Kim (Cowell) Warger Elementary/Early Childhood Vice-preident
The Emotion of Music In and Out of the Classroom
Music has an enormous effect on human emotions. We can turn on a piece of music and out of nowhere emerge overwhelming feelings, changes in mood and altered behaviors. The mystery of the power that music has affecting the listener is powerful. Norman Weinberger states in his article Understanding Music’s Emotional Power, “Researchers doubt that any normal brain is immune to music’s ability to rapidly and seemingly inevitably tap the still mysterious, deep well of our emotions.” Hence, this is the reason we find music all around us. While cheering our favorite team, music is played to create excitement and make for an enthusiastic crowd. Children learn and memorize their ABC’s through song. Sitting in the dentist chair we hear music playing to help calm the anxious patient.
The American Academy of Pediatrics published in 2010, “many people find familiar music comforting and calming. In fact, music is so effective in reducing anxiety, it is often used in preoperative and radiation therapy settings to help patients cope with their worries about procedures. Music helps decrease anxiety in the elderly, new mothers, and children too.”
summer 2017 |
www.mmea.net
Music’s ability to banish worries is illustrated in the Rogers and Hammerstein lyrics,
“Whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect And whistle a happy tune, so no one will suspect I’m afraid… And every single time, the happiness in the tune convinces me that I’m not afraid.”
It is not surprising that the emotion in music would play a powerful role with children both in and out of the classroom.
Parents often begin at home by using the magic of music to relax and calm young children. Music therapists often refer to music as either being stimulative or sedative. Dr. Lisa Summer, Director of Music Therapy at Anna Maria College in Massachusetts, says parents should recognize that music will be determined as stimulative or sedative by the listener and many times may differ from the ear of the music selector. As children grow, parents can observe the responses of their children to different styles of music. With regular exposure and careful observation, parents will recognize which music soothes and calms their child.
When reflecting on my own children as infants, I can
remember their reaction to both lullabies and made up silly songs that encouraged activity. Hearing the voice of their mother produced a soothing effect, which would often calm them if in a distressed mood, or even lull them to sleep after a few moments. Trying to motivate a toddler to pick up toys or brush their teeth was often made a much easier task when getting silly and creating a made up song that would cause giggles, movement and eventually the task being completed.
• Teachers in the classroom often use music as a powerful tool as well. I encourage the university students that I work with to consider using music for emotion’s sake as they begin working with students in the classroom. I have watched classroom teachers use music in magical ways to transition students within their classrooms, due to the emotion that music conveys at a particular moment. I encourage classroom teachers to consider using music:
• before the school day begins • the start of the school day • during transitions • setting the tone for a lesson
See WARGER, pg. 22 17
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