Introduction to accelerated learning

4. Music and learning

‘In music the sages found pleasure, and saw that it could be used to make the hearts of the people good. Because of the deep influence it exerts on man, and the change it produces in manners and customs, the ancient kings caused it to be one of the subjects of instruction.?

Confucius (551?479 BCE)

Dr Georgi Lozanov has done considerable research into the effects of music on learning, and ‘the Mozart Effect? is now a well publicised theory (UNESCO, 1977). However, the use of music in the classroom needs to be seen in a wider context if it is to appeal to all of our students, and you will need to experiment with what works best in certain circumstances.

Some teachers find it beneficial to keep baroque music or Indian classical music playing as a gentle background noise at all times in the classroom. This does indeed seem to have a calming effect on many classes, and removes the need for students to talk while they are working, to ‘fill in? the silence. Some psychological studies have suggested that listening to these types of music can improve brain performance and perhaps even boost IQ. Whether this is the case is debatable, but we can at least be sure that music does have an effect on our moods and emotions, and can therefore have an impact on how well we learn.

Another way to use music in the classroom is to use short extracts to evoke a particular mood or enhance an activity. For example, something like the theme to Mission Impossible might be a good choice for a small group brainstorming activity ? all ideas must be written down before the music stops! On the other hand, Vivaldi's Four Seasons might be a more appropriate choice for a comprehension or written task.

Activity 4

Please click on "view document" below and read What is the role of the music?

Activity 5: The excerpt exercise

Prepare three short extracts of music to be played to your class:

• one current pop/dance track;

• one baroque ‘classical? track (e.g. Mozart, Vivaldi);

• and one ‘heavy metal? track.

Play about a minute of each, and as you do so, ask students to write down how each track makes them feel. Ask for some brief feedback, then ask the question: ‘Based on your feelings, which one would be best to do your homework to??. Most students will reason that the classical one that made them feel ‘quiet?, ‘calm? and perhaps even a bit ‘bored? will be better than one that is ‘lively? and ‘makes them feel like dancing? or one that makes them feel ‘aggressive? or ‘angry?.

Open a class discussion about background music and sounds when working.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence