We are dedicating this Father’s Day to honoring men who are scientists, medical doctors, engineers, mathematicians, teachers, writers and musicians. These eminent individuals have integrated music into their thinking process. Music is a powerful tool for motivating, inspiring, educating and soothing pain. Remember no one is immune to the power of music! Parents remember to have classical music on your family’s iPod.
Thomas Jefferson was one of the “Founding Fathers” of our Nation and was a scientist, naturalist, linguist, architect, statesman, philosopher, father, grandfather, and musician, playing the violin and cello. His epitaph, which he wrote, reads, “Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of American Independence, Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.” Omitted is that he was the 3rd President of the United States and held the following offices: delegate, governor, minister, 2nd Vice-President, 1st U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Ambassador to France. He was the third of ten children of Peter and Jane Randolph Jefferson. “The Jefferson’s were a musical family; the girls sang songs of the time, and Thomas, practiced the violin assiduously from boyhood becoming an excellent performer.”
http://virtualology.com/thomas-jefferson.net/
http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=1241
http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/dayinlife/parlor/profile.html
Click here and listen to Madeline’s Musical One Minute Radio Show for June 2008. What did President Thomas Jefferson think of music and how long did he practice on his violin?
Calling all Principals, Teachers and Educators: On Monday, June 23, 2008 the Agape Foundation Inc. of Virginia will present the first “Sound Intervention” course taught by Dr. Madeline Frank, offered with credit using Classical Music for managing classroom behavior. The two hour course will be offered at 10a.m. -12 p.m. or 1p.m. – 3 p.m. Each class will have a 50 person maximum. The cost is $35. Click on the following link for complete details:
http://agapecounselingva.com/media/SummerInstituteFlyer.pdf
Calling all Health Care Professionals: On Thursday, June 26, 2008 the Agape Foundation Inc. of Virginia will present a “Sound Intervention” course taught by Dr. Madeline Frank, offered with credit for managing your client’s behavior through Classical Music. The two hour course will be offered at 10a.m. -12 p.m. or 1p.m. – 3 p.m. Each class will have a 50 person maximum. The cost is $35. Click on the following link for complete details:
http://agapecounselingva.com/media/SummerInstituteFlyer.pdf
Madeline’s question of the month: Is there any relief for tinnitus?
Alfred A. Tomatis was a French medical doctor specializing in ear, nose and throat disorders. “While treating hearing impaired factory workers by day and opera singers suffering from spots before their eyes at night (scotomas), Tomatis noticed a similarity of symptoms between the two patient populations” ( Weeks, 1991, p.42). From his investigation he “formulated the law describing the feedback loop between the larynx and the ear: The larynx emits only the range that the ear controls” (p. 42). He was recognized for this discovery by the Academy of Science of Paris in 1957. They named his theory the Tomatis Effect. He invented a device known as the electronic ear which filters out the low sounds and retrains the ear. “The primary function of the ear is to provide the cells of the body with electrical stimulation or cortical charge” ( p. 46). The music Tomatis uses is Mozart because of its universal appeal. For over 45 years he has successfully treated “ear, nose, and throat disorders, hearing and voice loss, stuttering, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), inflammation of the middle ear; neurological disorders: spots before the eyes, drooling, eye-muscle imbalances; psychiatric disorders: depression, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity; learning disorders; dyslexia, inability to concentrate; and a variety of balance/coordination disorders related to problems with the inner ear”(p.43). Tomatis retrains the ear muscles through his electronic ear which uses filtered high frequency sounds.
Weeks. B. (1991) Phase 2: The work of Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis. Campbell,D. anthology, Music physician: For times to come (pp. 42-47). Illinois: Quest Books.
For tinnitus sound therapy click on the following links:
http://www.soundtherapyinternational.com/information_sheets/tinnitus.pdf
http://www.toolsforwellness.com/49601.html
Madeline’s editorial question for June 2008:
Rap music triggers seizures! Can Mozart’s Classical music stop them?
