The Effects of Classical Music on Individual

Acknowledgements

This research paper is made possible through the help and support from everyone, including: parents, teachers, family, friends, and in essence, all sentient beings. Especially, please allow me to dedicate my acknowledgment of gratitude toward the following significant advisors and contributors: First and foremost, I would like to thank Kamal Vai who is the lead guitarist of the band Aurthohin and one of the most renowned musician of our country for his support and encouragement. He gave me numerous valuable information and admiration to my research.

And my course instructor for giving me guidelines and supports through the research. Secondly, I would like to thank my friends Zahid Neloy, Nahid Islam and Nahian Mahmud Alvi to read my thesis and to provide valuable advice, a brother Jefry to reproof the paper, as well as all the other people who have taught me a lot about classical music. Finally, I sincerely thank to my parents, family, and friends, who provide the advice and financial support. The product of this research paper would not be possible without all of them.

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Abstract

Almost in every culture they have their own traditional music and anthem. It is actually another way of expressing ideas and emotions. Classical music is the root of all music and still practiced by a number of musicians. For my primary research I surveyed general people where I tried to cover all groups of age for their opinions about classical music. How different feelings generate through this music and what do they think of this music. What I found is that so many other genres took the position of classical music and its popularity is on decrease.

But still there are groups of people who are well aware of its contribution to music and influence on people and tradition. It is still a great source of entertainment and used widely in background music on TV programs and movies. It is used in restaurants, family parties and clubs. It has effect on peoples mind and many research and studies have done if it can be used in betterment of humanity. It is indeed different from other genres and people have respect and feeling about this music. Comfort is what come to most of the peoples mind when listening to it.

Introduction

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ” ? Albert Einstein Can you find any people who doesn't listen to music at least in some extent? At present days it is really hard. People's feelings and emotions are connected to music.

And when talking about classical music it goes back centuries. There are lot to know about music and its development. And when it comes to development of music, classical music cannot be avoided. Because it is the root of all music. It is as much interesting as it seems at first glance. There is lot to know about music and how it evolved to modern day music. I found many astonishing information about classical music which people would yearn to know. Before starting I want to mention the name of Mozart . He is one of the most prominent musician all time.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) born in Germany, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers. Classical music is one of the most influential musical genres in the music industry. Many writings, speeches, poets have been written to it. Many people find it useful to listen to this music. Comfort is what comes to their minds while listening to it.

Different music is for different situation. People choose it to be heard in calm environment. They recommend classical music in restaurants, clubs and family parties. The effects of classical music can vary from person to person. There is a term called "The Mozart Effect" which refers to effects on the pregnant woman and the newborn baby. Classical music improves cognitive ability which has positive impact on both young and old. However, it is commonly agreed that music has a profound effect on mood, spatial intelligence, memory and language.

This is why in the west it is used as background music in some schools.

Background

Studies suggest that listening to classical music decreases tension and improves mood (Rea et al. , 2010). Research also indicates that playing music enhances specific aspects of intelligence such as verbal ability and spatial-temporal reasoning, though it does not increase general intelligence. Classical Music and Linguistic Abilities A number of research studies have supported the fact that classical music can have a positive effect on linguistic abilities.

One study found that those who listened to Vivaldi while exercising increased their scores on verbal fluency tests after their workouts compared to those who exercised without music (Ohio State University, 2004). Another study of 90 boys in Hong Kong between the ages of 6 and 15 found that those who learned to play music with their school’s string orchestra program scored higher on tests of verbal memory than a control group that did not receive musical training. The boys in the music group were also able to learn more new words than those in the control group (Yim-Chi Ho et al. 2003).

The Mozart Effect The Mozart effect has been the subject of much research in recent years, after it was found that listening to Mozart’s music may increase specific types of intelligence, particularly spatial-temporal abilities (Rauscher et al. 1993). However, a recent meta-analysis conducted by Pietschnig et al. (2009) suggests that simply listening to classical music is unlikely to produce these gains, but various studies indicate that playing music does enhance certain brain-based skills. Rauscher et al. 1997) found that children who were given keyboarding lessons, taught musical notation and other music-related skills, and learned to play simple melodies by Mozart and Beethoven achieved scores that were approximately 30% higher on tests of spatial-temporal reasoning than children of the same age who did not receive musical training, and these effects did not diminish over time.

Thus, it appears that greater gains can be achieved by not only listening to music but also learning about it and creating it. Experiments have also been conducted to determine whether rats and mice are subject to the Mozart effect. Rauscher et al. 1998) found that in-uteri and early childhood exposure to Mozart improved the ability of rats to solve mazes quickly later on, though Steele (2003) argues that the evidence is weak, given that some other researchers have not been able to replicate the results. David Merrill conducted an experiment in which one group of mice were subject to round-the-clock classical music and another to heavy metal music while a third acted as a control group in a no-music condition. The Mozart mice made good progress in reducing their maze-solving times, but the first experiment was cut short when the heavy metal mice attacked and killed one another.

A second experiment with lower music volumes and mice separated to prevent violence yielded results in favor of Mozart: The classical music mice solved the mazes more rapidly than those in the other two groups, and the heavy metal mice became worse at maze-solving than when they had first been introduced to the mazes (Wertz, 7 February 1998). Mozart’s Music and Epilepsy Mozart’s music has a beneficial effect on those suffering from epilepsy. A study of epileptics found that listening to Mozart’s music, even when unconscious, decreased epilepsy brain activity in the majority of subjects.

