We want to wish all of our readers a Happy and Healthy New Year! Remember to start your New Year right by listening to Classical music which has the power to make you smarter, help you work faster with more accuracy, improves health and healing, grows healthier plants in fewer days, increases sales in stores, and can prevent crime. If school cafeterias and school buses played Classical Music, the students would be calmer and more focused without violent tendencies. 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 February 2011 newsletter.
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/contact-madeline-frank/
Article for January 2011:
“What Leadership Legacy Will You Leave to the Next Generation?” by Dr. Madeline FrankHow will you be remembered after you are gone? I have always been taught by my parents and grandparents that you should always help others and do your very best at whatever job you undertake.
http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Leadership-Legacy-Will-You-Leave-to-the-Next-Generation?&id=5548812
Madeline’s One Minute Musical Radio Show for January 2011
How did Classical music play a part of Sir William Herschel and Caroline Herschel’s lives as Astronomers and Musicians and what instruments did they play?
Click here for Your Radio Show:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/madelines-one-minute-radio-show/
Question of the Month: Who were Sir Frederick William Herschel and Caroline Lucretia Herschel?
Sir Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel is the “Father of Modern Astronomy” and his sister Caroline Lucretia Herschel is the “First Lady of Astronomy”. Their father, Isaac Herschel was a military musician, an oboist and later bandmaster for the Hannover Military Band. He taught his ten children music and he had a great interest in astronomy. The children’s mother, Anna Ilse Moitzen Herschel did not believe in an education for her daughters. She believed “women were second class citizens” and only wanted her daughters to learn to do “household chores”. William was the fourth child and his sister Caroline, was the 8th child.
http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B1/B1503/05MB1503.html
William Herschel was born on November 15, 1738 in Hanover, Germany. William had a passion for music and science and played the oboe like his father, Isaac Herschel. He also played the violin, the cello, the harpsichord, the organ, composed 24 symphonies, many concertos, church music, and was a conductor.
As a young student at the Garrison School, William “was the star scholar” and was a gifted mathematician who could solve problems that even his teacher could not solve. At 14, “he became a band boy in the Hanoverian Guards, but when the French invaded Germany he volunteered for the army and decided to pursue a military career instead. Soon the artistic young musician found out that he was unsuited for the army. He deserted and escaped to England in 1751 with his father’s help when Hanover was invaded.”
He played solos for the Brabandt Orchestra on his violin and later left the orchestra to work in Bath. In Bath he played first violin for Professor Lindlay’s orchestra. He also played organ at the Octagon Chapel and was a music teacher.Professor Linlay was the “proprietor and leader of the famous Bath Orchestra.” He also had a School of Oratory where “he trained young people to sing and speak. His daughter Miss Linlay, “was his finest pupil”. William “bought out the school of Professor Linlay, and became proprietor and leader of the famous Bath Orchestra.” For his orchestra William needed a fine singer who had talent to replace Professor Linlay’s daughter.
http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B1/B1503/05MB1503.html
William could not find a wonderful singer locally and decided in 1772 to go back home to Germany and bring his sister Caroline to England to assistant him in his work. His other three sisters were married and a fourth was engaged to be married. Caroline Lucretia Herschel was 12 years younger than her brother. He wanted a housekeeper and needed a fine singer and decided he would train her at his school.
Caroline’s mother used her as her servant. William saved her from this life. He brought her at the age of 22 to England and taught her English and singing. Under William’s tutelage she became a fine singer singing professionally. Her solos in Judas Maccabeus and the Messiah were well received. “Herschel’s music led him to an interest in mathematics and lenses.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel
Caroline Herschel was born on March 16, 1750 in Hanover, Germany. At three years of age she had smallpox which left one eye disfigured and her cheeks pock marked. At the age of ten she had typhus which stunted her growth. She grew to 4foot 3 inches. Her father Isaac taught her music and shared his love of astronomy with her. Caroline wrote,
“On a clear frosty night into the street, to make me acquainted with several of the beautiful constellations, after we had been gazing at a comet which was then visible.”(p.1)
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
After 1773 William’s “interest in astronomy grew stronger”. It was also at this time he met “the English Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel
William’s free time was spent “building telescopes so he could observe the night sky in greater detail. He used reflecting telescopes – these use a mirror to reflect light, instead of a lens. He had found that refracting telescopes were clumsy to handle but the reflectors available were also too large so he made his own, improving the light reflected by the mirror by increasing the amount of copper in the alloy.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel
Caroline sang in William’s concerts and assisted him in his musical work and took care of him while he worked on building his telescope. William taught Caroline “algebra, geometry and trigonometry” and “spherical trigonometry” so she could help him in his astronomical observations.