On Friday, Jan 18, 2008, CBS’ The Early Show reported the first documented evidence of a young woman, Stacy Gayle, 25, from Alberta, Canada having had as many “as 10 grand mal seizures a day” triggered by listening to rap music. She began having the seizures when she was 21. The seizures became so bad she had to quit her job at a bank in Canada. She finally realized that the rap music she was listening to on her iPod was triggering the seizures in May 2007. By contrast, in London at the Institute of Neurology, doctors reported that a 46 year old man with severe epilepsy for most of his life had tried every thing to stop his “seven generalized seizures a month.” including 7 epileptic drugs and brain surgery to control his seizures without success . Tests confirmed the deterioration of his memory and learning skills in the last nine years and he was being evaluated for more brain surgery. In the last three months, he decided to change his lifestyle by listening “to Mozart for 45 minutes a day” and he has been free of seizures. “A Medical Maestro: Can Mozart Treat Heart Disease” (March 18, 2008) by Roger Dobson from the Independent.co.uk To read more click on the following link:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing
Max Born (1882-1970) in 1954 he won his Nobel Prize for Physics “for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics.” He was a pianist who played duets with his friend Albert Einstein on violin. He also played two piano concertos with Werner Heisenberg. He had 3 children, his oldest, Irene Born Newton –John, has 3 children. Her youngest is pop singer Olivia Newton-John. Dr. Born’s son, Gustov Born, is a Pharmacologist and his daughter Georgina Born is a British anthropologist, cellist, and pianist. Dr. Born “worked at the University of Breslau and Gottingen before Nazism forced his family to flee to the UK, where he held chairs first at Cambridge and later at Edinburgh University. He collaborated with Pauli, Heisenberg, Fermi, Dirac, Raman, and Oppenheimer among others, while also writing and speaking frequently on the social responsibility of scientists.” (Born-Einstein Letters, 1916-1955: Friendship, Politics and Physics in Uncertain Times by Albert Einstein and Max Born. Translated by Irene Born.)
http://www.macmillanscience.com/1403944962.asphttp://www.aip.org/history/newsletter/fall2002/maxborn.htm
In Nancy Greenspan’s biography of Max Born, “The End of the Certain World,” she reminds us that he was the “teacher of nine Nobel physicists” and that he waited “more than twenty years to receive” his Nobel Prize. “His Wunderkinder, .assistant Werner Heisenberg received his Nobel Prize in 1933.” www.maxborn.net/ Max Born’s daughter, Irene Born Newton-John, describes to Nancy Greenspan “her father’s loving nature and brilliant mind.” Nancy Greenspan also wrote the book, “But God Does Play Dice: The Life and Science of Max Born” published in 2004 by Perseus Publishing.
“A Surgeon’s Heart Beats to Music and Medicine. For Dr. Parsonnet, a Long Life is Filled with Healing Firsts” (April 3, 2008) by Robert Wiener from the New Jersey Jewish News. Dr. Parsonnet, 85, is a cardiac surgeon and began studying the piano as a child and continues to play. He is “a third-generation member of the Parsonnet and Danzis families, he is heir to the tradition of quality medical care practiced by his grandfathers, the first Victor Parsonnet and Max Danzis.” He has “three children, five grandchildren, and two happy marriages- Mia Parsonnet, herself a physician and pianist, died in 2002; he married Jane in 2004. As a cardiac surgeon, he has been closely involved with such pioneering developments as the pacemaker, the transplant, and the artificial heart.” To read more click on the following link:
http://www.njjewishnews.com/njjn.com/040308/njASurgeonsHeart.html
“Players Who Put Down a Stethoscope to Pick Up a Horn” (May 5, 1991) by Roberta Hershenson from the New York Times. In 1982, Dr. Stephen Moshman, a specialist in internal medicine and assistant professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University began the Albert Einstein Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra musicians are doctors , medical personnel and others who enjoy playing music. DR. Moshman says, he “lives and breathes music even as he helps his patients to live and breathe.” To read more click on the following link:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE4DE103EF936A35756C0A967958260
“Professor Jeremy Knowles” (.April 28,1935- April 3, 2008) (April 9, 2008) from the Telegraph.co.uk Professor Jeremy Knowles was a British chemist, Dean of Harvard University, visiting professor at Yale and Harvard, the father of three sons, and was a pianist and dancer. As a researcher he studied “ the evolution of enzymes at molecular level and introduced to the subject the notion of catalytic perfection, demonstrating that some enzymes function so efficiently that no improvement could be made to their performance.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/09/db0902.xml
“Doctors Make Sweet Music with VA Orchestra, Chorus: Volunteers Nationwide Trade their white coats for tuxes and give concerts that foster patriotic pride” (Oct. 18, 2004) by Damon Adams, AMNews staff from the Newspaper for American Physicians.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/10/18/prsd1018.htm
“THE DOCTORS ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK” celebrates its 70th Anniversary Season. Founded by physicians in 1938 “ interested in performing symphonic music. In recent years it has added community musicians representing the diverse professions in the metropolitan area. The Doctors Orchestra presents four to six concerts annually, often donating its services for benefits. Depending on the music, the orchestra at concerts has between 50 and 60 members. The orchestra has performed in New York’s major concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Town Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. Maestro Peter Bellino is in his sixth season as Conductor.”