A case study of one girl found that her seizures decreased significantly after listening to Mozart for just 10 minutes of each waking hour (Jenkins, 2001). Concentration and Classical Music Despite the above results, there have been several studies that indicate that although classical music is helpful for memorizing, it is not as helpful for mental concentration and or test-taking. A research study conducted by Robert Hjortsberg of Loyola University found that their test subjects performed mental tasks more effectively without any music as compared to classical music.

A research study conducted by Mike Manthei at the University of Nebraska confirmed the above results and found that classical music had a negative impact on students taking math exams. How Classical Music Can Be Used On Classroom Background Finding out about which type of music is best to play in the classroom can help students enjoy your classes and improve their concentration. Many studies have been conducted on the effects of music on cognitive ability, and the potential benefits music can have on concentration, enjoyment, comprehension and spatial-temporal reasoning have attracted the attention of many researchers.

According to research, any music is better than no music, and baroque, classical and rock music can have positive effects. Classical Music Improves Surgery Music soothes savage beasts of all ages. The power of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and other classical composers lay in their ability to create a variety of moods. For centuries, listeners have relaxed with classical music, energized themselves, honed their concentration, or captured elusive sleep. With classical music, a romantic interlude still appears in the middle of a turbulent day or a solemn occasion turns inspiring.

Read on to learn how to relax with classical music. Additional Classical Music Experiments Capers (2009) details the use of classical music to reduce crime in various contexts, the most impressive of which was the London Underground experiment, whereby classical music was piped throughout London's crime-infested subway system. The result was a 37% decrease in vandalism, a 33% reduction in robbery and 25% fewer staff assaults. North et al. (2003) found, in keeping with prior research in other contexts, that people spend more money when listening to classical music.

Those eating at a particular restaurant purchased more food and drinks when the restaurant played classical music than they did listening to pop music or in the no-music condition.

Research Questions

As you have seen in my topic my research is about influence of classical music on individual. For conducting my research I came up with some major questions. I will be focusing on these questions which will help me go through my research. My research will address the following research questions: What do people feel about classical music? What is the special thing about this music comparing to other genres? What do musicians say about classical music? How popular is it? In which areas classical music can be used? In what state of mind classical music can be useful? What image in the mind comes out while listening to classical music?

Hypothesis

With these research questions I am expecting to have all my answers which will help me go through my research. I expect classical to be averagely popular among the other genres of music. Though this music feels soothing I expect it to be difficult to cover and only expert musicians are seen to cover.

I expect people's feelings should be different because different people has different taste of music. I expect this music is for calm peoples and those who are middle aged. There is a group of young generation among whom classical music is very popular. There was a huge popularity of classical music in the early 19th century among renowned musicians and I expect it remains the same today.

Methodology

For my primary research, I conducted a survey of a representative sampling of the general public in Dhaka City on their views and feelings about classical music.

To that end I designed a questionnaire with different types of questions so as to get a range of useful data which will help me to answer my research questions. I took my survey on 51 people from whom 35 of them were male and 16 were female. My target ager groups were 18-24 and 25-36. But most of the representatives of my survey were in 18-24 group. For my secondary research I planned to see the resources of the library and also consulted few books and autobiographies of people who are attached to music. I also browsed the internet and use standard search engines like Google for further information.

Data Presentation and Analysis

Let me go through and explain the data I found through my primary research. Do you listen to music? This is my first question in my questionnaire. The reason of this question was I wanted to ask a general question about music that how people likes music. It resulted that around 84% of the people listens to music. 12% of them somewhat listens. And only 4% of the people doesn't listen to music. So, we can say that almost all people listens to music. How would you grade classical music among other genres? Here, the peak was for "very good". 46% people graded very good comparing to other genres. Slightly below was "fair ". 2% of the people said classical music is fair. The other two was significantly low, 10% for poor, and 12% for excellent. What kind of feeling do you get while listening to it? This is another question about how people feel while listening to classical music. Lagging far behind others options comfort got 46%. Joy and neutral was somewhat near, 20% and 14%. Others choices were significantly low. When are you to listen to this kind of music? Another important question was in what situations and circumstances people tend to listen to classical music. 34% people chose anytime. A slightly below 30% said in a free time.

There are people who would like to listen to it while working(14%) and when taking a rest(16%). Another was on a journey which took only 6%. How classical music is popular among people? Here I just wanted to know what people think of its popularity. Only 6% said it is very popular. 40% was the highest somewhat popular. A little less got the neutral part around 34%. 6% of the people said that it is very unpopular. How likely are you to listen to this music? Most people are somewhat likely to listen to this music as the graph above shows. Here around 41% are somewhat likely to listen to classical music.

Very likely and neutral both got 17% of the vote. Others are insignificant. Classical music is for all generations. Lastly I asked a question where people would stop and think for a while at this question. 64% people agree that classical music is for all generation. Way below only 20% people disagreed with it and even lower 16% people strongly agreed. No one marked for strongly disagree.

Summary and Research Findings

After all the research I have done, what I found is some important notations on classical music. Classical music is an average popular genre of music. Its popularity is on decrease.

Many of the modern genre has taken place of it. People mostly young ones are rarely to listen to such music. People who are middle aged are mostly the customers of classical music. One thing people agreed is that classical music is the root of all music. It has created a foundation by which other genres made its' appearance. It has influence on number of different cultures including ours. Thus no one can refuse it's importance.

Conclusion

Nothing comes without a reason. If classical music had no influence there were no practices, compositions, covers, performance, notation, theory of this genre.

It has indeed did great to individual and society. Different people find different essence with it. Different people recommend this music in different situations. There had been famous musicians of classical music who have taken places in history. Researchers have been done and studies had been conducted to find suitable ways for this music. Though it is not that popular as it were in early classical era it is indeed practiced by many musicians still now and people still has great respect for it.

References:

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