I have been sharing with you the impact certain kinds of
music have on the brain and social behavior. In my last
article, I presented the positive impact of classical
music on crime. I suggested that classical music can
reduce crime because of how it works on the mind and
instills discipline. We also know that intellectually
disciplined people are at lower risk for criminal
activities.
On April 23, 2013, David P. Goldman, wrote these words
in his online article, Why Does Classical Music Make
You Smarter? : “Thirty-six million Chinese kids now
study classical piano, not counting string and woodwind
players. Chinese parents pay for music lessons not
because they expect their offspring to earn a living at
the keyboard, but because they believe it will make them
smarter at their studies.” He continues: “In an essay
for First Things titled, “The Divine Music of
Mathematics,” just released, I show that the first
intimation of higher-order numbers in mathematics in
Western thought comes from St. Augustine’s 5th-century
treatise on music. Our ability to perceive complex and
altered rhythms in poetry and music, the Church father
argued, requires “numbers of the intellect” which stand
above the ordinary numbers of perception. A red thread
connects Augustine’s concept with the discovery of
irrational numbers in the 15th century and the invention
of calculus in the 17th century. The common thread is
the mind’s engagement with the paradox of the infinite.”
Here is what David Goldman suggests: “The painstaking
acquisition of knowledge and technique, and the
enhancement of attention span and intuition, are the
long-term benefits of classical music study. Humility,
patience, and discipline are the virtues that children
acquire through long-term commitment. I doubt that
blasting your baby with Mozart will do much good. It
takes a lot of learning to hear what Mozart is doing,
especially because we have lost so much of the musical
culture that Mozart took for granted in his
audience.” To put in my own words, the discipline,
commitment, and energy it takes to truly understand
classical music is what positively impacts brain
development, intelligence and social behavior.
Although I love other forms of music I personally know
the value of a great classical peace.
THE CLASSICAL MUSIC EXPERIMENT
Let us conduct a national experiment. Let us have a
classical music week throughout the entire Bahamas.
During this week every radio station will play only
classical music or similar kinds of music (like easy
listening, soft country music, light jazz) for seven
days. It will be a week when background music in all
stores, malls, busses, taxies, hotel lobbies will only
be classical music or easy listening music. During
this week we will also ask teenagers who walk around
with their ears stuffed with sound boxes to pump
classical music in them. Every police station, every
sports game is to be saturated with classical or easy
listening music. Cheryl, one of my Facebook friends,
suggested that we also play classical music in the
prisons to help reduce the tension and angry spirits.
Perhaps classical music could be played over giant
speakers in large outdoor areas and deprived
neighborhoods.
Based on my previous article on crime and how classical
music reduces crime, I am confident that crime will be
reduced during that one week period.
Then what next? Will one week of classical music be
sufficient to reduce crime in our country? No. But it
will be a start. What should happen next is a
restructuring of the educational system requiring all
students (in public and private schools) to become
proficient in playing at least one instrument and
reading classical music. In addition the instruments
cannot be limited to percussion (drums, cymbals, etc.).
It must include a wind or stringed instrument of any
kind for which classical music has been written.
What can adults do, especially those who are not
musically inclined? I suggest that parents,
grandparents, and other adults start by adding classical
music to their listening enjoyment. Start by listening
to one hour a week and gradually increase it to 24 hours
or more a week. They can tune in to our own Classical
Station 98.1 or purchase classical music from online or
local stores. For starters, persons who are not keen
on classical music but are willing to try can listen to
the music of Roger Williams, Victor Borge, Richard
Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Or they can listen to
some of our own professionals like Joan and Lee Calender,
Francis Fawkes, and Audrey Wright, The Nassau
Renaissance Singers,
just to name a few.
In my previous article, “Music,
the Brain and Your Health,” I quoted Napoleon
Bonaparte who understood the enormous power of music. He
summed it up by saying, “Give me control over he who
shapes the music of a nation, and I care not who makes
the laws.”
If we start from a young age to train our children with
the discipline of classical music, I am confident that
our nation will be different soon. No, classical music
is not enough; but it can be one of the many tools
needed to change the direction of our nation.
Barrington H. Brennen is a marriage and family therapist, and board
certified clinical psychotherapist, USA. Send your
questions or comments to
question@soencouragement.org
or
write to P.O. Box CB-11045, Nassau, The Bahamas, or
visit
www.soencouragement.org or
call 242-327-1980 or 242-477-4002