http://www.doctorsorchestra.org/index.html
“Doctors orchestras around US and Europe”
http://www.doctorshobbies.com/OrchestraDocs.htm
“Doctors In Tune” (Dec. 5, 2007) I Medici Scientist and founder of the renowned Medici String Quartet, Professor Paul Robertson, has seen the effects music can bring as he has played for patients in the hospital. He says, “Music is potent in terms of providing relief for depression, anxiety and pain. Broadly speaking music seems to deliver a 30% relief to all those afflictions. If a drug company made a claim like that they would make a fortune.” The British Medical Journal has just suggested that “the Government spend more money on the arts and less on medicine. A recent report states around 50 billion is currently invested in health care each year and 300 million on the arts. Their suggestion is to divert 0.5% of health care budget into the arts to improve the health of our country.”
“Influential Harvard Epidemiologist Dies”(1923-2007) (Dec 13, 2007) by Cora K. Currier from the Harvard Crimson Online Edition. Brian MacMahon was one of the most influential men in modern epidemiologist and was also an accomplished classical pianist. His son says, he almost forwent his career in medicine to study music. For 31 years he served as chair of epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. The current dean of the School of Public Health, James H. Ware says, MacMahon’s 1960 textbook was for many years the bible for young epidemiologists. To read more go to:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=521255
“The Gray Ghost Bill Andberg: 1911-2007” (Dec 13,2007) by Tom Yelle from the ABC Newspapers. Bill Andberg was a veterinarian, world athelete, and a classical musician. He held 30 world and national records in running and in 1971 was declared the world’s fastest 60 year old man.” As a musician he played the violin, sang in choirs, and composed music. To read more on this Renaissance man go to:
http://abcnewspapers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1234&Itemid=1
“Educators Recognized for Their Devotion” (May 1, 2008) by Theresa Vargas from the Washington Post . Wes McCune, 56, is one of the recipient’s of the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award in Alexandria, Virginia. He has been a music teacher at John Adams Elementary School for 19 years and “developed the school’s opera education program, which has been credited with helping raise scores on the Standards of Learning assessments, and founded the school’s Orff Ensemble…..which meets an hour before school every day, with some students showing up half an hour early to head straight” to their instruments . To read about this award winning teacher click on the following link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/04/30/ST2008043003948.html
“National Teacher of the Year Chosen” ( April 30, 2008) by the Associated Press from Teacher Magazine. Michael Geisen, 35, teaches science at Crook County Middle School in central Oregon town of Prineville . He originally trained to be a forester , but missed “the students he’d worked with as a forestry teaching assistant at the University of Washington.” He is a guitarist and writes songs and develops games to teach science to his students. “When his first child was an infant, he went to Southern Oregon University in Ashland for a master’s in teaching.” When the White House called the school to speak to him he told them “He was terribly sorry, but could they call him later? He was with his seventh graders, and they mattered more.” To read more on Michael Geisen click on the following link:
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/04/29/08teachofyearp=547223435
“Music Builds Bridges in the Brain” ( April 16, 2008) by Greg Miller from the Science Now Daily News. Gottfried Schlaug, neurologist found in his 1995 study “that professional musicians who started playing before the age of 7 have an unusually thick corpus callosum, the bundle of axons that serves as an information superhighway between the left and right sides of the brain.” Now at Harvard Medical School in Boston he and his colleagues Ellen Winner and Marie Forgeard at Boston College, “studied 31 children. The researchers collected detailed magnetic resonance images of the children’s brains at age 6 and again at 9. Of the group, six children faithfully practiced at least 2.5 hours a week in the time between scans. In these budding musicians, a region of the corpus callosum that connects movement – planning regions on the two sides of the brain grew about 24% relative to the overall size of the brain.” The children who practiced one to two hours a week or who stopped practicing entirely on their violin or piano “showed no such growth.” Schlaug is continuing his research “with the same children to investigate whether their training had other benefits, such as improved memory or reasoning skills.”
