October 2020 is the Thirteenth Anniversary of “Madeline’s One Minute Musical Radio Show” and the Fourteenth Anniversary of “Madeline’s Monthly Musical Tips Blog/Article”. This month our Radio Show and blog features the life and work of Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, Medical Doctor, Ph.D., musician, researcher, assistant professor, husband, and father.
Our article of the month is “Americas Blessing of Freedom & Hope” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. Also included is an article on how learning a musical instrument improves academic work and societal success
As a teacher and researcher for over 30 years I have discovered a scientific link between studying a musical instruments and academic and societal success. My ongoing research includes scientific and medical evidence, test results, over 168 article interviews , 156 Radio Shows, two books and iBooks. I would like to thank my research team, the thousands of scientists, engineers, physicists, chemists, biologists, mathematicians, medical doctors, astronauts, CPAs, political scientists, lawyers, councilors. teachers, colleges, universities, scientific organizations and others for helping me with this research. These eminent individuals have studied and played musical instruments since they were children and have integrated music into their thinking process.
These men and women have helped the world cure diseases, invented new products to protect others, and have provided a better life for mankind. It is a privilege to interview them and learn and share their work.
It has been found that individuals who study a musical instrument learn discipline, cooperation, teamwork, motivation, concentration, and self-esteem. Recent medical research has determined that when you play a musical instrument, all four lobes of the brain and the cerebellum are being stimulated. Studying a musical instrument develops millions of new connections, synapses, between nerve cells in the brain.
By playing a musical instrument, brain cells are strengthened and form new connections.
The brain is a Darwinian organ that changes with the stimulation it receives.!
Music is a powerful tool for motivating, inspiring, educating and soothing pain. Remember no one is immune to the power of music
Radio Show Feature Question for October 2020: How does Classical music play a part of Dr. Gottfried Schlaug’s life as a medical doctor, Ph.D., researcher, assistant professor and musician and what musical instruments does he play?
https://www.madelinefrankviola.com/one-minute-radio-show-2020/
I first read about Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, Medical Doctor, neurologist, researcher, and musician in 1994. He was doing a study at the University of Dusseldorf in Germany with neurologists Helmuth Steinmetz, and their colleagues on comparing “the magnetic resonance images of the brains of 27 classically trained right-handed male pianists or string players with those of 27 right-handed male non-musicians and found that in the musicians the planum temporale- a brain structure associated with auditory processing was bigger in the left hemisphere and smaller in the right then in the non-musicians’ (Schlaug, 1994, p.15).
Also, there was a thicker nerve- fiber tract between the hemispheres in the musicians. Musicians who had started before the age of seven had an even more pronounced difference. “The effect of training was most apparent in the corpus callosum, the four-inch-long bundle of nerve fibers that connects analogous structures in the hemispheres” (p.15). Rapid communication between the hemispheres is crucial as each hemisphere controls “movements on the opposite side of the body” (p.15). The corpus callosum was 10 to 15 percent thicker in musicians who had started their training before seven years of age. The earlier children start studying musical instruments, the better, as this will speed up communication between the hemispheres for better motor control. (Frank, 1997, pp. 31-32). (The Secret of Teaching Science and Math through Music)
Early life studying music:
Dr. Gottfried Schlaug: “I started playing recorder when I was six, and then we had a harmonium at home, which is actually an instrument where you have to pump the air yourself to get a sound out of the pipes. So, I went from recorder to harmonium. And when I was about nine years old my father built an electronic organ that we were able to practice on. And when I was about 12, I had a job in a church playing services on Sunday morning.”
Dr. Gottfried Schlaug: “I always wanted to be a musician when I grew up, and that got changed a little bit when I really had to make a decision what I was going to do in life and what I would enjoy most. After I graduated from high school, …. I decided that I got more joy and pleasure out of working with people and helping the ones that would need help and so I decide that medical school was the right thing for me.”
Dr. Gottfried Schlaug earned his medical degree in 1989 graduating from the University of Cologne Faculty of Medical School.