Caroline Herschel wrote, “Every leisure moment was eagerly snatched at for resuming some work which was in progress, without taking time or changing dress, and many a lace ruffle … was torn or bespattered by molten pitch. … I was even obliged to feed him by putting the vitals by bits into his mouth; – this was once the case when at the finishing of a 7 foot mirror he had not left his hands from it for 16 hours …”http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
Herschel discovered in 1781 “the planet Uranus” which he named the ‘Georgian Star’ after King George.111. He was given 200 Pounds a year by King George 111 which allowed William “to become a full time astronomer.”
http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B1/B1503/05MB1503.html
At this time, William gave Caroline her own telescope so she could make her own observations to sweep the sky and search for comets. She worked during the day on the “lengthy calculations necessary to reduce William’s data with remarkable accuracy.” Caroline worked on her own research when William left home.
Caroline and William moved to Slough in April 1786. They called their new home the Observation House. It was here on August 1, 1786 that “Caroline discovered her first comet which was described by some as the “first lady’s comet”. Her discovery brought her some fame “and articles were written about her. In one such article she is described as … very little, very gentle, very modest, and very ingenuous…while another describes her as:-… a most excellent, kind-hearted creature…”
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
King George 111 was so impressed with Caroline’s work that he gave her in 1787 a salary of £50 per year for assisting William. The next year “William married Mary Pitt and Caroline’s life changed”:- In the beginning Caroline moved from their home and “continued to support her brother’s work and in making the daily walk to Observatory House, …, with William resting after a long night of observation, the house was kept as quiet as possible during the day. Eventually the relationship between the two ladies – Mary and Caroline – warmed”
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
When Caroline’s nephew John Herschel was born to William and Mary Herschel the two sisters in law became good friends and Caroline called the baby “the Herschel planetoid”.
http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B1/B1503/05MB1503.html
Between 1786 and 1797 Caroline Herschel “discovered eight comets”. Then in 1798 she “embarked on a new project of cross-referencing and correcting the star catalogue “produced by Flamsteed.” She sent “to the Royal Society an Index to Flamsteed’s Observations of the Fixed Stars” with 560 stars that had been left out. “This publication marked the temporary end of her own researches which she would not begin again until 25 years later after William’s death.”
For the next twenty five years Caroline educated and greatly influenced her nephew John Herschel, William and Mary Herschel’s son who was born in 1792. John would visit his aunt for long vacations. Caroline “saw him educated at Cambridge, make a name for himself as a mathematician, become elected to the Royal Society, join his father in research in astronomy and be awarded the” Royal Society’s Copley Medal ” for his achievements.”
At this point , in 1799, Caroline Herschel was a guest at the Royal Observatory, Maskelyne, and “in 1816, 1817 and 1818” the members of the Royal Family invited her as a guest. “Caroline continued to assist William with his observations.”
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
William’s other discoveries included the “new moons of Uranus and two moons of Saturn. King George 111 was so impressed that he gave William and Caroline a house in Slough and salaries so that they could pursue their astronomical studies on a full-time basis.”
King George 111 “knighted Herschel and pardoned him for desertion.” The King also “gave him a grant to build a new telescope. This eventually resulted in a huge 40-foot telescope which became a landmark. King George liked to watch the telescope being built. “Herschel’s last observations were made “with this telescope.” He said, “Saturn was very bright and considerably well-defined… the mirror is extremely tarnished.”
http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/16908.aspx
Herschel also discovered over “400 double stars and proved that some appeared to be this way because they revolved around each other, and” he noticed “that stars formed into clusters and nebulae. He was the first to try to measure the Sun’s motion by using nearby stars and he theorized that sunspots were holes in the sun’s atmosphere through which the cool surface of the sun could be seen.”
John Herschel’s other discoveries included “the infrared range of sunlight. He did this passing light through a prism to see the colors of the spectrum and measuring each color with a thermometer. He realized that the temperatures became progressively higher and that red had the highest temperature. Herschel then placed the thermometer just beyond the color red where there was no visible light and found that the temperature was even higher. He realized that there was an invisible range of sunlight.”
http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/16908.aspx
Sir William Herschel died on August 25, 1822 at the age of 84 “which is the same number of years Uranus takes to orbit the sun” Sir Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel died in Slough at his Observatory House on Windsor Road.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel
When William died in 1822, Caroline moved back to Hanover, Germany. During her brother, William’s life time Caroline had assisted him in his astronomy work and now she helped John Herschel his son. She assisted her nephew, John, “as independent researcher producing a catalogue of nebulae to assist” him “in his astronomical work.”
She won the” Royal Astronomical Society’s Gold Medal on, Feb. 8, 1828 at the age of 78 for her completed “catalogue of 2500 nebulae.”http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
In England Caroline was named a member the Royal Society in England. She “was one of the first two women to be named” a member of this prestigious group.
