Smiley World

Discover the phenomenonal complexity of music and reflect on the way it can positively influence your life with this sound collection of riveting quotes…

1. “Music, the greatest good that mortals know, And all of heaven we have below.”
   – Joseph Addison

2. “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
   –Maya Angelou

3. “Music is either good or bad, and it’s got to be learned. You got to have balance.”
   – Louis Armstrong

4. “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
   – Berthold Auerbach

5. “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
   –Johann Sebastian Bach

6. “Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.”
   – Ludwig van Beethoven

7. “Music - The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.”
   – Ludwig van Beethoven

8. “Music can change the world. “
   – Ludwig Van Beethoven

9. “Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.”
   – Leonard Bernstein

10. “Music has to breathe and sweat. You have to play it live. “
    – James Brown

11. “Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”
    – Thomas Carlyle

12. “All music comes from God.”
    – Johnny Cash

13. “If you learn music, you’ll learn most all there is to know. “
    – Edgar Cayce

14. “Music is nothing separate from me. It is me… You’d have to remove the music surgically. “
    – Ray Charles

15. “Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is. “
    – Miles Davis

16. “There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.”
    – George Eliot

17. “You are the music while the music lasts.”
    –T. S. Eliot

18. “We need magic, and bliss, and power, myth, and celebration and religion in our lives, and music is a good way to encapsulate a lot of it. “
    – Jerry Garcia

19. “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.”
    – Kahlil Gibran

20. “When people hear good music, it makes them homesick for something they never had and never will have.”
    – Edgar Watson Howe

21. “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossile to be silent.”
    – Victor Hugo

22. “The history of a people is found in its songs.”
    – George Jellinek

23. “Music is the vernacular of the human soul.”
    – Geoffrey Latham

24. “It requires wisdom to understand wisdom; the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.”
    – Walter J. Lippmann

25. “Just as certain selections of music will nourish your physical body and your emotional layer, so other musical works will bring greater health to your mind.”
    – Hal A. Lingerman

26. “Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world.”
    – Giuseppe Mazzini

27. “Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don’t take it too seriously.”
    – Henry Miller

28. “I started making music because I could.”
    – Alanis Morissette

29. “Music helps you find the truths you must bring into the rest of your life. “
    – Alanis Morissette

30. “Music is spiritual. The music business is not. “
    – Van Morrison

31. “Like everything else in nature, music is a becoming, and it becomes its full self, when its sounds and laws are used by intelligent man for the production of harmony, and so made the vehicle of emotion and thought.”
    – Theodore Mungers

32. “Without music life would be a mistake.”
    – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

33. “In music the passions enjoy themselves.”
    – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

34. “Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.”
    – Charlie Parker

35. “Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside. “
    – Elvis Presley

36. “It’s the music that kept us all intact, kept us from going crazy. “
    – Lou Reed

37. “The music business was not safe, but it was FUN. It was like falling in love with a woman you know is bad for you, but you love every minute with her, anyway.”
    – Lionel Richie

38. “Music should never be harmless.”
    – Robbie Robertson

39. “Give me a laundry list and I’ll set it to music.”
    – Gioacchino Antonio Rossini

40. “All music is important if it comes from the heart. “
    – Carlos Santana

41. “Music is the key to the female heart.”
    – Johann G. Seume

42. “The best music… is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with. “
    – Bruce Springsteen

43. “All I try to do is write music that feels meaningful to me, that has commitment and passion behind it.”
    – Bruce Springsteen

44. “In music one must think with the heart and feel with the brain.”
    –George Szell

45. “When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”
    – Henry David Thoreau

46. “For heights and depths no words can reach, music is the soul’s own speech.”
    –Unknown

47. “Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.”
    –Unknown

48. “I believe in the power of music. To me, it isn’t just a fad. This is a positive thing.”
    – Eddie Vedder

49. “Music at its essence is what gives us memories. “
    – Stevie Wonder

50. “There’s a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don’t know what it is. But I’ve got it.”
    – Ron Wood

Resource Box - © Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine - A free newsletter for quote lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like - love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and many more. Read it online at - http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp

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The idea that studying music improves the social development of a child is not a new one, but at last there is incontrovertible evidence from a study conducted out of the University of Toronto.

The study, published in the August issue of Psychological Science was led by Dr. E. Glenn Schellenberg, and examined the effect of extra-curricular activities on the intellectual and social development of six-year-old children. A group of 144 children were recruited through an ad in a local newspaper and assigned randomly to one of four activities: piano lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons, or no lessons.

