Music Education
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything” – Platon
The positive influence of music on human development and health was known in ancient times.
For reasons not fully understood, Homo sapiens, unlike other animals, developed music and language, which have remained parallel throughout our evolution. However, no civilization valued music as highly as the ancient Greeks. Early years of education included physical education, followed by six years of musical instruction. The Greeks considered music one of the four branches of mathematics, alongside arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy.
Current research in neuroscience and cognitive science has shown that exposure to sound should be an integral part of an integrated educational system. Artistic education has been shown to be one of the best methods for shaping sensitivity and character. Music fosters active memory, divided attention, creative imagination, and cognitive skills. This is related to an increase in the number of active nerve cells in the brain and improved information flow between neurons.
It's no surprise to anyone that Mozart was one of the world's greatest mathematicians, and that logic, probability, symmetry, and translation are widely used in music. Research conducted in Canada has shown that musical training significantly improved working memory in school-age individuals. American scientists have demonstrated that even just a few months of practicing an instrument (the piano) resulted in activation of the frontal lobe, motor cortex, and brainstem, and was associated with increased neuroplasticity in the brain—structures responsible for memory and learning. Interestingly, musicians have a much thicker myelin layer in some areas than non-musicians, which increases brain efficiency and, in the long run, prevents neurodegenerative diseases. Myelination is proportional to the number of hours spent playing the instrument. The more years we dedicate to playing the instrument, the more efficiently our brain will function. The benefits of playing an instrument are observed not only in mathematical and linguistic skills, but also emotional ones. Students have observed a decrease in aggressive behavior, increased empathy, and an increase in well-being.
“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare “After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music” – Aldous Huxley “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence in between” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart