So how does music really work to motivate the mind? In this unit we're drawing together the expertise of those familiar with the application of music in schools. Experts in the field of music education as well as those who work toward building inclusive communities through music. We emphasise how music establishes conditions that set you up for achieving your full developmental potential. If you use music in the ways we discuss, benefits have been evidenced in oral perception and language skills, the development of literacy skills, oral and visual memories, spatial reasoning and mathematical performance, intellectual development, executive functions and self regulation, as well as creativity. Most of all we will be focusing on in this unit, is about active music making. All though, I will also address some of the core concerns that people have about music having a negative effect on learning. But our primary emphasis is on learning an instrument. And by instrument I'm not just talking about object instruments like violins and pianos. I'm also talking about the voice as an instrument. Now to be clear, the quality of your experience of learning music is critical to whether or not it's helpful. If you feel obliged to learn an instrument, but you're not intrinsically motivated, say you're just doing it because your parents say you have to and that's what's culturally acceptable. Then the benefits that have been attributed to music learning are not likely to be achieved. As Gary McPherson emphasises in the interview for this unit, the best kind of learning involves a combination of personal enjoyment, as well as a focus on achievement. And as Susan Hallam has reported in her comprehensive reviews of research about the power of music, there are three ways of engaging with music learning. And they all seem to contribute to the overall of music to motivate the mind. This occurs alone and with others and in performance. So in addition to developing your craft through individual practice and lessons. Playing in ensembles such as singing groups, traditional ensembles and bands affords the kinds of social benefits that are inherent in making music and that are an important part of its power. And finally doing performances appears to offer further benefits. Although not if these performances invoke undue anxiety or result in failure. They have to be realistic and achievable. Each of these three layers contributes something unique to achieving the kinds of benefits that have been correlated with learning music. There is a difference between the kinds of learning benefits we're referring to and learning how to be an elite performer. In fact, a focus on ultra high levels of performance has been critiqued as destroying a culture of musicking. As Daphne Rickson rightly points out in her podcast in this unit. For example, the notion that the title of musician should be reserved for only the most capable and talented people has had an enormously negative effect on the number of people engaging with music learning. Which means the number of people who could have benefited from engaging with music has been decreased dramatically. When examining the benefits of participating in music at school, research shows that it is helpful in motivating not only the acquisition of knowledge but also for engagement with learning more broadly. In the podcast for this unit, Daphne Rickson contributes a number of examples of people with learning disabilities, for whom the opportunity to participate in carefully facilitated music programs has had a profound impact on their sense of connectedness and belonging to their school community. However Alex Crooke in his review article warns us to be clear about the type of musical engagement we're talking about. And this echoes through the various contributions in the unit. Participating in an average music class at school, without doing any individual work or ensembles, is not going to lead to the same kinds of benefits as an extended and meaningful music program over a lifetime. Just because music is in the room, it will not overcome the deficiencies in all the parts of the system. It doesn't work like a magic pill. If you participate in a well resourced program, run by a passionate individual and tailored to make particular learning outcomes, like the program you'll see in our on location footage for this week, it's clearly going to have more benefits than random participation in a drumming group. Simply hoping that all those rhythmic elements are going to improve your mathematic skill is a long shot. In order to use rhythm to improve your maths, you have to design a program that purposefully integrates the elements of rhythm into a maths learning activity. Like chanting the formulas in rhythmic sequences, or breaking down the rhythms that the beat is made out of, and learning the theory that reinforces knowledge about fractions and the division of time. It really is about using music to create the kinds of conditions that motivate the mind. Rather than music doing something to make those skills magically appear. Which begs the question about what kind of music is most powerful? In Unit One we talked about patient preferred music as being critical to success in rehabilitation. But in the unit on motivating the mind, it's important to have a discussion about different genres of music.