Two types of music lessons were offered in order to be able to generalize the results, while the groups receiving drama lessons or no lessons were considered control groups in order to test the effect of music lessons over other art lessons requiring similar skill sets and nothing at all. The activities were provided for one year.

The participating children were given IQ tests before and after the lessons. The results of this study revealed that increases in IQ from pre- to post-test were larger in the music groups than in the two others. Generally these increases occurred across IQ subtests, index scores, and academic achievement.

While music teachers across the country greeted the new research enthusiastically, in fact, many other studies have previously shown a correlation between music study and academic achievement.

In 1997, well known music researchers Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and their team at the University of California (Irvine) reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science. A group led by the same two scientists had earlier showed that after eight months of piano lessons, preschoolers showed a 46 percent boost in their spatial reasoning IQ.

The March 1999 issue of Neurological Research published a report by another group of researchers, also at the University of California (Irvine), who found that second-grade students given four months of piano keyboard training, as well as time playing newly designed computer software, scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than other children.

Students with coursework and experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT, according to a Profile of Program Test Takers released by the Princeton, NJ, College Entrance Examination Board in 2001. This report stated that students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation.

Another part of this same study shows that longer music study means higher SAT scores. For example, students participating in the arts for two years averaged 29 points higher on the verbal portion and 18 points higher on the math portion of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts. Students with four or more years in the arts scored 57 points higher and 39 points higher on the verbal and math portions respectively than students with no arts coursework.

Another study also found support for a relationship between math achievement and participation in instrumental music instruction. The researchers found that students who participated in instrumental music instruction in high school took on the average 2.9 more advanced math courses then did students who did not participate.

In fact, various studies over the last 10 years suggest teaching kids music can heighten their aptitude for math, reading, and engineering. (One explanation for improved ability in mathematics is that music theory is based on mathematical truths. Rhythms are divided into fractions - half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. Scales have eight tones, and the steps between them follow an equation.)

A McGill University study in 1998 found that pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly for students given piano instruction over a three-year period. The researchers also found that self-esteem and musical skills measures improved for the students given piano instruction.

And data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 revealed music participants received more academic honors and awards than non-music students, and that the percentage of music participants receiving As, As/Bs, and Bs was higher than the percentage of non- participants receiving those grades.

In 1994, a report entitled “The Case For Music Study In Schools” was printed in Phi Delta Kappan, the professional print journal for education. It included details of research conducted by physician and biologist Lewis Thomas, who studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. Thomas found that 66 percent of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group.

The same report asserted that the very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry were, almost without exception, practicing musicians.

The world’s top academic countries also place a high value on music education. In a study of the ability of fourteen year-old science students in seventeen countries, the top three countries were Hungary, the Netherlands, and Japan. All three include music throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through high school.

St. Augustine Bronx elementary school, about to fail in 1984, implemented an intensive music program, and today 90 percent of the school’s students are reading at or above grade level. And a ten-year study at UCLA tracked more than 25,000 students, and showed that music making improves test scores. Regardless of socio-economic background, music-making students get higher marks in standardized tests than those who had no music involvement. The test scores studied were not only standardized tests, such as the SAT, but also in reading proficiency exams.

Music training helps under-achievers as well, according to research published in Nature magazine in May 1996. In Rhode Island, researchers studied eight public school first grade classes. Half of the classes became “test arts” groups, receiving ongoing music and visual arts training. In kindergarten, this group had lagged behind in scholastic performance. After seven months, the students were given a standardized test. The “test arts” group had caught up to their fellow students in reading and surpassed their classmates in math by 22 percent. In the second year of the project, the arts students widened this margin even further. Students were also evaluated on attitude and behavior. Classroom teachers noted improvement in these areas also.

In 2005, it appears the pace of scientific research into music making has never been greater. The most recent evidence from the University of Toronto confirms what many other researchers have already detected - that music boosts brainpower, academic achievement,socialization skills, and emotional health.

It’s logical, when you think about it. People who learn to play an instruments are in groups — bands, choirs, orchestras, combos, worship teams, etc. And working and making music with others is bound to help relateabilty with people and foster close bonds with fellow musicians.

So it appears that learning to play music, whether guitar, piano, or some other instrument, actually does contribute to your ability to “win friends and influence people.”

