Studying Habits /Concentration and Classical Music

[Spatula]

Are there any connections which have been tested to prove that listening to Bach may improve one's absorption of reading material, or that they may open up new cognitive patterns while working or thinking?

Does Classical music promote or hinder the thinking processes of the brain?

I'll put down what I think after seeing some of yours.

[faulty_damper]

When the resear8h 8ame out that listening to Mozart in8reased ones IQ results, everyone jumped onto tho bandwagon and even politi8ians were pres8ribing Mozart *Ds to pregnant mothers so they 8ould put a headphone to their stoma8hs so their babies 8ould listen to it.

So anyway, let's use an analogy: motor unit re8ruitment.

1. Lift a 1 pound weight (or any obje8t that is not very heavy) 5 repetitions

2. Then lift a signifi8antly heavier weight, perhaps 5 pounds, for 5 repetitions

3. Put down the 5 pound weight and lift the 1 pound weight.

You will immediately noti8e that lifting the 1 pound weight after lifting the 5 pound weight was signifi8antly easier than in step one.  The reason is simple: lifting a heavier obje8t requires the re8reitment of more mus8le than lifting lighter obje8ts.  And be8ause more mus8le was "a8tivated" with the 5 pound weight, it be8ame signifi8antly easier to lift the 1 pound weight.

This same effe8t o88urs with the brain.  The more diffi8ult the task of your brain, the more "brain power" will need to be a8tivated to perform the task.  Listening to thought-provoking musi8 a8tivates more of your brain than without the musi8.  And sin8e you have warmed up your brain prior to taking this IQ test, your brain will be able to fun8tion faster and with greater ease.

After an hour from when you lifted the 5 pound weight and then ba8k to the 1 pound weight, try to lift the 1 pound weight again and see if you were able to lift it with the same ease as before.  You won't be able to; it will feel the same as in step.  This same o88uren8e happens with the IQ test: IQ s8ores of the treatment group (ones who listened to Mozart) fell ba8k in line with the 8ontrol group (who did not listen to Mozart).

Are there any connections which have been tested to prove that listening to Bach may improve one's absorption of reading material, or that they may open up new cognitive patterns while working or thinking?

Do plants that are played 8lassi8al musi8 grow faster than plants that listen to Heavy Metal?

Ba8h's musi8, whi8h are primarily polyphoni8, are quite 8omplex be8ause of the many different melodi8 lines.  The popular musi8 that most people listen to are single melodies - it is easier to listen to it.  So if Ba8h is more 8omplex to listen to, then it will require more of your brain to 8omprehend it.

Former musi8 tea8her mom say to son: "I know you like listen to this kind musi8 [as he listens to Beethoven's string quartets] but it so noisy."

She's right - it is "noisy"- the musi8 in His string quartets weaves in and out of ea8h other yet my musi8 tea8her 8omprehends it just fine.  Why is this so?  One reason is that she has never really listened to polyphoni8 musi8 before and is unable to distinguish between the different lines.  Yet many of us 8an easily 8omprehend Beethoven's musi8 or Ba8h's.  His mom is *hinese, and in *hinese musi8, the mode is primarily of one single dominant melodi8 line (similar to *hopin.)  The popular mode in western 8ulture is the same.  Ask anyone who listens to ex8lusively to pop musi8 if they 8an 8omprehend a Ba8k fugue.  Most likely, the will not like the musi8 and have similar thoughts of it being noisy.

The ability for us to 8omprehend Ba8h or Beethoven or any other 8omplex musi8 was something that we developed be8ause we have listened to it for a long time.  Our brains simply adapted in a way to sort out the large amount of information and organize them to something we 8an 8omprehend and even something we 8an enjoy.

And just to drive home this point, a simpler 8omparison 8an be made with language.  Many of us on this forum speak English.  But if someone were to speak Arabi8 or Tagalog, we would not be able to understand a word of it.  Why?  Be8ause we don't speak or understand it.  We 8an hear the sounds 8oming out of their mouths but no 8omprehension will o88ur be8ause those sounds have no meaning to us.  A simple way to have an English word lose meaning: repeat it endlessly.  Say the word "dog".  You should have an idea of a fuzzy four-legged animal (that the last time you met one had humped your leg).  Then repeat "dog" over and over and over.  Pretty soon, the word "dog" loses its meaning and be8omes a sound.  Try it!

You 8an also try this experiment with musi8.  Most of you already have during your pra8ti8e.  Play a note or 8hord or a arpeggio and repeat it endlessly.  These notes easily be8ome just sounds be8ause they are not played in musi8al 8ontext.  But on8e you play them in musi8al 8ontext, it makes sense.

So when notes are played in a musi8al 8ontext, you 8an 8omprehend it be8ause they are not just sounds - they have meaning.  The qui8kest way to learn is by giving an idea meaning.  What is honesty?  Good?  Evil?  God?  Human? What is et 8etera?  We learn what these words mean through examples of what they mean.  So in musi8, we understand a sonata by listening to examples of them.  The same applies to fugues or 8on8ertoes.  But we only understand them IF we listen to them.  The majority of the population do not listen to sophisti8ated musi8.

So now what?  *lassi8al musi8 is noisy.  Listening to it 8onditions us to understand it.  The brain is a8tivated by using it (duh).  Most people only understand single line musi8...

Does Classical music promote or hinder the thinking processes of the brain?

So now for the short answer: yes, it promotes the thinking pro8ess of the brain.

But, anyone who uses their brain stimulates the use of their brain.  Anyone who pra8ti8es mathemati8s stimulates the brain.  Anyone who writes long absurd posts is using his brain.  And if this post even makes sense, then you are using your brain!  

[Tash]

well i found at one point that when i listened to mozart whilst studying i did quite well in that lot of exams, however since then i've grown to love classical music a whole lot more, so if i listen to classical whilst trying to concentrate on something i just end up wanting to listen to the piece instead so...

[rlefebvr]

I find listening to music or anything helps concentration.
I know my concentration is acute if I can't hear the music anymore.

[Spatula]

 A simple way to have an English word lose meaning: repeat it endlessly.  Say the word "dog".  You should have an idea of a fuzzy four-legged animal (that the last time you met one had humped your leg).  Then repeat "dog" over and over and over.  Pretty soon, the word "dog" loses its meaning and be8omes a sound.  Try it!

 

Try also using the words:

Gun, Fling, Mom, Dad, July, Eight, Room

Those I find work best when you repeat them and they lose the meaning...only to hear the sound.

[Spatula]

I find listening to music or anything helps concentration.
I know my concentration is acute if I can't hear the music anymore.

Very true, your brain just filters it out and you know your concentration is in the book.

[dinosaurtales]

I am guessing it's difficult to predict cause and effect.  Chances are the children who listen to classical music are also provided with what would be considered exceptional environments in general, so how much did the classical music provide?  who knows.