Does Music Really Affect the Development of Children?

Don Campbell, author of “The Mozart Effect”, defines it as the use of music to enhance quality of life, including health, wellness, education, creativity and emotional expression.

Don Campbell is a classical musician, teacher and journalist. He has written eighteen books on music, health, and education, he has been guest faculty for seven years teaching psychology and music at Naropa University, and has been key noter and guest lecturer at over 500 musical, medical and educational institutions.

Live Events Transcript:  WebMD

 Why do you think music is of special importance in early childhood development?

Campbell: Music stimulates the brain, the emotions, and the body simultaneously. Auditory impulses structure the way we learn to communicate. In speech, movement, and expression, music holds many nutrients for the developing mind of children. It is my work to inform and inspire parents, healthcare providers, and early childhood educators on these great benefits.

 Is classical music the only music you recommend? Is there a place for using popular and folk music with our children as well? 

Campbell: There is a place for all music in our lives, as long as it is not too loud and injures the cochlea. Classical music is well ordered, and Mozart represents that in the music he wrote as a child and young adult. Romantic music, such as Beethoven and Brahms has far more emotional and heroic energies. It is important to remember that no music is an instant cure-all. But the making and listening to music at appropriate times can be quite miraculous. When there is stress or pain, music, and music making can help release the stress of pain. It is most useful at naptime, bedtime, and creative play time. To a young child, the music is movement. It is participating and flowing with the activity and stimulation, or the deep relaxation. Every parent can be aware of the environment, the sound environment, for their child. If there are TV's, computers, radios, and even refrigerators heard in a child's room, it can highly disrupt their sleep pattern.

Especially if a child is ill. The ear easily receives auditory stimulation in the last trimester before birth. Many children are hypersensitive to sound, and find each and every sound distracting. Thus, they are often unable to focus on one activity at a time. This is common with children with attention deficit disorder and dyslexia.

I understand that studying music has a positive effect on a child's math abilities. Can you explain the connection?

Campbell: Math is a very broad term. The earlier a child studies music, the more rhythmic integration, movement, and learning about proportions in time space perception, strengthens the young brain. In over 1,000 American communities, early childhood music programs, such as Kindermusik, provide parents and children with an exceptional program for developing mind and body integration. In the elementary years, playing an instrument and reading music assists in the overall development of the speech and movement, as well as language and math perception. Music is magical because it reaches multiple levels of neuro stimulation simultaneously. However, I know of no studies that deal with calculus, trigonometry, and Mozart, other than anecdotal reports from college students who find Mozart's music beneficial during study.

Do you really think music can make you more intelligent? If so, how?

Campbell: Yes. The rhythmic quality of music stimulates and activates the lower part of the brain stem systems. The harmonies of music, and the rhythm of these harmonies at times has an emotional response within the body. The melody and tone colour bring direct responses as well as text and language in music from the neo-cortex. Intelligence in the new millennium, I believe, will be judged on the children and families who are able to integrate knowledge and information with a healthy relaxed body, and be able to socially integrate it emotionally. Music prepares the brain and body for connection. And we are at the beginning of learning how to ask integrated questions about memory and intelligence. I know from my experience with the Guggenheim education project in Chicago, we were able to improve spelling almost immediately by using music and movement. Not as a gimmick, but as an integrated tool for the mind, voice, and the body to learn simultaneously. I speak of this clearly in my new book.

Why are so many schools across the country cutting their music programs if music is so vital to a child's development, self confidence and intelligence?

Campbell: For the past many decades music has been referred to as only art, entertainment, and a thrill. Only in the last 15 years have we begun to see how organized auditory stimulation in the form of music has great inroads for developing neuro-connections for multiple purposes, such as linguistic, vestibular, and kinaesthetic integration.

How much time in a week do you recommend a child should be involved with music?

Campbell: It depends on the child's age.  Remember, all speech has musical qualities. The younger the child, the more chant, taps, and plays. In preschool, I think there's a place for a song every hour or two, or a nursery rhyme with movement. It's not just music time, but remember, music is time. In early elementary school, the majority of games have musical qualities or elements within them. So I would like to see a little music for waking in the morning, music in the car, music at bedtime, as well as a 20- or 30-minute music class. But remember, this music is not for the child alone, it helps reduce stress and inspires moms and dads. 

Music is more than we ever believed possible, as a tool for learning.
Support your early childhood music programs like Kindermusik.There is evidence that music helps grow the mind and body. Don't let it slip from your schools, and don't let a song be forgotten to pass from your lips. Keep tuned in, and tuned up!!