Twist and Turns

Twist and Turns

Hello

There's a weary manifesto circulating around in the world that boldly states: Listening to classical music, would make you smarter. But, it does not stop there, it continues saying; specifically when you listen music composed by Mozart. Well, I am sure we all have heard the venerate Mozart Effect theory that took the world by surprise in the 90's. This false notion, thanks to the media, has poisoned our minds and therefore, our egos.

Making broad statements similar to the example above, can be a dangerous practice because of the deceiving power it contains, unfortunately, each day we are bombarded by wide announcements that promise incredible results if only. Somehow, it is easy to modify and engineered twist and turns at will to the information in front of us, shamelessly, presenting it as true.

It was the year 1993, Psychologist Frances Rauscher did a study in which I believe, 36 college students participated. The results were clear, after ten minutes of listening to a Mozart's piano sonata, the original study reported a SHORT TERM improvement on spatial reasoning tasks, including, "folding papers and solving mazes". The study was publish on NATURE, a scientific magazine based in London. Super brains and high IQ's after listening to the composer's music were NEVER mentioned.

Needless to say, the results were inflated to the point where even today, is difficult to see parents wanting desperately to enrol their children, as young as 3 years old, to music programs that promise to increase their IQ levels.

These parents in anguish, secretly hope their kiddos would develop musical abilities to become the next Mozart. With the high hopes almost palpable in the air, they would settle for a super brain for their kids, to become the next Einstein. Either one would do! Thank you very much.

A mom I met some years ago, thought her 4 year old was a genius, ready to become the next concert pianist, because, she reasoned, little Layla is smart and she doesn't stop twinkling with the piano keys at home when given the opportunity. I didn't know this, but I am NOT surprise at all if she knew of the Mozart Effect prior to contacted me. I agree to meet her for an introductory lesson for little Layla, for which I was not looking forward to. The experience was, for everybody involved, a complete nightmare from hell.   

Even after three decades, since the original study took place, there are still websites, organisations, and programs taking advantage of the celebrated Mozart Effect to make money. There are countless music books, legions of videos on YouTube, and myriads of cd's out there with the "promise", as if they would unravel the secret of life itself. Little Mozart Schools are a dozen a dime and they are promising the exact same thing.

As the years passed, and looked back at my experience as a music teacher, I realised that the study conducted in 1993 has reached farther and farther into the general music education. A lot of parents have the wrong idea that IF children take music lessons, then they would do better in school. Except, there are 3 components in the equation that have to be present for kids to EXCEL in music.

1.-ENJOY the music learned (ANY gender; except perhaps Reggae, Yucks!)

2.-PRACTICE as if life depends on it.

3.-REPEAT step 1 and 2 until hell freezes over.

There are no secrets, there are only THREE ingredients, when apply, kiddos  and adults alike would be doing the right thing, they would be happier while gaining confidence to face the world. People then, would really believe they have an IQ of 180.

Who needs Mozart? Although, his whole music catalogue is out of this world and he is one of my favorite composers, the secret to a steady success, lies within ourselves. I will stop here!, I really despite sounding like one of those cheap life coach motivators.

The publicity of the study, earned people's attention around the world, and all at the same time, increased classical music popularity, the distribution of music to the average household made it possible and people began again, listening to what we called classical music, for otherwise, perhaps we never would had been exposed to it.

I wrote Twist and Turns to highlight the humanity, that we tend to forget, in Mozart. Written in F Major, with a modulation to C Major, seems perfect for this project, with a Moderato tempo, hoping to capture the ups and downs of a musical figure that in time seems to have been unnecessarily elevated to an almost "musical deity".

After all this time and while more studies are being conducted, it seems we are afraid of stating the obvious: There's no such thing as the Mozart Effect as we would like it to be. Mozart's music is beautiful, but it doesn't have any "magic" powers. The truth is, he was as human as anybody else in this life. Don't believe me?

I would encourage you to read the often crude and bemusing letters that he wrote to his family and acquaintances_ which are available for free on many platforms_ As you read, notice how his words would softly uncover various layers of his own human nature: Pain and loneliness, wit, profanity, laughter, tragedy and much more humour, so much more. I am sure, if you happened to read his letters, you'd be surprise to find lines like "Kiss my ass, and, Shit your bed and make it burst".

That, which is undeniable could be painful. Is easier to closed our eyes and have someone else helping us navigate the harsh reality. Ignoring the signs does not help along the way, it only makes it difficult to accept the obvious.

The obvious tragedy here, perhaps is, that we will always be trying to make sense of the world whatever possible way, to accommodate our dreams and hopes, inventing and reinventing stories, to put aside our deepest fears and believe only, and only, what we wish to believe.

Enjoy!