thought that all of these subtopics would help us lead to a clear answer to our question.

Beethoven said that “music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” This statement can be interpreted to say that music can encourage creative thinking and increase work efficiency. I agree with this statement because it can be applied to a college student’s life. When I sit down to do homework or study for a length of time, I almost always turn on some background music. The music not only helps me concentrate, but it also prevents me from getting too stressed out and from feeling too over whelmed.

When working on something such as homework, it’s easy to get stressed out about how much work there is to do. When music is added to the mix, it’s easier to concentrate. If you apply this concept to a movie it makes sense. Imagine your favorite scary movie, and then imagine the same movie with out any music. Music draws you into the story, and actually makes you focus better on the story line. Without a sound track, a movie as like a Christmas tree without decorations. Music also helps a person cope with all the stress that comes with a large amount of work. The music helps you take the homework or studying one problem at a time instead of looking at it as one large problem that needs to be accomplished. This concept can be related to driving in the car. Listening to music on a long road trip helps pass the time, but it doesn’t impair your ability to drive.

A teacher in my high school always played classical music quietly during our tests because he believed it helped concentration. At first I thought it would be distracting and break my focus. When I actually took the test I found that the music helped me concentrate and it actually calmed me down. This surprised me because I don’t like classical music, and I thought it would either annoy me or cause me to loose focus.

Music has also proven to spark your imagination, and inspire the creative part of your brain. Research done has proven that when relaxed a person’s brain can be more productive compared to when it is over whelmed. Music helps a person to relax by calming them down and relieving stress.

Some music isn’t conducive to doing work. Music is defined by the individual listening. Some people enjoy hardcore rock music while others call that noise instead of music. Research done proves that ‘noise’ doesn’t help learning, and instead is bad for comprehension and good work ethic. Some people may react well to ‘scream music’ when working on homework, while others find it as a distraction because they label it as ‘noise.’ This point also brings about another point to support how music is beneficial in the learning process. When some people are studying they prefer complete silence. Complete silence is virtually impossible to achieve, so light background music covers up noise that could possible be distracting. Imagine that you are studying in your room and every ten minutes the air conditioning switches on. This is ‘noise’ that can be blocked out with light music.

Music can be a very helpful tool when you’re studying or doing homework. Some people might find it distracting, but even more find it calming and conducive to working.

Music has different effects on the mood of an individual, especially the learner. The research of the effect of music on the learner has been around for a long time; it is a very popular research subject. Nearly all teaching theories or methods can be enhanced by the presence of music. Music brings creativity, personal expression, personal reflection, and deep concentration, along with association to the table. All of these things are very important in having a positive learning experience.

Having music will help set the mood for learning. It can help “establish positive learning states, create desired atmosphere, build a sense of anticipation, energize learning activities, change brain waves states, focus concentration, increase attention, improve memory, facilitate a multi-sensory learning experience, release tension, enhance imagination, align groups, develop rapport, provide inspiration and motivation, add an element of fun and accentuate them-oriented units”(Brewer 1995). Background music is used to encourage personal reflection by stimulating the internal processes, thus facilitating creativity. Studies have been done with journal entries, and in one case a student wrote twice as much as she did with music then she did without it. (Brewer 1995) If music that is related to the topic and is played in the background while reading, it is easier to remember the information because the mindset is focused on that subject in more ways than one. Music is said to stabilize the mental, physical, and emotional rhythms to develop a deep concentration when presented with large amounts of content information. Bach has 50-80 beat per minute creates and atmosphere of focus that lead student into a deep concentration in the alpha brain wave state” (Brewer 1995). Where as Mozart music helps hold attention during drowsy times of the day and helps the learner stay awake and alert when working. This helps increase the attention levels, improve memory and expand the thinking skills. (Brewer 1995)

Different mood are set with different types of music. You are more relaxed with classical music; show music increases concentration. The Mozart effect strengthens the mind and enhances focus with energy. Where as loud grudge music will cause anger and frustration, thus making it hard to concentrate and retain information (McCraty et al). When used effectively, music increases the alpha levels in the brain increasing the memory and recall ability. However, research has shown that no matter what type of music you listen to, it improves your mood, at least in college students. Whether is it classical, rock/pop, grunge, hip-hop or rap, listening to the music makes a positive attitude, and those who already have a positive attitude just enhanced the positive mood (DeNoon 2003).
The “music releases the mind and lowers stress levels that inhibit learning.” “Music can act directly with the body" in the metabolism and heartbeat. Certain types of music can trigger different emotions and the release of endorphins, leading to faster learning. “Music is a stimulant.” Like stated previously with Mozart, it helps keep the learner awake and increases the blood flow to the brain. “Music is math.” Listening to certain music types helps the more complex ideas seem easier. “Music inspires emotion” (Rhode Island).

One might expect that each different type of music might have its own unique effect on our moods, our behaviors, and perhaps on how we learn and develop. For example, one might think that louder music, such as rock & roll and country would encumber an individual’s ability to concentrate, and therefore, to learn. Conversely, we might expect more soothing music, such as classical or jazz, to improve our mood and ability to absorb information around us. While much of how music specifically affects the neural processes in the brain is left unknown, specific studies have been conducted that attempt to uncover how different genres and types of music affect us.

For example, easy-listening music might be a particular genre of music that we might assume would assist in the learning process, as well as offer other benefits. One particular study of interest was conducted by Davidson and Powell on fifth grade science students. This study aimed to examine on-task performance of these students over the course of 42 class sessions. Data were collected every three minutes relating to the ability of the students to remain on task. In addition, easy listening, as well as rock music, was playing in the background in specific time intervals (15 minutes without music, followed by 15 minutes with easy-listening music, followed by 15 minutes with rock music). This was done to compare the musical settings to a control setting without any music playing. It was found that the easy-listening setting actually significantly increased the on-task abilities of the fifth grade students over the no music setting. The rock music setting slightly lowered the on-task performance of the fifth graders as compared to the no music setting (Davidson & Powell, 1986).

