1 . Here are some ways to introduce classical music to your children.

●When you read a story to your children, pick out a classical music piece that matches the emotion of the book.     1     After getting used to reading in time with the music, tell your children you have a special surprise for them. Read them the story in the new way, and they will surely be delighted!

●If your kids are always moving around, try introducing classical music to them by dancing. Instruct your children to listen to the music and dance however the music makes them feel. Parents dance with them!     2    

●Before your kids begin playtime, make a list of classical music pieces with the name of the person who wrote it.     3     Tell them something about the person they picked to listen to. Before long, your children will have a basic knowledge of the person who wrote the piece.

●    4     Make sure your children listen to the music and create their picture to however the music makes them feel. Once everyone is finished, listen to the music again and explain your creations.

●You can pick out three pieces of music to play during the week.     5     At the end of the week have a listening game to see who can remember the name of the piece when you play it. Games are always a fun way to introduce learning concepts.

2 . Music is arguably the most life-enriching academic subject.     1    . It can bring lots of important benefits to your child’s education, many of which you may not have considered before.

Increase language capabilities

Music and language have a far-reaching relationship. Musical training stimulates the same part of the brain that deals with understanding language. Children who have some exposure to music al education will, therefore, have a greater understanding of tones and how different phrases are arranged.     2    .

Improve hand-eye coordination (协调)

    3    . It takes considerable hand-eye coordination to learn almost any instrument. Those who master their craft are blessed with a unique skill; it’s something that can be applied to other areas of general life. It can also help elsewhere in education, as writing skills and art require the hands and eyes to work together.

    4    

Music is a great way for your child to meet new people and create lasting friendships. If they decide to take up music as an extracurricular (课外的) activity, they’ll be bonding with like-minded children who share their passion. In a time when children are increasingly interested in communicating online and focusing on digital skills, music is a refreshing return to face-to-face contact.

Bring about a sense of achievement

When your child does achieve a musical goal, they get the incredible satisfaction that comes from working hard to obtain something.     5    . Self-trust is one of the most valuable skills a child can have and music is one of the best ways to allow it to develop in your child.

4 . Many people love to listen to music while driving. Thanks to the world’s musical roads, drivers now don’t need to turn the radio on.     1    

A musical road can create music when a car tires go over grooves (凹槽) on the road. To produce beautiful music, drivers must pass over the grooves at a certain speed. Signs often tell drivers the right speed.

    2    . Since the mid-1990, musical rads have appeared in many different countries.     3    . To warn drivers to the incoming music, all the roads are marked by colored musical notes that are painted on these roads. Drivers can decide whether to go over the grooves or not because they are set on the side of the road.

In Hungary, there is a musical road in honor of one of the country’s most popular musical performers — Laszlo Bodi. Bodi was the lead singer for the band Republic.     4    . Sadly, Bodi passed away in 2013. But people still remember him as there’s a road where drivers can hear 30 seconds of the Republic song “Road 67”.

    5    . In Indonesia, a road plays the first six notes of “Happy Birthday”. The fifth note is a little out of tune, though. This “mistake” keeps drivers awake and aware, and it has reduced the number of traffic accidents. Such is the power of music and musical roads.

5 . Music plays an important role in our lives.     1     If you’ve created music or have found comfort in playing an instrument or listening to your favorite artist, you will be interested in the science behind why music makes us feel so good.

Unlike food, music isn’t necessary for our survival.     2     Music floods the brain with a chemical called dopamine (多巴胺), which is associated with pleasure, motivation and reward.

Studies have shown that certain pieces of classical music will have the same effect on everyone.     3     Of course, everyone is different and music will make us respond according to our own taste and familiarity. Yet, investigations have shown that some music will give people a universal experience.

Neuroscientists conducted research using PET scans to detect the release of dopamine in the brain when subjects listened to their favorite songs. They later used MRI to view the pleasure center of the brain where dopamine is released and then mapped out its connection with other areas of the brain.     4    

The pleasure center of the brain predicts what kind of music we will enjoy based on the connection it makes to other parts of our brain.

New music fits into patterns already mapped out in the brain by our past musical tastes. It is pleasurable not only because it is familiar, but it is different just enough to feel new and exciting.     5     Broadening musical experience and taste can become a journey of self-discovery, for like any art form, in music we see our humanity.

6 . Helena Blumen, a cognitive (认知的) scientist, says the complicated mental multi-tasking that dancing requires engages various parts of the brain at the same time, leading to the strengthening of neural (神经系统的) connections across different regions.     1    . “It’s socially, cognitively and physically demanding,” she says.

Anyone who’s ever felt the irresistible urge to dance to a favorite song knows that combining music and movement can lift your mood and melt away stress. But there’s a lot more happening in your brain when you’re trying to follow even the easiest choreography (编舞).     2    . Tasks like getting around the kitchen or walking to the bus stop can become more attainable if regarded as choreography.

To learn how the mechanisms of dancing work in the brain, researchers conducted MRI scans on older adults who engaged in either dance or a traditional exercise program over six months.     3    , the dancers grew more white and gray matter in the parts of the brain responsible for cognitive processes.

