Smart Music

   I recently began listening (which means my daughter did too) to nothing but classical music, I heard that children who listen to and are exposed to classical music tend to be "smarter" than children who do not listen to classical music. Now all this hype, called The Mozart Effect, started in the early nineties when some research on the matter was put out by the University of California at Irvine. I must admit from the bits of research I've read its both interesting and amazing to me (I'll spare you all the details and scientific terms, as this is a blog and supposed to be lite reading!) As with any coin there is always a flip side, there are many who argue that it doesn't matter what type of music you listen to, it does not make you smarter. Maybe they're right, maybe they're wrong!
   I cannot say for sure what side is correct, I just don't know. However, I will say that there is definite educational gain to be had from listening to classical music! Since, we began listening to classical, three months ago, we have been exposed to concertos, sonatas, opera, chorales, composers, conductors, minors, majors; and on top of that there are so many cultures intertwined,  from Austrian composers to French and Italian operas...and even then the list goes on! How can all this not be gainful?!
  Sometimes while listening to the music we will try and picture what type of action goes with that music, for example, this sounds like a girl sneaking out to the kitchen in the middle of the night to get cookies, or this sounds like something sad just happened. I love that my daughter is listening and interpreting, and feeling the music, and I don't even have to worry about it! So much of what is on the radio these days is not child friendly, heck, not even adult friendly. There is a lot of "junk" out there. It warms my heart that my daughter loves to sing along with opera (I don't know how she does it?! The operas are usually in a foreign language, and well, very high pitched, none the less it is extremely entertaining for the both of us! ha ha! She loves when the fat lady sings! He he!) I know you've all heard the saying "garbage in, garbage out", is that not true for the music we listen to as well? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying, " that if you don't listen to classical music, you're listening to garbage." (please no angry emails or comments, ha ha!) There is a lot of great music out there, and as parents we all get to make the executive decision of what we expose our children to. I just thought hey, there's a chance those smart people at the university are right, why not give my daughter every advantage I can, especially if it's as easy as turning the dial or pressing play...I like to think of it as vitamins for the ears. If nothing else we have found something new that we enjoy!
   Those are just some of my thoughts on classical music and it's benefits, but I want to leave y'all with this question: If listening to Mozart can make you smarter, will listening to Lady Gaga make you dumber?

~Sonya