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and products such as DVD’s, CD’s, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. He holds an advanced degree from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He can be reached at http://www.pianolessonsbyvideo.com He is the author of the popular free 101-week e-mail newsletter titled “Amazing Secrets Of Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” with over 55,000 current subscribers. Those interested may obtain a free two-year subscription by going to http://www.playpiano.com/

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Ah, the urban wilderness that is LA! The wild smog in the wild air settles all over you like a fine coating of pancake makeup applied to a nude model. You stroll through this thick atmosphere and feel the desperation and faded glory assault your senses. Crumbled and stained sidewalks and curbs seem half real beneath your feet. Whole blocks of dirty and ratty tents stuffed with people driven half mad or all the way mad by drugs and no food and illness and inner demons. Mexican transvestites preen past the gauzy green glow of the neon lights in the window of the botanica. As the sunlight fades a new city rises from these ruins. This is the city of other senses. This is the city of smell. The city of human urine and car exhaust and heat bleeding out of old stone walls. This is the city of touch. The cracked and callused hand of a homeless man as he shakes you hand waiting for his moment to start the hustle for change. This is the city of sound. The sound of Ranchera and Mexican dance music blatting at full volume. The sound of desperate shouts and garbled screams coming from unknown directions. This city keeps you on your toes. It was into this city that myself and a few pal ventured last Saturday night to check out the spectacle, the phenomena, and the outright surreal indecency of the Acid Mothers Temple’s “New Japanese Music Festival“.

To call this a “festival” requires that one’s ability to visualize or conceptualize is deeply rooted in a Marx Brothers aesthetic. Perhaps it even requires something beyond The Marx Brothers. A bit of 3 Stooges mixed together with Monty Python and the Firesign Theatre all soaked in Ayhuasca and shot up your nose by an Amazonian shaman. That might approach it. Now that you’ve rearranged your perspective you’re ready to call this event a FESTIVAL! It consisted of several permutations of 3 of the ever expanding Acid Mother’s Temple lineup. In this case that would include, Kawabata Makoto, Yoshida Tatsuya and Tsuyama Atsushi. Each assembly of these same three people would get up and play for between 10-20 minutes, then they would dash off backstage to take a quick smoke break and run back on to “become” the next group.

Musically there was an entire gamut to run. There was a healthy dose of beautiful and damaged Gregorian drone chanting. This was surrounded by contact microphone noise sessions of pant zippers and scissors. There were longish riffs on various “famous” and not so “famous” songs by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Miles Davis. These were delivered in a wacky, hand-made Captain Beefheart tone that, to me, was a bit off putting. While the sentiments of slap-dash deconstructionism are commendable, after standing in the sweat and cigarette drenched club for a few hours, the joke wore thin. It began at times to feel like a test of will. The atmosphere in The Smell contributed to this by acting like an unhealthy sauna. It was the reverse of every positive feeling one could have in a space. The thickness of the air filled with human sweat and bad breath and cigarette smoke and vague industrial smells and of course, urine was inescapable.

Better were the sets of Ruins solo and the great grand finale of Acid Mothers Temple pile driving it home. The Ruins set was a master work of intense drumming. While playing along with a sampler and guest bassist Yoshida somehow channeled the sound of several drummers playing furiously all at once. The beauty and devastation of the songs, filled with manic energy and wild swerves of tempo was inspiring. Best of all however was the massive cathartic, freak-power lift off of Acid Mothers Temple . It’s hard to describe the massive push of sound pressure created by AMT live. They seem to literally strangle the music out of thin air and then ride this throbbing monster for all it is worth. The spontaneous and chance filled collides with pure daring and intent to create hypnotic magick. AMT is one of the best live acts going and it would behoove you to drive, fly, crawl on bloody stumps, skip, or roll to wherever they are playing and dig it.

This wild trip to LA didn’t end with the last collapsing chords of AMT though. From there our San Diego foursome (the impossibly tall and handsome Philsy, his lovely pixie-booted wife Yuko and “The Two High School Girls” Eric and I) and some other pals (wise acre, music magician, actor and all purpose freak Brucey and sweetheart of the rodeo and dog-bar lover extraordinaire Helveta) scampered off to one of those LA ex-Rummy/Barfly, now taken over by hipsters, bars called, “Footsies”. As to what happened here perhaps the less said the better! Let’s just say that tequila and Tabasco is a lovely way to go and that watching large gothic girl dig cell phones out of their cleavage to show you pictures of themselves hung-over in a taxi is not. Really what this night was about was connection and freedom. It’s a blessing to be with great friends laughing and riffing on time present and past. It’s a blessing to get out of your head once in awhile. It’s a blessing to see the variety of human experience. And finally it’s a blessing to hear the pure caterwaul and inspired free-form lunacy of Acid Mothers Temple no matter what the line up, smell or cost to mind and body.

Blog San Diego is an online resource for live music reviews, cd reviews, music news & features.

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