The Profound Effects of Music on Life

I listened to this CD entitled "The Profound Effects of Music on Life" by Andrew Pudewa. Andrew Pudewa is a fascinating human being that spent years teaching in Japan and then worked at the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential. He was a professional violin player on top of all his other achievements. If you don't know anything about the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential, it definately is worth looking into. Basically, they have done intense study on the human brain and how it works and functions. Their stories are fascinating.
I listened to his lecture yesterday while walking and was completely blown away by his work. During Ancient Greek times, they only studied three subjects which were Rhetoric, Mathematics, and Music. There were laws that prohibited music to be written in a certain way. For example, the rhythm must not outweigh the melody. Laws! Music was that important! They would be so distraught now by the current music standards which is all rhythm. We view music today as something "nice", but Pudewa argues and proves it is essential to the growth of the brain. He says you actually are growing a child's brain by training them to classical music and getting them involved in piano or any classical instrument. He recommends that most should be done before the age of 6. I told Dominic about this today. I said "Every time you practice you are actually growing your brain." I saw the light bulb go on.
Dominic, Lillie, Rose, and Zellie take piano lessons. Before listening to this CD, John and I felt piano was important, but now I know why. I leave for my walk around 5:45 and put on Mozart before I leave so that when the kids wake up they come out to this. It really is beautiful! They are getting really good at recognizing the difference between Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach.
I would highly recommend listening to this CD and any of Andrew Pudewa's work. I also listened to his presentation on teaching Spelling to children. Brilliant!