• Learning music can begin with the first sound we hear.

  http://www.gemday.com/gold/

• Learning and remembering of a melody can occur not only before birth but actually before or at the beginning of the third trimester.   Peter G. Hepper, reporting in the Irish Journal of Psychology (1991, 12, pp 95-107)

• In one study, Five month old infants were found to be able to discriminate differences in frequency that were much less than the differences between two adjacent notes in the musical scale, so they have the basic sensory capability to perceive adjacent pitches. 

http://www.austriana.com/windchimes/woodstock_windchimes.html

• Musical development in children can improve intellectual, motor, social abilities and skills.

• Reading scores for first grade children trained in music were in the 88th percentile vs. 

the 72nd percentile.  

 http://www.npr.org/programs/totn/features/2002/oct/books/

• Pitch identification was a contributing factor in improved reading skills.   Hurwitz, I., Wolff, P.H., Bortnick, B.D., & Kokas, K. (1975). Nonmusical effects of the Kodaly music curriculum in primary grade children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 8, 45-51.

• Before we had reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, even before we had words, we had art.

• Our primitive forefathers wailed to each other, and both language and music were born.

  http://www.gov.calgary.ab.ca/recreation/facilities/art_centres/images/art-dance.jpg

• By movement, mimic, and example, they shared the lore of the hunt, and dance and physical education were sired.  Bill Pharis, Executive Director National Association of Elementary School Principals

• The "Mozart effect": is the claim that exposure to certain types of music -- especially exposure to early classical music, very early in life -- can lead to improved performance on test scores, including tests of spatial visualization, and abstract reasoning.

       http://www.cde.ca.gov/images/math.gif

• Those children who received piano/keyboard training performed 34% higher on tests measuring spatial- temporal ability than the others. These findings indicate that music uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for mathematics, chess, science and engineering (Neurological Research, February 1997).
  

CD:  The Mozart Effect - Music for Babies - Playtime to Sleepytime

Toy Symphony, (Cassation for toys, 2 oboes, 2 horns & strings) in G major            (formerly K. 63)  2nd movement Composed by Leopold Mozart

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Links

http://parenting-baby.com/Parenting-Baby-Music-Research/Music-Research.html
http://www.mozart-heals.com/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000DA1O/ref=pm_dp_ln_m_2/103-1992099-2862235?v=glance&s=music&vi=samples
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/Lessons.cfm?DocID=36
http://skepdic.com/mozart.html

• Music is