Savage breasts... mmmm....

---Original Message---
Research Says Music Really Does Have Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast ... and
Beast ... and So On ...
By Jane Cassidy
The Independent on Sunday [London] - 3 October 2004
http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=24516

Earlier this year, the managers at a Co-op supermarket hit upon a clever idea.
They discovered that by broadcasting Baroque music in and around their store,
the gangs of bored teenagers who loitered outside the shop disappeared. They had
made the store a less "cool" place to hang out.

It seems we are more easily influenced by music than we imagine. According to
findings in a new series on the BBC World Service, aside from having the power
to drive away disaffected youths, music can have such varied impacts as making
us part with our cash and reducing patients' needs for pain-killing drugs.

For example, when a supermarket owner in Leicester started playing French
accordion tunes and German "oompah" songs, wine sales from both countries shot
up. And then, in a restaurant on the outskirts of the city, the night's takings
rose dramatically when the owner played classical rather than pop music or no
music at all. "Perhaps it's because classical music made the diners feel more
affluent," says Leicester University's Dr. Adrian North, a researcher into the
commercial uses of music. "This kind of thing really does seem to work, although
we're still not sure why."

The ability to use music to control troublemakers seems to reach further than
the confines of the Co-op carpark, indeed even beyond humans. Rowdy chimps at
Honolulu Zoo stopped attacking each other when tapes featuring lullabies and
heartbeat sounds were played outside their cages. These same tapes, when used in
8,000 special- care baby wards in the U.S., enabled infants to leave on average
12 days earlier than before the music was introduced.

Terry Woodford from Colorado, who produces the tapes, believes the lullabies
induce calm, encourage rest and so help healing and growing processes. He's not
alone. The health benefits of music for controlling anxiety and pain are now
being measured and accepted worldwide. In Germany, physician Dr. Ralph Spintge
is a pioneer in pain management using music. He has studied around 100,000
patients and claims that up to half of those who listened to music before
surgery didn't need a pre-operative sedative. He also believes that tailor-made
music programmes can cut the quantity of pain-killers patients require by 50 per
cent and, in some cases, rule out their need altogether.

It appears that when we listen, our ears do much more than just hear - they also
carefully select and filter the sound. If this processing ability is missing,
lack of concentration and increased levels of stress can occur. According to Don
Campbell, author of the controversial bestseller The Mozart Effect, which makes
bold claims about the transformational powers of music, a link between people
with an inability to filter sound and attention-deficit disorder is emerging.

"Many kids and adults who cannot concentrate have a kind of hyperactivity of the
ear," he claims. "There's no hearing loss, it's just that every sound that comes
through they pay attention to. And that creates stress in the body. The fact is,
we're only just beginning to understand our ears and what they're capable of."

Research by Dr. Shirley Telles, one of India's most prominent
neurophysiologists, seems to back this claim. Her studies reveal that listening
to classical music tends to increase general brain activity. Further research
shows that rhythmic chants produce even greater right-side brain activity; while
repeating the syllable "om" during meditation succeeds in producing activity in
a number of brain areas as well as slowing breathing and heart rates. Oddly,
repeating a different word - "one" for example - doesn't have the same effect.

So can music turn your child into a genius? Dr. Susan Hallam of the University
of London says that she has found no hard evidence to prove that, if children
take music lessons, they will do any better in their academic studies. But she
notes a wealth of other positive effects, including improved concentration,
self-esteem and listening and social skills, which may help them in other
subjects.

These positive personal spin-offs are the reason why big business has started to
embrace the power of music. Lovells international law firm, for example, has
just introduced singing workshops for staff. "It finds a talent in you that you
didn't necessarily know you had," says the firm's partner Marco Compagnoni.
"That's very encouraging for people. It lifts them up."


The Power of Music starts on 13 October on the BBC World Service
(www.bbcworldservice.com), at 10.30am, 3.30pm and 7.30pm (UK time).




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"clamnebula" wrote in message
...
Savage breasts... mmmm....

---Original Message---
Research Says Music Really Does Have Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast
.... and
Beast ... and So On ...
By Jane Cassidy
The Independent on Sunday [London] - 3 October 2004
http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=24516

Earlier this year, the managers at a Co-op supermarket hit upon a clever
idea.
They discovered that by broadcasting Baroque music in and around their
store,
the gangs of bored teenagers who loitered outside the shop disappeared.
They had
made the store a less "cool" place to hang out.

In Pennsylvania station in NYC, they have switched to Baroque music as well.
They report greatly reduced incidents of disorder and crime.

Robert Morein wrote:


clamnebula" wrote in message
.. .
Savage breasts... mmmm....

---Original Message---
Research Says Music Really Does Have Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast
... and
Beast ... and So On ...
By Jane Cassidy
The Independent on Sunday [London] - 3 October 2004
http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=24516

Earlier this year, the managers at a Co-op supermarket hit upon a clever
idea.
They discovered that by broadcasting Baroque music in and around their
store,
the gangs of bored teenagers who loitered outside the shop disappeared.
They had
made the store a less "cool" place to hang out.

In Pennsylvania station in NYC, they have switched to Baroque music as well.
They report greatly reduced incidents of disorder and crime.










I think that this calming influence of Baroque music might be regional,
however. For example, in certain parts of Northern Florida, listening to
Baroque music has been known to generate episodes of plagiaristism,
name-calling, and obsessive posting of personal insults on Usenet news groups.




Bruce J. Richman

"Robert Morein" wrote in message
news

In Pennsylvania station in NYC, they have switched to Baroque music as
well.
They report greatly reduced incidents of disorder and crime.


Does it make the LIRR trains run on time?

"Clyde Slick" wrote in message
...

"Robert Morein" wrote in message
news

In Pennsylvania station in NYC, they have switched to Baroque music as
well.
They report greatly reduced incidents of disorder and crime.


Does it make the LIRR trains run on time?

No, but the commuters don't riot.