He says, “In the early ’90s, when finally, imaging was good enough to actually take a look into other people’s brains, and the imaging itself wasn’t really dangerous and radioactive in a way. So, really with the advent of what we call magnetic resonance imaging, I got this idea that my background has really been in music and in musicians, and now I have all this great exposure to neurology, to neuroscience and to this great tool. I could potentially combine these two fields, and that’s how it all started.” (Music And The Brain podcasts from the Library of Congress.)
Musical Instruments for family members: Dr. Schlaug’s children study the cello.
Continuing to play the organ: He says, “in the hospital that I work at, there is a chapel that has an organ .. where I can practice. And then I belong to a congregation that has an organ so I can play there, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTyNJ9xDqwU
Publications: Dr. Schlaug has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than 15 book chapters.” https://depts.washington.edu/icmpc11/Keynotes.html
Dr. Gottfried Schlaug is a medical doctor, Ph.D., researcher, husband, father, and lifelong musician. He is director of Music, Stroke Recovery, and Neuroimaging Laboratory, Division Chief of Cerebrovascular Diseases, associate professor of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. He uses “innovative musical interventions including singing and music making to facilitate recovery from brain injuries and neuro developmental disorders for his patients” to improve their health.
Americas Blessing of Freedom & Hope by Madeline Frank, Ph.D.
Where is your family from and why did they come to America?
Have you ever visited the communist countries of China, Russia, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, or Vietnam?
I’ve had the honor of traveling to many parts of the world, and fell in love with the people of nearly every country. My heart broke for those who were unable to enjoy the freedoms of choice and self direction that Americans take for granted every day.
What do you do for a living? Whether you are a doctor, teacher, mechanic, IT person, or full time parent; I would imagine you chose that path for your life because you enjoyed certain aspects of that work, and you are able to be compensated for it.
What if you had no say in the direction of your life, and your future was solely dictated to you by the government?
I cannot think of a faster way to snuff out the spark of life in one’s eyes than completely removing their own agency from their lives. Unfortunately, that is what happens in communist/socialist countries.
Do you want to move there permanently and give up your American freedoms and opportunities?
Do you want to make America into another China, Russia, Cuba, North Korea, Laos, or Vietnam?
Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives:
1) Dedication to growing the stability and strength of their country.
2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.
Why do people leave a country?
-Fear of safety for themselves and their family from violence.
– Fear of persecution for their beliefs.
– Extraordinary poverty and no opportunities for changing it.
– Government corruption and overreach that stifles individual choices and growth and forces conformity.
Are you and your family looking to import where they came from to America?
What are the differences between their home country and America?
Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?
1) Be dedicated to growing the stability and strength of their country.
2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.
Get the facts, think carefully before you act and vote for President of the United States on Nov. 3, 2020!
I have enjoyed visiting, teaching, and performing on my violin and viola throughout the world. This includes communist countries. I have always been happy and delighted to come back home to America and our many blessings and freedoms! It is a true eye opener to see how fortunate we are in America.
We have many opportunities here to start a business, choose the work we would like to do, to own property, pray as we choose, protect our rights to free speech, protect ourselves and our home and property, the right to think and share our thoughts with others.
We have good sanitation, plumbing, drinkable running water, electricity with bathrooms that work which allow you to wash your hands with soap and water to keep bacteria and sickness from running through entire cities.
After visiting these foreign places, I was always so grateful for the blessings and freedoms of living and working in America.
“In Communism the government owns all property and pays its citizens equally. Citizens own nothing. The government chooses your work and tells you what to do. They own you! There is no free will!”
Communism/Socialism is frequently thought of in academic and media circles as an “everything is free because it is a right”. There is no freedom when you depend on the government to dictate what you deserve.
The American Revolution has stood the test of time because we are reminded that our freedoms come from God, not man.
Communism removes all your rights, your property, your opportunities, your choices, and your freedoms. This includes thinking, worship, association.