For more medical evidence, test results, and true stories of the world’s scientists, medical doctors, and mathematicians who have studied and played musical instruments since they were children go to The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. click on the link below:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/the-secret-of-teaching-science-and-math-through-music/
If anyone has an experience they would like to share on the benefits of classical music please send it and it will be include it in the July 2008 newsletter.
Mr. O in NYC sent in the following: “Don’t forget Dentists! Mine offers a headset with his choice. I bring my own CDs a certain M Frank prominent among them.” Nov/Dec 2007)
Mrs. C in VA. says her dentist has a choice of radio stations to listen to and she always picks the local classical music station. It makes the visit to the dentist’s office less painful. (Jan 2008)
This June if you have a question about the power of music for education and healing … what would your specific question be?
Click on the link below and look on the left side to where it says Ask Madeline a question:https://www.madelinefrankviola.com
To help your children learn fractions and decimals through the game of music look at Madeline’s, Musical Notes On Math, a Parent-to-Parent Award Winner. Click on the link below:
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/musical-notes-on-math/
Evidence & Articles supporting the benefits of classical music in your daily life, in the Public School Classrooms, and while doing homework after school:
Mrs. C’s high school math class in Colorado: “The students asked for music in class. I told them I would play only Mozart. At first they objected but soon decided they liked the music, because it made them feel better and able to focus more on their lessons. Consequently, not only did the grades get better, so did the discipline. Then the students began requesting Mozart. “
Mrs. G had her fifth grade students listening to classical music, played softly, while the children did creative writing assignments and when they did problem solving in math. It created a calm atmosphere conducive to problem solving and creative thinking as well as an appreciation of music that they might not have experienced. The results were so good that she incorporated this into her teaching for the last five yeas of her teaching career.
Mrs. JC had her fourth grade reading class of 22 students, listening to Mozart and other classical music during class for the entire school year .The children have consistently made 100’s on tests and work. These are just average students not exceptional.
Mrs. J has 3 children, ages 16, 12, and 8 who have been listening to Mozart and other classical music while doing their homework after school since March 05. She has seen them become more focused and relaxed, finishing homework quicker, with more accuracy which has led to higher grades.
Northside Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia is using classical music in halls and class rooms with very good success. “Classical Music Plays at Norfolk School”
“Granite Falls Educator Is Nation’s Teacher of the Year” (April 26, 2007) by Lynn Thompson from the Seattle Times Newspaper. The nation’s teacher of the year is Granite Falls music teacher, Andrea Peterson. Andrea Peterson, 33, teaches choir and music classes at Monte Cristo Elementary School. She plays “almost every instrument in the orchestra, sings, composes music, and writes lyrics for her students on subjects as diverse as ocean ecology and Shakespeare.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2003680199_teacher25m.html
“Opera Enlightens Local Elementary School” (Feb 15, 2008) by Steffaney Clark from the Gulf Breeze News. The students at Navarre Primary School in Pensacola, Florida created an entire opera, words, music, and sets, with the help of the Pensacola Opera Company and their music teacher, Ann Leffard and their art teacher. “The opera takes the entire year to complete” and this is the school’s second year working with the Pensacola Opera Company. Jamie Pahukoa, a second grade teacher said the opera “focused on reading, writing and basic skills. It shows that there are more creative ways for kids to learn than just handing out worksheets. We learn together and it boosts their self esteem and gives them a sense of pride for what we accomplish during the course of a year.” http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2008/0214/Front_Page/007.html
“Food for the Brain” (Jan/Feb 1999) by Peter Perret from Symphony News. The Bolton Project in Winston-Salem, N. C. Using a classical music quintet, artist teaches, to teach all core subjects in the public schools.http://www.peterperret.com/bolton.html
“How the Arts Make Kids Smarter” (July 7, 2007) by Mary Belle McCorkle and Shirley Kiser from the Tucson Citizen, Tucson, Arizona. Gene Jones, a retired businessmanhttp://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/56776.php
