Different music genres and forms have various effects on the people’s mood, behavior, and activities. As a result, it is possible to state that music can also positively affect learning of students studying at the middle school because of stimulating the work of their brains, influencing the physiological processes, and affecting the students’ emotional state and moods.
While discussing the most appropriate styles and forms of music which can affect the students’ learning positively, the researchers focus on the musical pieces composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).
The sonatas, symphonies, and other orchestral compositions composed by this musical genius are discussed as the examples of the ‘light’ music of the 18th century which stimulates not only the positive perception of the world but also the intellectual growth associated with the improved learning (Hattie and Yates 208-209).
In spite of the fact that the effect of Mozart’s music on learning in general, and on the middle school age learning in particular, is the controversial topic which is actively discussed by psychologists, physiologists, educators, and music theorists, the role of Mozart’s music for influencing the students’ moods, behaviors, and motivation can be considered as significant.
Depending on its genre, music can provide different effects on the listener’s perception. Classical music can stimulate the brain’s activities and the person’s process of thinking more actively because of the music’s harmony and balance. The classical music is often used as the background music because of the specifics of its rhythms to affect the rhythms of the person’s body and brain’s activities.
Thus, researchers state that the diatonic harmony of many classical compositions can contribute to changing the aspects of the people’s blood circulation and to influencing the persons’ mood and arousal (Jausovec, Jausovec, and Gerlic 2704). Furthermore, active listening to classical music and the use of classical compositions as the background music can have different effects on the students’ perception and learning.
During his life, Mozart composed the great variety of musical pieces such as sonatas, operas, and symphonies which are characterized by the extreme musical balance and elegant harmony.
In his works, Mozart focuses on the diatonic harmony and on using the symmetrical phrases to accentuate the balanced nature of the piece. The focus is also on the sounds of flutes, on the brass and strings. As a result, the listener perceives Mozart’s sonata or a piece of a symphony as the light and simplistic composition which increases mood and provides the feeling of harmony.
Mozart’s music based on the emphasized harmony and simple melodies does not affect people negatively, while stimulating their pessimistic emotions (Keefe 150-152). Mozart’s compositions seem to provide the definite effect of sunlight and to assist students to think more positively because of the pleasant sounds and melodies heard in relation to Mozart’s works.
Mozart’s sonatas and symphonies can be described as the reflections of the people’s senses and emotions. There is no violence or unpleasant sounds in Mozart’s works. Furthermore, the audience is often impressed significantly with the harmony of Mozart’s religious works in which strings sound more solemnly and vividly (Keefe 138-141).
Although Mozart’s pieces are often composed according to minor patterns, they do not sound rather pessimistically. That is why, Mozart’s music is interesting and effective to be listened to and to provide the positive effects on the students’ learning processes.
It is possible to state that Mozart’s music is based on the balanced combination of the instruments’ sounds which are perceived as pleasant and light that is why Mozart’s musical pieces can stimulate the increase in the students’ productivity while completing the home tasks or during the critical thinking processes.
Mozart’s music can be discussed as the effective variant to create the positive atmosphere for learning. Moreover, the harmony of sounds and melodies in different Mozart’s works can have different effects on stimulating the persons’ activities while being listened to actively or as the background music.
When the student focuses on listening to Mozart’s sonata, on its rhythmic pattern and on the sounds of the instruments, the student can develop his or her creativity, imagination, concentration, and memory (Jausovec, Jausovec, and Gerlic 2705). Mozart’s music listened to as the background melodies can provide the unconscious effects on the students studying at the middle school because their productivity increases unintentionally.
It is rather difficult to find the empirical evidences to state that the process of listening to Mozart’s works can contribute to improving the students’ academic performance. However, it is possible to examine the differences of the classical music’s impacts on different students, depending on their age. Mozart’s music has the positive effects on students’ learning abilities because it stimulates their thinking processes, perception, creativity, and motivation.
Listening to the light symmetrical musical phrases typical for Mozart’s sonatas, it is rather easy to concentrate on the learning activities and become more productive. Nevertheless, it is rather difficult to conclude about the role of music for the intellectual growth without referencing to the general improvement of the thinking processes caused by the students’ focus on the balanced and harmonized musical material.
Works Cited
Hattie, John, and Gregory Yates. Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn. USA: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Jausovec, Norbert, Ksenija Jausovec, and Ivan Gerlic. “The Influence of Mozart’s Music on Brain Activity in the Process of Learning”. Clinical Neurophysiology 117.12 (2006): 2703-2714. Print.
Keefe, Simon. Mozart’s Viennese Instrumental Music: A Study of Stylistic Re-invention. USA: Boydell & Brewer, 2007. Print.