Birds Eye View on Communism in Russia:
The movie, Moscow on the Hudson” (1984) was written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starred Robin Williams, as Vladimir Ivanoff, a saxophonist with the Moscow Circus who is performing and visiting in New York City. He decides to defect while shopping at Bloomingdale’s in New York City. Director Mazursky said the idea for the film came from his own grandfather emigrating to the United States from Russia.
He says, “Most Russians, are just trying to survive. Yet, all Russians who leave their country, leave behind something they treasure and love. It’s a terrible conflict for them, so the act of bravery is overwhelming.”
The film opens with Vladimir in Russia living “in a crowded apartment with his extended family.” Then “he stands in line for hours to buy toilet paper and shoes.” It takes so long to buy the toilet paper and shoes that he’s late to rehearsal. Boris, the communist party member, KGB,
“criticizes Vladimir for being late to rehearsal and suggests Vladimir may miss the approaching trip to the United States.”. Vladimir immediately hands over to Boris, the shoes from the store that made him late. After rehearsal Vladimir goes with his friend to buy gasoline for his car from a “black market dealer.”
After Vladimir defects he has several American citizens who have immediately agreed to help him. They give him a place to stay with their family, assist him in finding work, and a recent American citizen from Cuba who his lawyer.
Blessings of America: America is not perfect, but it is our last beacon of hope!
America was built on Judeo/Christian values, law and order, righteousness, capitalism, entrepreneurship, and free markets. America is a land of opportunities. Our United States Constitution protects our freedoms. The framers of our Constitution were wise enough to realize that our unalienable rights did not come from government or man; they came from God. They were also wise enough to create the Constitution and Bill of Rights to be exclusionary (explaining what Government cannot do, rather than all the things it could do).
The very freedoms that most of us take for granted like the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition the government to right wrongs are what make this country great. It is also why this great nation of ours is a magnet for people from all over the world who answer the “battle-cry of their souls to be free by seeking citizenship.”
Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?
1) Dedication to growing the stability and strength of their country.
2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.
What is Kristallnacht?
Kristallnacht, (also called the Night of Broken Glass). On November 9-10, 1938, Pogroms, violent riots, (attacks, looting, arson, mass arrests, and death) were carried out against the Jews by SA paramilitary forces (storm troopers) and civilians throughout Nazi Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Slovak, Bohemia, Poland, and Moravia. These rioters destroyed, attacked, looted, and demolished Jewish businesses, homes, schools, hospitals, and Synagogues with sledgehammers. After the attacks smashed glass was left on the streets.
“British historian Martin Gilbert wrote that no event in the history of German Jews between 1933 and 1945 was so widely reported as it was happening, and the accounts from foreign journalists working in Germany sent shockwaves around the world.”
The Times of London observed on November 11,1938: “No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults on defenseless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday.”
Communism is total government control. Breaking down of law and order, looting destruction, arson, death. Pogroms, Kristallnacht, eradicating statues (erasing history), inculcating the young, (brain washing), no accountability, against independent thinking, against self-reliance, against family values, against religion, against human spirit. Tramples on constitution. Takes all your rights and freedoms away.
Where is my family from?
My family is from Russia and Hungary where there were no rights, no choices, no opportunities, no free speech, no right to a fair trial. You did what the government officials told them to do. There was no freedom of expression. No owning of property. There was no choice in anything. The government decided what your career would be. When you argued to try and protect yourself, they would throw you in prison and kill you.
America is the only place you can go from rags to riches. In other countries if you were born poor you stay that way for life. Mark J. Quann, author, said in 2017, “Immigrants Are Four Times More Likely to Become Millionaires in America.”
How many immigrants arrive in the United States each year? “More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year. In 2017, the top country of origin for new immigrants coming into the U.S. was India, with 126,000 people, followed by Mexico (124,000), China (121,000) and Cuba (41,000).”
