Influence of Playing the Piano on Brain

Rachel Ehrenberg said that “Not so long ago, Mozart mania swept the nation. A small study found that students who listened to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata performed better on a paper-folding task than their peers” (Ehrenberg, 2010). Laurence O´Donell mentioned young man who was attending primary school, when teachers told to his parents that he is stupid and he has no logic thinking. Parents of young Albert Einstein fortunately did not listen or trust to teachers. After he was out of the school, his parents ignored teachers´ opinions and they tried to help him to think in another way. They bought him a violin, he became good at it and it leaded to the point when he became one of the smartest man in the world (O´Donell, 1999). Albert Einstein was not the only one who experienced that playing the musical instrument helps to think better. For example, while Thomas Jefferson was writing Declaration of Independence, he also played the violin to help himself to find the best words for this particular document (O´Donell,1999). It leads to the fact that playing the piano and other instruments but also just listening to the music can influence brain processes, such as learning, memorizing, logic or behavior a lot. First of all, let us emphasize the most important point of this essay.

Learning and memorizing skills can get better when person is playing the musical instrument. According to Richard Alleyne, scientists recently came up with the fact that the regular playing can modify brain´s power and shape (Alleyne, 2009). Lutz Jäncke, a psychologist at the University of Zurich, said: “Learning to play a musical instrument has definite benefits and can increase IQ by seven points, in both cases children and adults” (Jäncke, 2010). Another example of an impact of playing a musical instrument can be my personal experience. I have been playing the piano for 14 years, but nowadays I play much less often than 7 years ago and I can notice changes in learning. When I compare these two parts of my life in the way of learning and memorizing skills, my grades were really excellent 7 years ago, but when I stopped to play the piano on daily base, my grade rate lowered. While playing the piano daily, I was able to read, understand and remember 20 pages of economics in 1 and half hour, I was able to calculate and count all the difficult formulas and exercises in a few seconds and now I still can do all these things but each day when I did not play the piano caused that memorizing lasts much more time and I use calculator much more often than it is really needed.

Mr Jäncke also said that music can also make it easier to learn foreign languages and become more perceptive in interpreting the emotions of others (Jäncke, 2010).I can also confirm that learning foreign languages is easier for musicians who are playing the instrument regularly. It should be told something more about the topic of meeting foreign people and learning foreign languages, because it is very important for everyone who wants to be in touch with outside world nowadays to be able to speak at least 1 foreign language. Definitely, not only playing a musical instrument can influence how fast and easy it will be to learn to speak foreign languages for person, but also some other activities, such as chess, logical or sciential games can influence it. These free-time activities are also able to influence learning but not in such a big extent as playing a musical instrument. For example, while playing the piano, I open my mind and gain information from all sides of surrounding.

It is the best time for me to think about what happened during that day and it is very good way to get your thoughts into definite order while playing a musical instrument, because it helps to learn new things when thoughts are in order and there is enough space to gain new information in brain. Secondly, not less important point of essay than the first one is that if children play the piano in the earliest ages, their behavior and logic are influenced and changed later. L. Jäncke found out that even people after age of 65, seniors who were practicing only 1 hour per week for four months, big changes were noticed in their brains (Jäncke, 2010). Now let us imagine what can happen with children´s brains, which are in the development, if they are practicing regularly. According to Dr. Letts from Music Council of Australia, “The earlier a child comes to grips with music, the more the brain growth will be influenced. It sets them up for life.” (n.d.). Dr. Letts said that there was a survey or experiment which shows that 8 years old students who were practicing regularly were more probable to do better in school than those who did not have a connection with music. By the age of 12, the probability of more advanced logic and behavior, and also better grades rate was even greater. Students who practiced were better in mathematics and physics than the other ones who did not play any musical instrument (n.d.).

He also said that children who plays a musical instrument from their young age can do better at different subjects such as mathematics, science, arts and language, They also learn that they will gain reward or “price” if they work and practice hard, and they are disciplined (Letts, n.d.). Last but not least, also simple listening to the music can have an impact on brain processes. Let us talk rather about classic music than about modern pop music because pop influences mostly emotions not brain processes. According to O´Donell it is quite interesting that listening to the music while learning can have a strong effect on memory (O´Donell, 1999). Laurence O´Donell also said that “Mozart’s music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activate the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information.

The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, causes the brain to be more capable of processing information (O´Donell, 1999).“ To summarize, practicing piano lectures from young age can have quite a big impact on improvement in learning, memorizing skills and behavior. When children are practicing or excercising playing a musical instrument they have demonstrably much higher grades rate. It is not late to start playing a musical instrument also in retirement. So, instead listening to music just through the carradio people should register their children and theirself to piano lectures. Each person should ask hisself, „will I try to modify my brain to better results or not?

References:

Alleyne. R. (2009, October). Playing a musical instrument makes you brainer. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6447588/Playing-a-musical-instrument-makes-you-brainier.html

Ehrenberg, R. (2010). Music of the hemispheres. Science News. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier

Jäncke, L. (2010, January). Music listening while you learn: No influence of background music on verbal learning. Behavioral and Brain Functions. Retrieved from http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/6/1/3

Letts, R. (n.d.). Good reasons why your child should study music. SchoolAtoZ. Retrieved from http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/homework-and-study/other-subjects-and-projects/the-arts/why-your-child-should-study-music

O´Donell III., L. (1999). Music and the brain. Music Power. Retrieved from http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html