I read this in a newsletter from
The Whole Child, Issue #071 Don’t skip Music and Art Appreciationâ€
“I think it is almost common knowledge these days, that classical music played to babies and toddlers helps to stimulate the development of the brain. Apparently, Baroque music in particular, stimulates the development of nervous connections in the developing brain of young children and it is believed to enhance mathematical and language skills in particular.”
I found that very interesting that it is Baroque music that is best for young minds.
Food for thought
The rest of this newletter can be found on her website
http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/music-appreciation.html
hey kids:
look… being a professional musician, i like baroque music as much as the next guy, but why on earth is it better than beethoven, wagner or berg? it doesn’t make any sense other than the fact that the people who were conducting the study don’t know anything about the repertoire, or are not familiar with other composers… say… wolf (my favorite!).
i think what they like about it is the countrapuntal quality of the music, which is much different than a melody and accompanyment.
so, why not a 20th century fugue, or for that matter, a little Messiaen or Boulez? if that doesn’t connect both hemispheres of the brain i don’t know what would!!
i think i would like to find out the source of the study, how it was conducted, etc. before i ran out and bought the well tempered klavier book 1.
just my 2 cents. take it or leave it 
the doc :clown:
This is why I put this up. To get other peoples point of view. Thanks for sharing.
I am musically ignorant but would like to save my children from the same fate. LOL
Can anyone recommend some good Baroque composers or otherwise that would be good to play for my children? Right now, all I have is a hodge podge of random classical music CD’s put out by the “playschool” company that were given away free with the purchase of a baby product.
Names of composers, specific songs, or compilation cd’s would be most helpful. Thank you!
Classical Magic Themes to Remember. We use this everyday, it has composers from the Baroque era, and other. It plays the piece first would music, then it announces the composer, and adds lyrics that helps teach your child the name of the piece and the composer who wrote it. My son loves this and can name some pieces by Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi
My son seems to pay attention only to the composers from the Baroque era then stops paying attention or asks to play Vivaldi again(the first composer on the cd) Im trying to expose him to the others, but to be honest, I’m just glad he likes some of it.
Hi!
We’ve been also using Themes to remember and love them, the only problem that the musical fragments there are pretty short (~ 30-40 seconds)
So I end up buying on eBay collection of Classical Music CDs.
We really like Vivaldi & Handel, you can also find their music on youtube.
I heard for the first time in this forum about Themes to remember and Beethoven’s Wig.
I bought both of them and my grandson and I are very happy about it. He enjoys it so much that when grandfather wants to change classical music he ‘protested’ and said 'don’t change papapa, !! musica catica ¡¡¡ (at that time he didn’t pronounce well but kenw it was classical music).
We have a good time with both of them. we surely recomend them.
Thanks for the input, I will plan to tack some down soon. Thanks!
I think Baroque music works for a number of reasons, the one mentioned already is that it is contrapuntal, or many voices talking to each other rather than a lead melody and supporting harmony. This style of composition is only occasionally used now, but it was considered the supreme accomplishment both aesthetically and intellectually in its day, and beyond. Also, it was still very much used in religious contexts and for spiritual contemplation, and some of the slow movements come in uncannily at 60 beats per minute, or a meditative resting heartbeat. Speculation on slower brain wave patterns closer to alpha (pre-dream) states have also been suggested as a result of that style music.
Plus, frankly, once you start to hear the voices chasing and talking to each other, it is seven degrees more wonderful than you first imagined or heard.
As for Composers, Pachabel’s Canon in D is a great piece, he was a friend and teacher of the Bach family.
Johann Sebastian Bach of course, his Inventions, 2 and 3 part, his Brandenburg Concertos, Air on a G String, his Well Tempered Clavier of Preludes and Fugues (piano preferably, Glen Gould preferably) and don’t miss out on the Goldberg Variations by Glen Gould (number one classical recording for several decades)
Vivaldi of course the four seasons, his violin, and mandolin concertos
Telemann, Corelli, and Scarlatti are lesser known but wonderful Baroque composers (Scarlatti by Horowitz, on piano, great stuff)
Finally, have you heard of Pandora? It is a web application and for Iphone as well, it is like a customizable radio station. You pick a composer or song and it plays music LIKE that all day long for you. It is WONDERFUL, and a great way to find new music of a certain type. The free version has ads, which I don’t get any more because I paid $36 not to, figuring $3 a month for an endless stream of customizable new music in the veins I like or want to explore is a ridiculous price and bargain. My wife is from Brazil, for example, we pick a few well known artists or songs and a whole buffet of similar artists and songs streams into our lives, I discover some new gem I never heard of every day.
We shared the free report on “Is Music a Birthright?”(http://www.brillkids.com/ext/partners/ebook-free-download-2.php) that gives some perspective the challenges of learning music, and their roots, some of which was brought out in our discussions. SoftMozart has some similar, more in depth articles on the origins and challenges of traditional music notation as well, the summary of which you can see in this thread
What I also added, in a different section, to try and give some perspective of the range of approaches and choices, is a series of posts about the four common approaches to learning piano (up to now). I believe that our methods, both Hellene of SoftMozart and Piano Wizard Academy, begin to shape a “fifth way”. What is important to appreciate is they were both developed in response to something that was not really working, in the context of the limitations of the other approaches, trying to compensate for those gaps and yet leverage their strengths. Though each method has its advocates and champions, including Hellene and I for our own, and those advocates can be as we have seen quite passionate and compelling, NONE OF THESE APPROACHES IS PERFECT. We do strive to honestly “perfect” our process every day, with more and more knowledge, and this forum has been I think very fruitful in its exploration of the options. Here is my latest contribution to that conversation.
I don’t know how many parents are following all this, but I can tell you if you are, you are now MUCH more knowledgeable about both the challenges of music education, and the pallet of options available, and I hope it helps you all find your own unique solution to your children’s needs, and leads to a less dogmatic, more practical, efficient and fun way to bring music into their lives.