The Mozart Effect:
How Music Makes You Smarter

Have you ever noticed how your favorite music can make you feel better?  Well, new research studies now show how music can make you smarter too!

Scientists at Stanford University, in California, have recently revealed a molecular basis for the Mozart Effect, but not other music.

Dr. Rauscher and her colleague H. Li, a geneticist, have discovered that rats, like humans, perform better on learning and memory tests after listening to a specific Mozart sonata.

A book called The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell, has condensed the world’s research on all the beneficial effects of certain  types of music.

Some of the hundreds of benefits of the Mozart Effect are:

• Improves test scores
• Cuts learning time
• Calms hyperactive children and adults
• Reduces errors
• Improves creativity and clarity
• Heals the body faster
• Integrates both sides of the brain for more efficient learning
• Raises IQ scores 9 points (research done at University of California, Irvine)

Study Reveals How Music Makes You Smarter

In 1996, the College Entrance Exam Board Service conducted a study on all  students taking their SAT exams.  Students who sang or played a musical instrument scored 51 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and an average of 39 points higher on math.

Major corporations such as Shell, IBM, and Dupont, along with hundreds of  schools and universities use music, such as certain Baroque and Mozart Effect pieces, to cut learning time in half and increase retention of the new materials.

According to the research outlined in the book, musical pieces, such as those of Mozart referred to as the Mozart Effect, can relieve stress, improve communication and increase efficiency.  Creativity scores soar when listening to Mozart.

In my teacher and parent training seminars, I have been using the Mozart Effect music for years as a strategy to reduce learning time and increase student memory of the material.  Music activates the whole brain and makes you feel more energetic and there is a well-documented link between music and learning.

In the workplace, music “raises performance levels and productivity by reducing stress and tension, masking irritating sounds and contributing to a sense of privacy”, says Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect.

Mr. Campbell has compelling new evidence to show how music, specifically called the Mozart Effect, used properly, calms students with such problems as ADHD and even helped autistic children.  He says “43 of the world’s largest industrial companies provide music to their employees.”  Dupont used a music listening program in one department that cut its training time in half and doubled the number of people trained.  Another corporation using music found that clerical errors decreased by one third.

Dr. Georgi Lozanov, the renowned Bulgarian psychologist, developed a methodology for teaching foreign languages that used baroque music with a beat pattern of about 60 beats per minute.  Students learned in a fraction of the normal time.  In a single day, one half of the normal vocabulary and phrases for the term (up to 1000 words or phrases) were learned.  In addition, an added benefit was that the students had an average of 92% retention of what they had learned!

Dr.Lozanov proved conclusively that by using certain Baroque pieces, foreign languages can be mastered with 85-100% effectiveness in 30 days, when the usual time is 2 years. Students learning with the Baroque Music were able to recall their second language with nearly 100% accuracy even after they had not studied it for four years!

For many years, with thousands of students, The Center for New Discoveries in Learning has been evaluating the use of music and learning both in the classroom and while students study.  We have found that students using the Mozart Effect pieces and certain other Baroque pieces (recorded at about 60 beats per minute) felt calmer, could study longer and had a higher rate of retention as well as earning better grades according to their teachers.

These special music Mozart Effect pieces, recorded at just the right tempo, activate the left and right brain for the maximum learning/retention effect.  The music activates the right brain and the words your child is reading or saying aloud activates the left brain.  This increases the learning potential a minimum of five times according to the research.

When your body hears the even, one beat per second of music, your heart rate and pulse relax to the beat. When you are in this relaxed, but alert state, your mind is able to concentrate more easily.  Music corresponds to and affects our physiological conditions.

During heavy mental work, our pulse and blood pressure rises, and it’s usually more difficult to concentrate in this state. The Baroque and Mozart music pieces on the Mozart Effect learning tapes and compact disks have been especially selected for their beat pattern, reduce your blood pressure and pulse rate and increases your ability to learn at the same time.

Listen to these Mozart Effect CD’s when you study, work or drive in the car to receive the tremendous benefits. This is the music of such composers as Mozart, Vivaldi, Pachabel, Handel and Bach.  I use these CD’s every day and find them found them to be extraordinarily effective.

Recent News Reports on How Music Improves the Brain and Heals the Body

A recent news article reported that researchers have discovered direct evidence that music stimulates different regions of the brain responsible for memory, motor control, timing and language.  For the first time, researchers also have located specific areas of mental activity linked to emotional responses to music.

At McGill University in Montreal, neuroscientist Anne Blood, who conducted the study said, “You can activate different parts of the brain, depending on what music you listen to.  So music can stimulate parts of the brain that are underactive in neurological diseases or a variety of emotional disorders.  Over time, we could retrain the brain in these disorders.”  Harvard University Medical School neurobiologist, Mark Jude Tramo, says that “Undeniably, there is a biology of music.  There is no question that there is specialization within the human brain for the processing of music.  Music is biologically part of human life, just as music is aesthetically part of human life.”

Based on all the available research, we highly recommend the Music for the Mozart Effect 4 volume program to achieve the best results in learning, health and creativity using music and learning together.

The tapes are called Music for the Mozart Effect*, Volumes I, II and III and IV.  Volume I is called Strengthen The Mind, Music for Intelligence & Learning (best used for studying).  The suggested uses for how to listen are included with the CD’s or tapes;   Volume II – Heal The Body (best used for reducing stress, tension and accelerating healing); Volume III – Unlock the Creative Spirit – Music for Creativity & Imagination (best used during times you want to accelerate your creativity). Volume IV is a two  volume set – Disc A is to Focus and Activate the Mind and Disc B is for Clarity and Restful Attention.

For your use at home or in the classroom, The Center for New Discoveries in Learning has the several sets of music available to help your child or student learn more effectively or help you in the work place.

Each CD has specially selected music to enhance learning, spatial intelligence, creativity and body awareness.