[Ham Sandwich]

Bad news for us. Headphone listening doesn't make you smarter.

Quote:

But for all its beauty, power and capacity to move, researchers have concluded that music is little more than ear candy for the brain if it is consumed only passively. If you want music to sharpen your senses, boost your ability to focus and perhaps even improve your memory, the latest word from science is you'll need more than hype and a loaded iPod. You gotta get in there and play. Or sing, bang or pluck.

Here's the full article: Playing along with the Mozart effect
It's a reprint of a LA Times article.

I can play some music. I don't play very well. I joke that I play music for my own amazement and amusement. My current instrument toy is the accordion. Fun to play. Horrible to listen to. Does that make me smarter?

The best I do when listening to headphones is some air guitar, air drums, and if listening to Bach organ works, air organ. I also hum along to some of what I listen to.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I completely agree. I started playing when I was a kid and while I don't get a chance to play as much as I'd like to today (perhaps in retirement?), but it absolutely enhances the enjoyment of music.

Anyone interested in music should pick up an instrument and learn to play. You don't have to play well or have much talent, just translating written music to music will do great things for your listening.

 

[KLS]

So I think I should start piano...

 

[Brandon7s]

After I started playing guitar (9 years ago almost), I know my taste in music evolved tremendously. I've really come to appreciate creativity more, mostly.

I've love to learn to play piano too, but man.. pianos are so much more expensive than guitars.

Even a good keyboard will run about 2,000USD.

 

[RedSky0]

Surely being able to decipher complex and overlapping rhythm structures does something for you?

 

[krmathis]

Sounds right to me.
You get more out of it while playing the instrument yourself.

 

[HONEYBOY]

Does this mean that we all need to start buying analytical headphones now??

 

[Leny]

Passive listening doesn't make you smarter?

Who cares as long as it makes you happier !!!!

Said Leny, happily.

 

[jax]

A couple of observations:

My wife has her degree in Music Performance (Violin), and comes from a family of musicians. Though she played from age 5 until she was about 23 she no longer plays. She has a very difficult time listening to music as it becomes a distraction in that her mind follows the music and is pulled from whatever she may be trying to accomplish. She is far less productive when listening and it is mostly a tremendous distraction to her. She therefore prefers silence over music most of the time. I think, though they would not necessarily prefer silence, there is definitely a parallel in how her family react in that it becomes a distraction and music outside of their tastes can become very quickly grating on them (far more so than it might to me). It is almost like observing someone who is having a conversation with you while being distracted by another conversation going on at the same time. This may completely click with those who play, but it is entirely a foreign experience to me.

Though I was under no illusion that listening to music made me more intelligent, sharpened my senses or boosts my ability to focus, I can say without any doubt that I'm certainly more productive with music playing than without. It also make life a whole lot more enjoyable, both work and play. I don't think I enjoy the music on the same level as my wife (when she does listen) and her family do, simply because I don't get it on the level they do, and definitely do not discriminate the same nuances they do. In speaking with them about a piece of music I know that they are getting it on a whole other level I simply do not understand. It doesn't keep me from enjoying the music though, and having very specific tastes. The idea of composing music, or putting a song to music, is so absolutely foreign to me that I cannot imagine how anyone does it.

 

[Head Injury]

So is me drumming on any/every surface available with a pencil making me smarter?

 

[oqvist]

Wonder if those scientists got payed for stating the obvious? I mean just use common sense... If you get sleepy and relaxed while listening to music you aren´t activating your brain.

Play games instead. That is proved being developing for your brain. A lot of problem solving needed and more interactive.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HONEYBOY /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does this mean that we all need to start buying analytical headphones now??

No, I think it means we should only buy karaoke versions of music and sing along. :shudders:

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jax /img/forum/go_quote.gif Though I was under no illusion that listening to music made me more intelligent, sharpened my senses or boosts my ability to focus, I can say without any doubt that I'm certainly more productive with music playing than without. It also make life a whole lot more enjoyable, both work and play.

The article notes that the performance enhancements you can get from listening to music don't linger for more than about 10 minutes after the music stops. It's all good, but not a lasting benefit. (One could probably say the same about reading fiction as well)

Playing music as a musician, especially while young and while the brain is developing, makes physical changes in the brain that are lasting. The benefits (both good and bad) you get from learning to play music are lasting even long after you stop playing.

 

[fjrabon]

I'd imagine that listening analytically can stimulate brain action. Often times when I listen to music I listen to specific parts and then kind of zoom in and out to see how they interact with the whole. I listen for how the bass plays in counterpoint to the rhythm guitar, etc.

I think by passively they mean like mostly as background music, maybe kind of following the words.

Obviously actually learning how music works and then playing it takes it to a higher level, but when I listen analytically, in many ways its like I'm playing, I think thoughts like "hey, that's not what I would expect there, I would have played it differently, interesting".

My favorite music is both familiar, but surprising at the same time. Familiar enough to be comfortable, but it does things that aren't 100% expected at the same time. If you're into complexity theory, it kind of jives with that. Music can't be so crazy as to come off as static, but a sine wave isn't interesting. It's right on that line between crazy and boring that music thrives. And if you are listening for it, it is in many ways like working a puzzle.

Very few people listen that way though.

 

[jax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif The article notes that the performance enhancements you can get from listening to music don't linger for more than about 10 minutes after the music stops. It's all good, but not a lasting benefit. (One could probably say the same about reading fiction as well)

Ah, that's why I never want the music to stop! I don't get anything remotely of the same effect from reading. Reading has always been an effort for me. I have a short attention span for it, though do certainly enjoy a good book. Certainly no performance enhancements there for me - I never get lost in reading. I cannot do other things while reading. I don't know if that's what you mean by "performance"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif Playing music as a musician, especially while young and while the brain is developing, makes physical changes in the brain that are lasting. The benefits (both good and bad) you get from learning to play music are lasting even long after you stop playing.

Alas, I think I'm out of the "young" category at this point.