Articles

Resource directory for articles on music and behavior and music education.

1. MuSICA currently provides all issues of MuSICA Research Notes. MRN is a newsletter of analysis and commentary on the broad field of research on music and behavior, including evolution, brain mechanisms, child development, perception, learning, memory, performance, health and related topics. The author of all material is Dr. Norman M. Weinberger. MuSICA Research Notes was published in nineteen(19)issues from Spring 1994 through Summer 2001. The MRNfiles can be searched through the subject index. You can also directly select any issue or any article by title. You may read/download material from MRN

2. NAMM FOUNDATION NEWS
The Best Communities for Music Education
Nationwide survey finds school districts committed to music education as a conduit for success in school and in life. Download theSupportMusic Coalition Report to keep music education strong in your community.

3. Music Together

Music Together is an internationally recognized early childhood music program for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and the adults who love them. First offered to the public in 1987, it pioneered the concept of a research-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood music curriculum that strongly emphasizes and facilitates adult involvement. Music Together classes are based on the recognition that all children are musical. All children can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat, and participate with confidence in the music of our culture, provided that their early environment supports such learning.

4. Suzuki Association of the Americas - Geographical Teacher Locator

Suzuki method teaches violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, guitar, harp, flute, recorder, oboe, voice, and organ to very young children. Articles for parents are also featured.

5. Why Music? Music has the power to engage, relax, and energize us … and has also been shown to make children smarter. In studies conducted by early childhood specialists, preschoolers who received regular music lessons over several months showed marked advantages over their playmates who did not. Children dramatically improved their abilities to work mazes, copy patterns of color, and draw geometric figures. These skills reflect spatial intelligence, the foundation for more complex types of reasoning (such as those used in math and science). Read the rest of the article.

6. FREE MUSIC RESEARCH BOOK -Foundation for Universal Music Literacy

• Did You Know That?
• Paul Harvey on Music Education in our Public Schools
• What Famous and Accomplished People Say About Music
• Very Interesting Quotes from Shakespeare to Einstein
• What Science Knows … About The Benefits of Playing Music? [Results of Studies ]
• THESE ARTICLES AND MORE ARE IN THE FREE BOOK!

7. Music and Young Children - A Winning Combination -  [* This articles opens as a PDF file]

Excerpt from Dr. Michael Seidman's New Book, Hearing's Two Worst Enemies: Aging and Noise

The epidemic levels of hearing loss can be explained partially by the fact that we are living longer and aging takes a toll on hearing. But there is a second, more dangerous hearing enemy at work, too -- noise. If you think about the world we live in, this steep increase in hearing loss is not surprising. Each and every day, the average person is assaulted by an extraordinary amount of noise. In many cases, the sources are convenience devices and appliances we depend on -- hair dryers, garbage disposals, sound-producing toys, personal music players, lawn mowers, and vacuum cleaners, to name only a few.

Sound researchers have measured the intensity of many everyday noises and made some surprising conclusions. For example:

• Young people often drive cars with stereo systems that can be as noisy as a jet during takeoff.
• Movie sound tracks blasting from theaters' multispeaker systems rival the sound levels of power saws.
• The roar of a garbage disposal is nearly as earsplitting as a tractor engine.
• Hair dryers can blow away sandblasters, in terms of volume.
• The ear-piercing sounds made by certain children's toys are just about off the charts, sometimes matching air-raid sirens in intensity.
• An evening in a karaoke bar can cost a lot in terms of hearing. The combined effects of singing and music can go well above 95 decibels (dB).
• If you're going to the gym, choose your aerobics classes carefully—and get a spot as far from the speakers as possible. Noise levels from a gym's sound system frequently hit the 90+ dB range. READ THE ARTICLE!

-  [* This articles opens as a PDF file]

MORE ARTICLE RESOURCES TO BE AVAILABLE.

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