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
In the world of science she was a celebrity “and she was visited by many scientists.” John Herschel, Caroline’s nephew visited her at 83 years of age in June 1832 and said,
“She runs about the town with me, and skips up her two flights of stairs. In the morning, till eleven or twelve, she is dull and weary, but as the day advances she gains life, and is quite ‘fresh and funny’ at ten p.m., and sings old rhymes, nay, even dances.”
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel_Caroline.html
She was elected at the age of 86 “to the Royal Irish Academy of Science” and at 96 she won the King of Prussia’s Gold Medal in 1846. “On January 9, 1848 Caroline Herschel died in Hanover, Germany at the age of 98.”
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32051.asp
Caroline Herschel “wrote her own epitaph, which was engraved on her tombstone. It reads, the eyes of her who is glorified here below turned to the starry heavens.” Forty one years after her death, in 1889, “Caroline Herschel received a final honor for her achievements when a minor planet was named “Lucretia,” her middle name.”
http://space.about.com/cs/astronomyhistory/a/herschelcar_2.htm
“Report Says Music Therapy May Reduce Epileptic Seizures” (Dec. 4, 2010) from the Taipei Times, Taiwan News. A study at the Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) “in collaboration with researchers at National Sun Yat-sen University’s department of music examined the effects of Mozart’s music on children 17 years old and” younger suffering from epilepsy. “Lin Lung-chang, a child neurologist at KMU Hospital and a member of the research team, said brain wave tests on 58 epilepsy patients in the designated age group showed that the frequency of abnormally excited electrical signals in the brain dropped an average of 30 percent in 47 cases after listening to eight minutes of Mozart’s piano concerto K448.”
During the second phase of testing “it was found that the longer the program of music therapy lasted, the better its healing effects on the patients.” Lin said, “Six months would be the best time span for music therapy. In a third-phase test, 18 patients with a high frequency of seizures or convulsions were found to have experienced a 53 percent reduction in frequency after a long period of music therapy.”
Yang Jui-cheng, child neurologist and team member, said the study found that in addition to “markedly improving” epilepsy in children, music can also help to reduce the dosage of medication patients require and its side effects.”
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/12/04/2003490086
“Winning Formula to Manage Stress” (Dec. 23, 2010) by Paula Owens from the Ahwatukee Foothills News. Ahwatukee.com
“Listen to music: Listening to slow, quiet, classical music is proven to reduce stress. Countless studies have shown that music’s relaxing effects can be seen on anyone, including newborns. Upbeat music can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive. This helps release stress and can even help you keep from getting as stressed over life’s little frustrations in the future. Researchers discovered that music can decrease the amount of the cortisol produced by the body in response to stress.” Paula Owens has over 20 years experience as a “nutritionist, fitness expert and weight loss coach .”
For more suggestions from Ms. Owens on reducing stress, visit:
http://www.ahwatukee.com/community_focus/article_8b5fa456-fcc8-11df-bddd-001cc4c03286.html
“Ventilator Helped By Music Says Study” ( Dec. 8, 2010) by Michelle Roberts, Health Reporter from theBBC News. Selecting the right music is very important.
“In most trials doctors had plumped for classical music, such as Mozart’s piano sonatas, or easy listening. Experts at the Cochrane Library say music could be better than drugs to calm patients during forced ventilation. In studies involving more than 200 intensive care patients, listening to music reduced anxiety and helped slow patients’ breathing rates.”
Lead researcher Joke Bradt of Drexel University in Philadelphia, US, said: “We recommend that medical personnel providing music to patients consult with a music therapist to understand what type of music may be best for a particular patient
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11935522
Classical music has the power to organize the brain while listening to it as background music while you are doing your homework , to help you relax after a hard day of work or while doing exercises. Begin listening or playing your musical instrument for 30 minutes at a time. It helps because of its highly developed mathematics and therefore exercises the brain as physical exercise exercises the body. 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 go to
The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Click on the link below:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/the-secret-of-teaching-science-and-math-through-music/
“Musical Notes On Math” 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/
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
Evidence & Articles supporting the benefits of classical music in your daily life, in the Public School Classrooms, and while doing homework after school:
Mrs. I’s fourth grade reading, writing, and math class in the York County Public School District in Virginia. “During the summer of 2008, I taught students from all the schools in the county. About the middle of the term, I decided to start playing classical music while students worked independently. I noticed that students were more focused on tasks than they had been previously while doing independent work. They also talked to each other less. One day, when I forgot to turn on the music, a number of the students came up to me and reminded me to turn it on. At the end of the term, all the students had reached their academic goals in both subjects, (reading and math) and most had gone way beyond their goals. (Most of the student’s scores went up 15% to 36% higher.) I know that the atmosphere that was created by the classical music contributed a lot to this.”
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 wouldplay 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 18, 15, 11 and 7 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”