We want to wish all of our readers a very Happy and Healthy Chanukah, Christmas, and New Year. Remember to start your day right by listening to Classical music. No one is immune from the power of music. Many of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, mathematicians, writers, and teachers have studied and played musical instruments since they were children. These eminent individuals have integrated music into their thinking process.
If anyone has an experience they would like to share with our readers on the benefits of classical music please send it and it will be include it in the January 2012 newsletter.
December’s article of the month: During this holiday season I will remember my parents and grandparents and how they taught my siblings and I, to always help others and do our very best at whatever job we had undertaken. The article for December is entitled “What Leadership Legacy Will You Leave to the Next Generation?”
For other articles by Dr. Madeline Frank click on the following link:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Madeline_Frank
Dr. Madeline Frank’s new book “Leadership on a Shoestring Budget” is now available through amazon.com. Click on the following Amazon.com link to order your copy of “Leadership On A Shoestring Budget”
Madeline’s Musical One Minute Radio Show for December 2011
How did Classical music play a part Dorothy Sayers life as a mystery author and what musical instruments did she play?
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/madelines-one-minute-radio-show/
Who was Dorothy Sayers?
Dorothy Sayers was a mystery author, the creator of Lord Peter Wimsey, a violinist, violist, and a mother. Dorothy Sayers played the violin and viola at village concerts. Sayers said after playing violin on a village concert as a youth, “at every stroke of the bow the platform shook and danced and swung and swung and jumped and rolled and tossed like a ship at sea.” Even though the stage was rickety she enjoyed the audience’s reception. She said,”.for they encored me-they did indeed.” She “joined her school orchestra as a first violinist and later, like many young fiddlers, learned to play the viola in order to join a local youth orchestra that was short in the alto department” (Boyd, 2008, p.358).
http://www.thestrad.com/downloads/Strad199804Amateurs.pdf
Dorothy Leigh Sayers was born on June 13, 1893 in Oxford, England to the Rev. Henry Sayers, and Helen Mary (Leigh) Sayers. Dorothy learned Latin and French by the age of seven and began the violin at a young age. “In 1912 she won a scholarship to the Oxford women’s college Somerville, and in her first book, a verse collection titled OP I, she published at the age of 23.”
http://kirjasto.sci.fi/dlsayers.htm
“Sayers was among the first to receive a degree when the position changed a few years later”. She graduated in 1920 with a Masters in Art. She wrote about her academic experiences at Oxford in her book Gaudy Night. In Dorothy Sayers’s detective stories with Lord Peter Wimsey she shows him to be intelligent, athletic, an expert on Classical music and a fine pianist who plays all of Bach’s works on piano.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_L._Sayers
Dorothy Sayers died on December 17, 1957 at the age of 64 in Witham, Essex, UK.
“Westborough Resident to Support Accelerated Cure Project for MS” (Oct. 27, 2011) from theCommunity Advocate.
In its 9th year “Music to Cure MS is the brain child of Marion Leeds Carroll, a former opera singer and stage director who was diagnosed with MS in 1988. Carroll heard about the Accelerated Cure Project in 2002 and decided to use her own skill-set to bring opportunities to her own world: classical music. The first fund-raising concerts she organized were called “Sing to Cure MS.”
“Music Therapy Unlocks Patient Breakthroughs: Therapists Use Music to Restore Function” (October 27, 2011) by Sara Seyydin Journal Staff Writer from the Auburn Journal.com. “Music therapist Rachel Firchau, left, works with Jim Bennison, right, in a music therapy session Tuesday morning. During his session Bennison, who had a stroke, was able to learn to clearly sing and say the word “hello.”
“Too Late in Life to Learn to Play an Instrument? Never!” (Nov. 2, 2011) by David Weiss from theplay.lifegoesstrong.com. Neurobiology research professor Norman R. Weinberger of the University of California, Irvine asked, “Is it too late to gain musical understanding and the enjoyment of performance at an advanced age?”
“There is no evidence of such a limitation, with the caveat that one has to match physical abilities to the demands of the selected instrument. On the contrary, music experience and music lessons have repeatedly been shown to be successful and have many psychological and social benefits. Weinberger went on to cite the success of Dr. Roy Ernst, founder of the New Horizons Band, comprised largely of adults between the ages of around 60 to 85, the majority of whom never had previous music lessons. Not only do they sound fairly professional in performance, they have achieved a goodly dose of pleasure and happiness – as have their enthusiastic audiences. They could have been at home darning socks and pruning the garden, but instead they reinvented themselves doing something they’d never dreamed themselves capable of!”
http://play.lifegoesstrong.com/too-late-life-learn-play-instrument-never
“Natural Stress Busters for Cats” (Oct. 27, 2011) by Narda Robinson, DO, DVM from the Veterinary Practice News. “Music has a long history of healing. Ancient Greek physicians included music in their prescriptions to lower stress, facilitate sleep and reduce pain. Contemporary investigations of music for health demonstrate its value for everything from Alzheimer’s disease to survivors of myocardial infarction to chronic pain patients. Although slow, classical music relaxes most species, noxious noise in comparison (such as loud and/or non-classical music, sounds from the television, and familial arguments) serve to elevate stress and further incite the inflammatory cascade. Expanding experimental evidence indicates that music modulates both cardiac and neurologic function, squelching stress through both biochemical and neuromodulatory means.”
Evidence & Articles supporting the benefits of classical music in your daily life, in the Public School Classrooms, and while doing homework after school:
Mrs. S teaches 7th grade Math at Davis Middle School in Hampton, VA.: “Students perform better on tests and quizzes while listening to Mozart Symphonies in the background.”
Mrs. C’s high school math class in Colorado: “The students asked for music in class. I told them I would play only Mozart. At first they objected but soon decided they liked the music, because it made them feel better and able to focus more on their lessons. Consequently, not only did the grades get better, so did the discipline. Then the students began requesting Mozart.”
Mrs. G had her fifth grade students listening to classical music, played softly, while the children did creative writing assignments and when they did problem solving in math. It created a calm atmosphere conducive to problem solving and creative thinking as well as an appreciation of music that they might not have experienced. The results were so good that she incorporated this into her teaching for the last five years of her teaching career.
Mrs. JC had her fourth grade reading class of 22 students, listening to Mozart and other classical music during class for the entire school year .The children have consistently made 100’s on tests and work. These are just average students not exceptional.
Mrs. J has 4 children, ages 19, 16, 12 and 8 who have been listening to Mozart and other classical music while doing their homework after school since March 05. She has seen them become more focused and relaxed, finishing homework quicker, with more accuracy which has led to higher grades.
Northside Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia is using classical music in halls and class rooms with very good success. “Classical Music Plays at Norfolk School”
For more scientific evidence, medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children read“The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Click on the link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/the-secret-of-teaching-science-and-math-through-music/
“Musical Notes On Math” by Dr. Madeline Frank teaches your child fractions and decimals, the fun way, through the rhythm of music, Winner of the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award. For more information click on the following link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/musical-notes-on-math/
For Tips on how to use “Musical Notes On Math” click on the following link:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/pg47.pdf