According to Campbell, studies show that schools that include music in their curricula produce the highest achievers in the country. A study in Hong Kong found that adults who had received music training before age twelve have a better memory for spoken words than those who did not. Furthermore, Dr. Gordon Shaw of the University of California has shown that taking piano lessons and solving math puzzles significantly improves specific math skills of elementary school children (Campbell, 2000, p. 185). Mozart’s music has similar effects. In a study of nineteen children aged seven to seventeen with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADH),[4] researchers played recordings of such Mozart compositions as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major (K. 467) and The Marriage of Figaro during thrice-weekly neurofeedback sessions for some of the children. Nothing was played for the others. The researchers reported that those who listened to Mozart displayed improved focus, mood control and social skills. Seventy percent of the subjects who improved maintained that improvement for at least six months afterward (Campbell, 2002, p. 183 – 184).
These studies indicate that listening to and playing music generally generates various positive results. However, none of these studies prove that a hundred percent of the subjects tested attained these same results. In fact, there were many attempts to replicate some of these results, but most were unsuccessful (Willingham, 2006). On top of this, Rauscher himself later wrote that,[5] “spatial-temporal task performance varies widely between individuals”. This goes to show that the “Mozart Effect”, as well as the different positive effects of music therapy, has various degrees of effects and that it may not necessarily affect everyone.
Another topic that will be discussed is Temiar music.[6] In this indigenous community, a major technique of healing ailments involves singing and trance-dancing ceremonies/rituals, which are usually led by a medium. The medium would sing tunes and texts given to him during dreams by spiritguides,[7] to the patient, as female chorus members accompany him. Also, sometimes instruments such as the noseflute, bamboo-tube zither and mouthharps are used in the process. Depending on the severity of the patient’s illness, these activities are conducted as small rituals or huge ceremonies. Basically, the more severe the illness is, the bigger the ceremony.
Unfortunately, efficacy of this method of therapy and curing illnesses is not a well documented subject. It is, however, a fact that Temiar tradition of healing with music has gone on for generations and generations and that it is still in practice today. From these observations, one may deduce that it is a tired-and-tested method and therefore, to a certain extent, it works. But since it is not a thoroughly investigated topic, such a deduction is open to debate.
From the various arguments stated above, I come to the conclusion that music therapy is a powerful force that can be consciously used. From University students in Hong Kong, toddlers in America and Aboriginals in Malaysia, overwhelming evidences suggest that the effect of music therapy transcends ethnic boundaries and that, the earlier you are exposed to it, the better positioned you are to exploit it.
Bibliography/References
Campbell, Don (2002). The Mozart Effect for Children: Awakening Your Child’s Mind, Health and Creativity with Music. Hodder and Stoughton.
Clarke, Ken J. and Finlay, Bland
Ortiz, John M. (1999). Nurturing Your Child with Music. Newleaf.
Roseman, Marina (1993). Healing Sounds from the Malaysian Rainforest: Temiar Music and Medicine. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication.
Robbins, Arthur (2000). The Artist as Therapist. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Warren, Bernie (1993). Using Creative Arts in Therapy: A Practical Introduction. New Fetter Lane, London: Routledge.
Willingham, Daniel T. (Fall 2006). "Brain-Based" Learning: More Fiction than Fact. American Educator.
(2006, 10, 2006). Mozart Effect. Retrieved October 31, 2006, from
[1] For the purpose of this essay, the word “therapy” will not only mean “any treatment designed to improve a health problem or to cure an illness” (Oxford dictionary, 1999, p. 1238), but also, any other positive effects that derives from it.
[2]
It is unclear who first coined the phrase, but it undoubtedly came into being as a result of attention aroused by countless scientific studies conducted on the effect of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music on its listeners. The phrase has since been trademarked by Don Campbell, Inc.
[3]
A string quartet usually consists of 2 violinists, a viola player and a cellist.
[4] Some of the symptoms of these disorders include emotional oversensitivity, anxiety, an inability to concentrate, difficulty relating to peers and a general incoherence of thought (Campbell, 2000, p. 183).
[5]
Frances H. Rauscher was one of the pioneering scientists that conducted tests on the effects of Mozart’s music.
[6]
The Temiars are Aboriginals who dwell in peninsular Malaysia (Roseman, 1993, p. 2)
[7]
According to Temiar belief, “spiritguides” refers to entities of object (animate or inanimate), such as a particular jungle flower or a mountain, that visit mediums in their dreams, in a humanised form, to offer their services to the mediums, to be their teacher. These spiritguides will then begin to sing and the dreamer would repeat it line by line until, upon awakening, the song is committed to the dreamer’s memory. (Roseman, 1993, p. 53)