Baby Music CDs and the Mozart Effect—Part 1

Have you ever wondered how the effects and benefits of baby music CDs on child development were discovered? Actual proof of music’s benefits, specifically with classical composers, came into play in 1993, when several studies showed increased test scores among participants who listened to Mozart before taking IQ tests—these findings brought the term “Mozart Effect” into being.  A research project conducted at the University of North Texas using music composed by Handel yielded similar results. Since then, many books have been published based on this research, including Don Campbell’s The Mozart Effect.

All these reports that classical music helps in brain development prompted parents everywhere to take advantage music in an entirely new way. In addition to working with classical music, it was found that baby music CDs and baby DVD products had similar results. This knowledge soon inspired mothers everywhere to strap headphones to their bellies so their unborn children could listen to the classics and baby music that taught things like the ABCs and counting numbers. Every year, as more findings regarding the benefits of children’s songs and classical music are discovered, more and more people subscribe to the concept of music’s positive cognitive effects.

Many studies over the years have shown that music, especially children's songs and classical music, has positive effects on the brain. Baby music not only helps a child develop memory, vocabulary and language skills, but with literacy and reading comprehension as well.

It’s a no-brainer that the movement that watching and listening to baby music DVDs encourages with a child helps with coordination and motor skills, but they can also help with visiospatial processing, mathematics and overall IQ development.

 
Playing and interacting with baby music DVDs also encourages and inspires a love for music, as well as a musical inclination, which can lead to even more incredible benefits. When a musical inclination is developed, that can lead to a child’s desire for music lessons—with that comes an entirely new gamut of benefits. In 2006, a study that was covered in an article in Science Daily revealed that children between the ages of four and six who took music lessons showed greater brain development and memory improvement than those who had no musical instruction