The Pythagoreans and Music

Pythagoras, an Ancient Greek philosopher who is known mostly for his mathematical findings, did much active research to understand music.  He wanted to understand the effects of harmonics upon human behavior and intervals within music and their linkage to the cosmos.   For instance, the flute was believed to cause stress or madness and strings (the lyre) brought out serenity.  In addition, the only harmonious intervals in music were considered to be the octave, the fourth and the fifth.

8 : 16 or   1 : 2	Octave	diapason
4 : 6   or   2 : 3	Fifth	diapente
9 : 12 or   3 : 4	Fourth	diatesseron

The Pythagoreans supposedly found them by experimenting with a single string with a moveable bridge, and found these pleasant intervals could be expressed as the ratio of whole numbers.

Music is a place

Music is a special place and sometimes I wish I could live there.  I don't even have an ipod but I can imagine that if I did, the process would consume me much like certain characters in Wender's film "Until the End of the World".  A video type machine could capture and record images in the brain from memories and dreams.  These recordings could be reviewed and watched repeatedly!  My sister was able to find the out of print book called the "Magic Carousel" last summer and seeing it brought back a whole world for me.

Music and the Brain

It has often been said that music makes you smarter. This is so because musicians have structurally and functionally different brains compared with non-musicians. In particular, the areas of the brain used to process music are larger or more active in musicians. Even just starting to learn a to play a musical instrument  can change the neurophysiology of the brain.

Lutz Jäncke, a member of Faculty of 1000 Medicine, proposes to use music in neuropsychological therapy, for example to improve language skills, memory, or mood.  The brain regions that are involved in music processing are also required for other tasks, such as memory and language skills. "If music has such a strong influence on brain plasticity," writes Jäncke, "this raises the question of whether this effect can be used to enhance cognitive performance."

Several studies indeed show that musical practice increases memory and language skills in particular one from Northwestern University.

Therefore, children should start their instrumental lessons at a younger age than the typical third or fourth grade.  This field of study would give them an academic advantage in the long run and it would help them to learn math and increase their language skills: verbal, written and give them a boost in their process of learning to read.  

Small Puppets are Fun

Making puppets can be really easy and you can really capture a whole range of emotions just by how you draw the line of the mouth or how you space the eyes.  We used to do this with big wooden spoons but somehow it felt like a waste to buy these nice spoons just to write all over them.  So here is a very good and economical alternative: popsicle stick puppets.

Shell Collecting

We've been collecting shells this week.  The beach is full of them because of the sand replenishment project that occurred recently.  The beach on Long Beach Island , NJ was diminishing and recently sand was taken from the bottom of the ocean in order to add to the beach.  There are cool shells everywhere.  My nephew found 5 sand-dollars which is really unusual.  The rest of us found many small conch shells and snail shells in perfect condition.

Reading Partners

It was so terribly hot yesterday yet the kids ages: 9, 6, 5, 3, and 1.5 were a little wild or shall I say, very energetic: jumping around, running after one another.  It was my first day with the whole troop alone, I'm watching my nephew for a couple of weeks.  He is actually very mellow but my 4 girls can be quite a handful.  Anyway, I puzzled over how I would calm them down without TV. So I said, "Okay, now let's have reading time.  Everyone find a partner."  Amazingly, they all chose a partner, sat down and started to read to one another!!!  They were all suddenly very calm and very engaged in their books: "Where the Sidewalk Ends,"  "Captain Cat" by Syd Hoff, "Daisy says Coo."  It was a wonderful moment.  While they read, I made dinner.

The Princess and the Pea Soup

Last weekend, I illustrated my picture book entitled The Princess and the Pea Soup. It's a retelling of the classic by Hans Christian Andersen. In my version, the princess finds the pea and instead of complaining about her back ache, she plants the pea which becomes a pea plant. She harvests the pea and then makes pea soup which she gives out to the hungry.

In the illustrations were mixed media: watercolor paint, pen and collage. It was incredibly engaging and I hope to do another project soon.

Making art in the presence of children has its challenges though. They always seem to need snacks and of course they want to make art too. So I tried to set them all up with paper, water, brushes and paint. It was the stopping and starting for meals and attempting to keep the house tidy while doing this project that plain wore me out!