Music has been a part of existence since time immemorial. And, it is everywhere -in the rhythms of nature, the chatter of animals and birds, the babbling of babies, and in the dancing of brooks. Listen and you will hear sweet tunes all weaving a magic of their own.
It is well known that the origins of music go back at least 50,000 years. Music seems to be ingrained in our genetics and tunes are rhythms that are integral to our lives.
Music seems to play many roles in our lives:
• Research indicates the children who learn music are more likely to become doctors, engineers, and computer professionals. Music learning develops areas of the brain responsible for language as well as reasoning. Music is known to sharpen memory. A Rockefeller Foundation study reveals that those who studied music have SAT scores of 427.
• If a child in the womb of its mother listens to music it is born with highly developed intelligence.
• Music molds people—it teaches coordination, teamwork, discipline, and self-expression.
• The therapeutic values of music are well documented. It heals people with mental problems, developmental and learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, brain trauma, and hypertension. That music heals has been recorded in the works of Aristotle and Plato and in the centuries that followed.