Another more simplistic, yet interesting study looked at the effects of different types of music on mood, tension, and mental clarity. Some of the various genres of music explored included grunge rock, New Age, classical, and country. This particular study involved 144 participants varying in age, race, and cultural backgrounds. Essentially, the participants were asked to complete a detailed psychological profile before and after listening to each genre of music for 15 minutes. Each participant completed the profile eight times for the four different genres of music. With grunge rock music, significant increases were found in hostility, sadness, tension, and fatigue, and significant reductions were observed in caring, relaxation, mental clarity, and vigor. However, with classical music, nearly the complete opposite was observed. Particularly, there were significant increases in relaxation, mental clarity, and vigor. The other two genres of music, New Age and country, produced fairly mixed results. (McCraty, Barrios-Choplin, Atkinson, & Tomasino, 1998). This study might suggest that people who listen to classical music are more mentally alert and, as a result, learn better, though this cannot be assumed conclusively. However, it would certainly seem logical that someone whose mind is clear and alert would have a higher aptitude to learn than someone whose mind was not.

However, due to the relative lack of information on the specifics of music as it affects the neural processes in the brain, it remains difficult at best to attempt to isolate a specific effect that each genre of music has on learning. Adding to the complexity of all of this is the fact that the various categories of music with which we’ve come up don’t tend to fit with everything we hear. Definitions of musical genres aren’t very useful; we say, for example, that something is heavy metal if it resembles heavy metal-a family resemblance (Levitin, 2006). This implies that, for example, even if we knew that classical music in general improved learning, it wouldn’t necessarily be true that every composition that we may categorize as classical would improve learning.

The process of learning is not typically associated with listening to music. Music is oftentimes thought of as something to listen to at the exact opposite time at which one is trying to learn. The following portion of this paper is written in order to examine said relationship.

Children are constantly developing, their brains are developing, their bodies are developing; development, itself, is the most crucial part of being a child. Music seems to both indicate and facilitate developmental learning during childhood. Specifically, it seems to play a significant role as an indicator of intellectual capacity when it comes to the early stages of learning to read. The presence of music, in the background, even seems to enhance the learning experience for some children who have special needs. Music seems to be beneficial in more ways than one when it comes to learning as a child.

Recognizing a change in pitch is a significant part of appreciating music. The contrast between two separate pitches is a pillar when it comes to an auditory appreciation of music. A study has been conducted by Lamb that examines the association between pitch awareness in children and their respective reading abilities. Children were asked to weather the notes that they heard were different or the same. Those who scored higher on the pitch awareness tests seemed to score higher on the reading portion of the experiment. This incorporation of musical pitch awareness, into a test that indicates a child’s reading ability, is a skill that can be developed by listening to music. The more familiar a child is with notes and different pitches, the more proficient they will be when it comes to recognizing the difference between the two. Therefore it seems beneficial for a child to at least be familiar with music, the former evidence doesn’t indicate that a child can benefit from listening to music while learning, but it certainly doesn’t refute the possibility.

As Črnčec (2006) recounts, many different studies have been conducted to examine the pros and cons of the presence of music while a child is trying to learn. These studies have been both vast and indecisive. Črnčec (2006) notes that many different conclusions can be reached by looking at individual studies; however, when looking at the group as a whole, the only logical conclusion is that there is not a strong correlation between background music and an enhanced learning environment for children. With that in mind, Črnčec (2006), postulates that background music plays a much more crucial role in soothing special needs children’s minds in preparation for study.

Music seems to have a role in learning, but based on the research conducted for this paper, I did not find sufficient proof that it background music facilitates better learning in children. Levitin (2006) talks about how music stimulates our brains in different ways, while Črnčec (2006) this is the exact action that learning carries out. Črnčec (2006) also observes that as children with special needs are calmed, oftentimes by background music, their brains are ready for a much more proficient level of study.

In close, I feel like its necessary to note that it is my finding that music and learning may not be so different after all. If the recognition of pitch change at an early age indicates a higher reading level, and by mixing music and learning a child’s brain seems to be receiving too much stimulation (with the exception of special needs children). Then this seems to point towards the fact that learning to appreciate music has a strong association with learning other things. In other words, the same brain that is stimulated by music, quite oftentimes receives similar stimulation from learning.

An important way that music facilitates learning is by helping with memorization. This is especially true during childhood. When you put things you learn into a song or learn it in song form it is easier to remember. Rhymes, rhythms, chants, and other forms of music will improve the memory ability of children. “When information is put to rhythm and rhyme these musical elements will provide a hook for recall.” (Brewer 1995) For example, a song was used in middle school to teach all of the students to learn all the states in the US. The song basically just named off the states in alphabetical order but since there was a melody to follow it made it easier. When taking the test the students would sing the song in their heads and were able to remember them. This process has also been used when memorizing the ABC’s during childhood.

This strategy works well because it makes the information being learned less complex and almost automatic. Also, as a child most parents will teach their children the address song which has a certain melody. It begins…”My name is Jenna Neff and this is where I live…” The persons address will follow in the next couple of lines. This was a good thing because many young children did not know their addresses or phone numbers. Teachers are not the only ones who need to use music to facilitate learning but parents need to use it as well. Kids remember songs like these because it is fun for them to learn them. “A child who is interested and attentive when learning a new skill is much more likely to retain the information over time.”(Lazar 2007) A lot of children do not find the concept of learning to be very fun when they are younger. Most children will just want to play instead of learn. By using music to help children learn, they are having fun and getting smarter at the same time.