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/17/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/
Ages 18 or Older: What if what you are being told is Not 100% true? Do you question what you are told and seek to check the truth? Do you educate yourself? Are you accountable for your actions? What is your goal or dream?
Only in America will you be given the opportunity to choose your dream and work for it!
Rebecca Walser, expert author of “Wealth Unbroken”, says, In America “you are empowered to take control of your life, your destiny, and that is something billions of people do not have.”
Communist China in 2016 had a population of 1.4 billion. “Their citizens had only an average per capita disposable income of $3,469 in 2016.” Compare this “to 320 million Americans who had $43,536 per capita disposable annual income that same year.” (Walser, Wealth Unbroken)
Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?
1) Be dedicated to growing the stability and strength of their country.
2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.
Why have so many millions of people come to America? America is Not Perfect, but it has opportunities and amazing possibilities that communism does not have!!!!!
These immigrants from Russia, China, Laos, and other countries who have become citizens of America are “Not begging” to go back to the countries they have escaped from!
These 5 plus months of the pandemic and being homebound has brought stress and anxiety to America with civil unrest, rioting, looting, and murder. This is a reminder of pogroms in Russia and Kristallnacht, (Night of Broken Glass) in Nazi Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Slovak, Bohemia, Poland, and Moravia.
Think and get the true facts, before you vote for President of the United States on Nov 3, 2020!
Your candidate for President in America should have 2 objectives?
1) Be dedicated to growing the stability and strength of their country.
2) The candidate should commit to protect and defend their citizens’ rights.
Remember what President Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction… It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
Think and get the true facts before you vote on Nov. 3, 2020.
Do you want to keep your rights and privileges in America or give them up?
© 2020 Madeline Frank
If you need a virtual speaker contact Madeline at: [email protected]
https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Madeline_Frank/466291
“10 Reasons You Should Take Up A Musical Instrument” (January 5, 2018) from ClassicFM.com. Here are a few of the 10 reasons you or your child should study a musical instrument: Studying a musical instrument makes you smarter, teaches you to focus and concentrate, gives you confidence, enhances your memory, and increases your discipline (by practicing a new skill).
Einstein said, “Life without playing music is inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music, I get most joy in life out of music.”
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/reasons-to-play-a-musical-instrument/
“The Secret of Teaching Science & Math Through Music” by Madeline Frank, Ph.D. is available in book form, and newly updated as an e-book on Kindle, Nook, or iBook
com(Kindle)
Barnes and Noble(Nook)
“Musical Notes On Math” by Dr. Madeline Frank teaches your child fractions and decimals, the fun easy way, through the rhythm of music, Winner of the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award is available in book form, newly updated as an e-book on Kindle, Nook, or iBook.
com(Kindle)
Barnes and Noble(Nook)
Madeline’s Midnight Melodies- Music From around the World”. This CD complements her books with a blend of dance music, gigues, tangos, ballet and favorites including “Danny Boy”, Puccini’s “O Mio Babbino Caro”, Debussy’s “Claire De Lune” and others. “Madeline’s Midnight Melodies” is music to relax by and to move by for music therapy. “Madeline’s Midnight Melodies” CD is now available for purchase by downloading a song, downloading the album, or by CD by clicking below:
Download Your Copy Today! Amazon | iTunes |
Dr. Madeline Frank’s book “Leadership on a Shoestring Budget” is available through amazon.
Wishing you and your family a happy October from Your Non-Invasive Medicine Music Expert, Madeline
For over 30 years, Dr. Madeline Frank has helped children and adults overcome problems through Classical music. Madeline Frank, Ph.D., DTM is an award-winning teacher, author, researcher, speaker, conductor, and concert artist. She discovered a scientific link between studying a musical instruments and academic and societal success. She earned her Bachelor and Master’s degree from the Juilliard School of Music. Her education has included scholarships at the Juilliard School, Indiana University, and the University of Cincinnati and she has a violin performance diploma from the North Carolina School of the Arts. (C) 2020 Madeline Frank.