by Karen Polimeni
There have been many articles written regarding music and its influences. There has been much written about school systems that have eliminated music from their curricula.
Over my thirty years of experience, both in school systems and in offering private sessions as well as in my study and research on the benefits of music in our lives, I have witnessed wonderful development in children and adults who have studied music. I would like to share with you what I feel are the worthwhile practical and spiritual results of music lessons, especially when given from a higher level of understanding of music which is beyond that of learning pieces and scales.
The focus of lessons should be the beauty of the music and its expression rather than just rote learning. As Edgar Cayce stated in his readings, “It [Music] is part of the beauty of the spirit… In the harmony of sound, the harmony of color, even the harmony of motion itself, its beauty is all akin to that expression of the soul-self in the harmony of the mind…” This to me illustrates more deeply why I feel that playing a musical instrument is such a wonderful means of self-expression.
It is also widely known that music is one of the greatest influences in our society and in our individual lives. It causes a response in every level our consciousness and in each atom of our being. Music lessons can revitalize the atomic structure of the body. When playing or singing, the musical vibrations realign the anatomical structures towards a healthy state. As for me personally, I feel recharged, both when I teach as well as play.
The tools of improvisation (being in the moment and playing tones or sounds that just “come out”) and imagination (exploring with sounds, rhythms and images), in the hands of a sensitive and experienced teacher, lead people to get in touch with their creative center, or as I call it, their “originality” which is simply the inner thoughts, ideas and dreams that belong only to them.
Another great value of music lessons that is a joy to witness is peoples’ ability to express emotions that could not otherwise be reached — many times clearing away emotional blocks and bringing about a sense of freedom. From my research, different pieces of music have different effects on people. For example, the very familiar piece by Beethoven, Für Elise, is very good for opening up the heart center. Along the same lines, people are often attracted to different types of music or composers because of what that music or composer gives to them at the moment.
I have studied with Don Campbell, a pioneer in the therapeutics effects of music. In his popular book, “The Mozart Effect” he explains in detail the recent studies that have found that the corpus callosum (the bridge between the left and right sides of the brain) of musicians is thicker and more fully developed that in other people, reinforcing the idea that music enlarges existing neural pathways and stimulates learning and creativity.
Studies by researchers, Dr. Gordon Shaw, a physicist at the University of California and Dr. Frances Rauscher, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, examined how musical training might affect the brain development of pre-school children. The results showed that keyboard students performed 34% better on spatial-temporal ability tests. You may have already read about these and other such results in popular literature.
This brief review touches on just some of the important values of “music lessons.” I would like to leave you with one closing thought. If you learn music, you learn history. If you learn music, you learn mathematics. If you learn music, you learn most of all there is to learn.
Read other articles:
Music and Creativity
Music as Medicine