The researchers assume that these brain changes contribute to more neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections and pathways.     4    . Brain plasticity is similar to the city’s ability to build new roads, repair old ones or even change the direction of traffic based on how often the routes are used and what the city needs.

    5    . A Finnish study of people with severe brain injuries showed that dance-based recovery might improve mobility, cognition and overall well-being. Additionally, research shows that dancing can reduce the risk of brain-related diseases such as dementia (痴呆).

7 . Music exists almost every human culture on earth. The oldest discovered musical instruments date back over 40,000 years to the Stone Age.     1     It originated alongside language in early human communication. Why did music become so well connected into the human experience over the long history? Evolutionary psychologists say it gave significant survival advantages to our ancestors.

In prehistoric times, music promoted tighter social bonding between group members. Singing and drumming together released chemicals like dopamine and endorphins, inducing positive emotions that strengthened social connections.     2     This can also help to claim identity and territory (领土).

Early music likely aided communication too. Rhythmic drumbeats and calls organized the actions and movements of groups during hunts or battle. Singing while working made labor less boring. Mothers may have sung primitive tunes to children as an early form of emotional communication.

    3     Group member’s beating drums and making noise during the night signaled that they were alert (警觉的) and ready to fight surprise enemy. Young night watchmen sang to indicate they were awake. Soldiers guarding territory used instruments to send warning calls across longer distances.

In all these ways, music increased survival chances in human evolution. Natural selection then embedded (嵌入) the capacity for music into our biology. Supporting this, scientists have discovered specific regions of the brain devoted to musical processing. Children have an inborn ability to detect musical patterns and different tonal pitches.     4     So next time you find yourself singing along to an easy tune, remember you are using an evolutionary heritage which goes through thousand years! Music is part of what makes us unique human. In the past, our Stone Age ancestors sang and drummed because it increased survival.     5    

8 . This is Your Dream Dance

With growing evidence that dancing helps boost brain health and manage symptoms of neurocognitive (神经认知的) and movement disorders, accessible dance programmes and movement therapists are helping improve the lives of millions.     1    .

There’s actually a lot more happening inside the brain when trying to follow even the simplest choreography (舞蹈编排). “In dance class, we have to learn patterns, and remember sequences,” says David Leventhal, a programme director. The effect extends beyond the dance class to the real world.     2    .

In addition to the physical and neurological benefits, dance can also help people living with disease make out what their bodies can and can’t do. Rather than trying to control, or “fix” our body, dance is about developing greater body awareness and moving at our capacity, regardless of physical or cognitive difference.

    4    . Dancing with others not only makes people feel less different in their abilities when dealing with neurological and movement disorders, it also helps to combat the loneliness and social isolation of living with a chronic illness.

Still, researchers say they’re only scratching the surface of understanding how dance can be used therapeutically.     5    . Researchers are also trying to find out the most effective types of dance movements and the optimal length and frequency of classes.

9 . How music boosts brain

Many people believe that learning an instrument contributes to better educational attainment, cognition (thinking) and intelligence scores in children. But does this musicality translate to better cognition later in life?

    1    

A recent study investigated this question by asking middle-aged and older people to complete a questionnaire on their musical experience and complete cognitive tests. The results showed musical people had better memory and executive function (the ability to stay focused on tasks and control oneself). A good memory, important for playing a musical instrument, translates to people’s cognitive performance.     2    .

Continuing to play

    3    . Currently, amateur musicians show the highest cognitive performance of participants. That’s because continuing to play an instrument brings continued brain health benefits. By contrast, having played an instrument for three years during childhood might not have that big an impact on our cognitive performance later in life.

The “Mozart effect”

The famous “Mozart effect” was based on a study published in 1993.     4    . Sadly, the current study found no association between listening to music and cognitive performance. Cognitive stimulation depends on being actively engaged in activities. Thus passively listening to music doesn’t seem to provide any cognitive benefits.

Study conclusions

Playing an instrument or singing seems to have benefits to our brain health in ageing, according to the study.     5    . The study provides no evidence for this yet and it is also not clear how the findings apply to the general population, since most people in the study were female, well-educated and well-off.

10 . It’s happened to all of us: a song comes on the radio, and we are immediately transported back to a time in our past.     1    

There are a few things that connect tunes with our memories. Music is often a necessary element of many important life events, and it is also very effective in arresting our attention.     2     Besides, the emotional nature of music helps make it particularly memorable.

We often become familiar with a piece of music because we hear it as background music. The more familiar a piece of music is, the more effective it is in bringing back memories.     3     The reason is that we are far more likely to hear a song over and over again than to watch a film or a TV programme in the same way.

Tiffany Jenkins, writing for a culture column, has a different opinion:     4     She tells us how throughout history oral cultures have passed important knowledge from generation to generation through songs because of this characteristic. The rhythm (韵律) and rhyme in lines of songs all serve as memory aids.

    5     This fact corresponds with what many experts call the “reminiscence bump (怀旧性记忆)”, where older adults (over forty) have increased recollection of events that occurred during their adolescence and early adulthood.

It’s clear that our memories and music are closely linked — to the point that music is being used to help Alzheimer’s disease sufferers access memories that they thought they had lost.