“Opening Minds Through the Arts” (OMA) On March 8, 2008, Saturday at 3pm, the Opening Minds Through the Arts will have a fund raising Showcase at Rincon/University High School Auditorium and Cafeteria. OMA program “integrating the musical “arts into teaching reading, writing, math and science.” The program began 8 years ago in three elementary schools in Tucson, Arizona and is now in 44 Tucson Unified School District elementary and middle schools serving 19,000 students. The program has 700 teachers and 53 Teaching Artists. To read more click on the following link:
http://www.omaprogramaz.org/
“A Medical Maestro: Can Mozart Treat Heart Disease” (March 18, 2008) by Roger Dobson from the Independent.co.uk. In London at the Institute of Neurology, doctors reported that a 46 year old man with severe epilepsy for most of his life had tried every thing to stop his “seven generalized seizures a month.” including 7 epileptic drugs and brain surgery to control his seizures without success . Tests confirmed the deterioration of his memory and learning skills in the last nine years and he was being evaluated for more brain surgery. In the last three months, he decided to change his lifestyle by listening “to Mozart for 45 minutes a day” and he has been free of seizures. To read more click on the following link:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/features/a-medical-maestro-can-mozart-treat-heart-disease-797097.html
“The Famous Neuroscientist Listens in On the Marvelous and Mysterious Ways that Music Inhabits, Enlivens, and Sometimes Even Hijacks the Brain” (Jan 2008) by Susan Kruglinski from Discover Magazine: The Year In Science. In his book “Musicophilia”, Dr. Sacks relates to Susan Kruglinski how he used music- the Volga Boatmen song , after he injured his leg 33 years ago, to push himself down the mountain with his elbows. He was five or six thousand feet high on a mountain by himself, before cell phones, and he used music going through his mind to save his life. Once again after his leg was set he used the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto to trigger “the ability to walk again.”
“Tango Improves Balance, Mobility in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease” (Jan. 31, 2008) by Beth Miller from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. “Patients with Parkinson’s disease who took part in regular tango classes for 20 sessions showed significant improvement in balance and mobility when compared to patients who conventional exercise, a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine.”
http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/10927.html
“Quantum Learning Empowers Students Through Accelerated Learning (Feb. 21, 2008) from Education News, Trans World News.com. For over 26 years Quantum Learning school programs and Super Camp academic summer camps have been Accelerating Learning through Dr. Georgi Lozanov’s work developed in the mid- 70’s. Dr. Lozanov, from Bulgaria, a professor of psychiatry and psychotherapy used “baroque music, …steady 60-80 beats per minute, melodic chord structures and instrumentation assists your body to access an alert yet relaxed state whereby stimulating receptivity and perception allowing you to perform better and remember more.”
http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=37683&cat=15
“A Little Music With Exercise Boosts Brain Power, Study Suggests” (March 23, 2008) from the Ohio State Research News.osu.edu. A recent study on the positive effects of listening to classical music, Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”, while exercising on a tread mill for 30 minutes was done with “33 men and women in the final weeks of a cardiac rehabilitation program.” Most of the “participants had undergone by pass surgery, angioplasty or cardiac catherization.” Participants completed “a verbal fluency test before and after two separate sessions on a tread mill. The improvement in verbal fluency test performance after listening to music was more than double that of the non-music condition.” This study was included in the March edition of the Journal of Heart & Lung.” The study was conducted by Dr. Emery with Ohio State’s Evana Hsiao and Scott Hill, and Pfizer’s David Frid. To read more click on the following link:
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/hartsong.htm
“Artists as Education Consultants” (Feb 13, 2008) by Marcia Daft from Education Week.(pp.32-33) For the past fifteen years, Ms. Daft, a pianist, has worked as a “teaching artist” collaborating with classroom teachers to teach geometry, math, science, history and language arts.
Performing at Hospitals, Rehab Hospitals, and Retirement Homes
Madeline Frank, violist has shared her music with patients at local Hospitals and Rehab Hospitals in Virginia.