Does listening to music really make you smarter?
What kind of music benefits your brain the most? Check out this page to decide for yourself...

Click here to enjoy listening to Paganini (a famous classical composer) using RealPlayer
Visit Real.com to download a free version of RealPlayer

The effect music has on brain development is a big area of brain research. Some studies prove that listening to music during the first few years of life helps the brain form patterns that are very important to the learning process. The brain adapts easily during the the first years of life, so many types of music should be listened to during this time.

Did you know that there is no concert level performer who started training after the age of ten?

A man named Graziano conducted a research study that showed the effect of piano lessons on spatial temporal reasoning. Four-year-old kids who took six months of piano lessons scored 30% higher on spatial activities than other kids who took the same amount of time of singing or computer lessons. When do you use your spatial reasoning skills in school? You use them a lot in math, especially in geometry.

The term the "Mozart effect" comes from a number of studies about the effect that listening to Mozart's music has on brain activity. Some people demonstrated more abilities in spatial learning, memory, and reasoning after listening to a piece of Mozart's music. Other studies have had different results. In any case, most scientists agree that listening to music is good for the heart and soul.

Here are a few ideas for using music to build brain power:

• Sing any song at all in the morning to start the day.
• Play music tapes (or C.D.s) in the car. Use many different selections.
• Do your own experiment. Try playing Mozart before doing puzzles or a thinking activity like brainstorming.
• Use music to help you remember things. If you have to remember a list of facts try putting the list to music.

Do you want to hear something really interesting? I knew you would! Rats actually prefer to hear Mozart's Sonata k.448 while they're undergoing complicated T-maze learning. Humans seem to prefer this also! Isn't that amazing?

Now that you've read this page, what do you think about music? Are you going to make yourself a plan to increase your music smarts? Are you going to listen to a wider variety of music (if you don't already, that is)? To learn more about the musical intelligence visit our Smarts page.

On to the Injury Page