Moulding with melody

Sujata C

Music is the outburst of the soul for some and the medium for salvation for many. But it has some uses that are more practical and mundane, especially in the classroom, where it serves as a proven teaching and learning strategy.

The use of music to teach is more common in the early school years, where by and large it is used to promote language learning and numerical literacy through nursery rhymes. Songs also come to the rescue of teachers when teaching social and emotional skills to children.

But as the student grows and the studies get serious we turn away from music. Why can’t teenagers and young adults benefit from music in their studies? After all, the benefits of listening to music are many. Music has that singular ability to aid meditative contemplation, next only to silence. There may have been many occasions when you have had a difficult lesson to teach and you really wanted the whole class to get it – not just the few bright ones. Music can come to your rescue at such moments. Because of its multi sensory effect, music has the capacity to untangle a complex mental state, break down barriers, calm the mind and prepare it to receive knowledge. In the hands of a sensitive teacher, music can be a revolutionary learning tool, because in many ways it levels the playing field in a class. It gives everyone, even the most reluctant student, a fair chance at learning. Music will not only make class experience memorable but will also make the lesson itself easy to remember.

How music aids learning: Music acts on the brain before it transforms into feelings. According to clinical psychologists who have conducted research on the subject, music helps to enhance cognitive abilities. Being pleasant to the ears, music increases attention span. The cerebral cortex located in the forehead is active when a person is concentrating and paying attention, but music activates the cerebellum which lies at the bottom of the brain near the brain stem. So a combination of music with learning activates a brain circuitry that involves two major parts of the brain and this could be the reason for the high impact learning that has been seen to take place. Memory plays an important part in learning and research suggests that music enhances the bio-chemical aspect of memory and activates the neural circuits.

Indian music and learning: The link between music and learning in the Indian context goes back to the Vedic times. The Sama Veda is thought to be the foundation for Indian classical music. It contains hymns which had to be sung and recited. This indicates that music and learning go hand in hand. Research also supports the fact that learning Carnatic music (and perhaps all forms of classical music) improves phonological awareness, verbal working memory and pitch perception abilities. Raga Bagesri has the capacity to invoke the teacher’s grace and hence enables learning. Raga Shanmukhpriya sharpens the intellect, it is said. Research on the impact of ragas on college students by Karuna Nagarajan et al* of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusansadha Samsthana University, Bangalore, Karnataka, concluded that memory scores improved immediately after listening to Raga Bhupali of the Hindustani style of music. (Nagarajan K, 2015) Raga Mohana in Carnatic music tallies with Raga Bhupali and has the same notes.

Another interesting thing is said about Indian classical music – it is believed to have a sublimating effect on the mind. An exposure to classical music brings about a maturity of the mind which facilitates culturally acceptable behaviour and an easy grasp of spiritual knowledge.

Brain waves and learning: Brain activity is regulated through waves which are electrochemical impulses emitted by the neurons. The types of brain waves that are emitted are responsible for the various states of our mind – alpha, beta, theta and delta waves. There is a more recently discovered fifth state that releases gamma waves, also called insight waves.

The States of Brain Waves
Beta waves: Alert and active state 13-160 pps
Delta waves: Deep sleep state 0.1-4 pps
Alpha waves: Relaxed and receptive state 7-3 pps
Theta waves: Drowsy and reduced consciousness 4-7 pps
Pulses per second

The alpha state is the most desirable state for learning as the brain is ready to receive and process new information. There is scientific research that supports the idea that listening to sounds with the same frequency as the Alpha brain waves (7.5-12.5 Hz) stimulates the emission of those brain waves by the brain. Neuroscientists have established a correlation between an increase of alpha brain waves and reduction of depressive symptoms and increase in creative thinking. A study titled “Functional Role of Frontal Alpha Oscillations in Creativity,” published in the journal Cortex (April 2015), states that creativity is increased by enhancing alpha power using 10 Hz trans-cranial alternating current stimulation (10 HztACS) of the frontal cortex.

Dr Jeffery Thompson, musician, educator and founder of the Centre for Neuroacoustic Research in California, who advocates sound therapy and brainwave entrainment confirms this. According to him, if pulses at a consistent frequency are introduced into the brain by visual, audio, electrical means, the brain has a natural tendency to follow or ‘lock on’ to their frequency, in what is dubbed as frequency following response.

In the 1980s, well-known psychotherapists of Bulgaria developed a method of Accelerated Learning that uses classical music. It has been found to aid information absorption and high memory retention. It suggests three kinds of music to enhance learning – welcome music (to set the mood), active concert (for information assimilation), and passive concert (for long-term memory). You can choose from an array of classical masters, including Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Mozart, Bach, Handel and Vivaldi. Lozanov recommends Beethoven’s concerto in D major op.61 for an active concert and Hayden’s The Water Music for a passive concert. Listen to the two pieces to get a feel of the difference in the music. The secret of how it works lies in the character of the music. (A deep soak in
classical music will be needed to really understand that). In schools that are technology enabled, this method should be very easy to implement.

The Mozart effect: Developed by Don Campbell, the Mozart effect uses his concertos and symphonies to help children with dyslexia, speech disorders, and autism. There is some research to prove that listening to Mozart actually improves spatial learning. But it has not yet been proven whether the effects are long term or short term.

Some might argue that music can assist only those who are musically inclined, if you go by Howard Gardener’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. There will be those who say who wants to study when Beethoven is making the strings sing!? So in a class music may not work for all. But the fact remains that music adds a certain stickiness to information that makes learning last. Many educationists including those of John Hopkins School of Education recommend that music be integrated into the curriculum as it eases the task of learning.

Rhyme for a reason: But can music be used to teach in higher classes when the topics are serious and the subject matter is tough and vast? It appears so. One look at the educational music videos on YouTube shows you can. There is a new breed of educators on YouTube. They have set up their own channels and upload videos. A majority of these are students themselves who have enjoyed learning something that was challenging. Not stopping at that, they made music videos to showcase and share them with fellow earners. That’s really heartening because it shows that we are finally progressing towards a society where knowledge is free. Check out the links given below. It will be worth your time.

Science: The Physics Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi346op8Psw
Meet the Elements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy0m7jnyv6U makes learning the periodical table easy.
Kreb’s Cycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMBIs_Iw0kE Wilson Lam (Macklemore – Thrift Shop Parody)
Chemistry: All about that base – no acid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAJsZWhj6GI
History: Wondering how history could be taught through a fun video? There is one video that aces the list. It gives you a grip on Japanese history in less than 10 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o. It has an impressive view count of over 1.8 crores.

Many rock bands have graduated from popular music and have integrated learning with their music. One New York based band from the 1980s did just that and made several educational albums for children from 2008 onwards. Their series is very popular and deals with subjects as widespread as language, numbers, and science concepts. Here Come the ABCs, Here Come the Numbers, Here Comes Science are some of their popular educational albums.

Math: For inspiration every teacher must watch this one – The Dot and the Line – A Romance in Lower Mathematics. This short film is the winner of the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1965, directed by Chuck Jones. It weaves a three cornered love story with shapes.

But teachers need not stop at just watching music videos. They can also go ahead and create some of their own! Sure it needs some talent and commitment, but it is worth a try. Take a look at the pool of human resources around you. Every school has a music teacher and language teacher whose skills can be enlisted by the math, science, history and every other subject teacher. Those pesky students, who are ready with a parody for every lesson, might be just the right people for the job. Every contribution can be utilized to come up with musical ditties that give learning a new lease of life. School managements can do their bit to promote an ambience of creativity and encourage teachers to let the creative juices flow and experiment.

Beethoven has said, “Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks, and invents,” which means we have to get our hands and feet dirty to let the learning happen.

The author is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad. She can be reached at sujata117@gmail.com.