Importance of Music and Rhythm in Education
Dr Debasish Mandal
Music Develops Humanity
Music
and performing arts creates our soft temperament and have a spirit of love
the nature, human and the entire universe. Everyone should listen music every
day to make his or her attention better and to avoid the mental stress. We find
everywhere various self-centred people due to the lack of education system and
socio economic problems. In the childhood and at the time of school education
the sensitivity and humanity develops. This is the highest time to construct
their attentiveness for affection to other, challenge the selfishness. Music
with good literature has this force to reach to this destination. I think the
all educationist, psychologist, and sociologist will be agree with that the
science is essential to develop the resource of energy and humanity can
motivate to breathing together. Music has a good role to cultivate the humanity.
So the conference may recommend to the society to introduce music and some
other art form from in the preliminary level to higher-level education system.
Action
and Language of Music & Rhythm
Music
and rhythm has its own language. We feel rhythm for joy, sorrow, frustration, silence, fear, alarming and for many explanations
have separate influence of rhythm. Music means a
systematic combination of sound and rhythm. Nature has developed us towards the
affection of music and rhythm. Blood is always circulating in human body and
heart is operating this work in rhythm. We are always feeling
rhythm. Our mind is also with musical memory. It should be note that the earth
and electronics sphere of the smallest particles are also moving in regular
motion that is rhythm. A psychologist, Douglas has said that the rhythm has
most important role to develop the human mind. ‘Everything from the cycle of
our brain waves to the pumping of our heart...all work in rhythms. We're a mass
of cycles piled one on top of another, so we're clearly organized both to
generate and respond to rhythmic phenomena’।[1] Heart beat has also two actions like musical rhythm,
Dub and Lob. One is bold and other is soft. Therefore, from the age of zero we
are being familiar with these two actions. Gradually the feelings of rhythm
become more systematic and more
critical due to the regular different rhythmic works. Douglas
says that, ‘…everything we do, from conversation to bodily functions, is
controlled by rhythm.’[2] E.
F. Clarke has said that only rhythm can give us pleasure. When melody assembles
with this then it becomes more enjoyable. But without rhythm or tempo melody
cannot pleased properly.[3] Scott said, ‘sometimes rhythm can be
imposed without melody, but the reverse cannot be done’[4]।
Rhythm & Children
In an article ‘The
Psychological Effects of Music’ Scott
Severance has written, ‘Most
music is organized into beats (regular emphases occurring throughout the whole
piece or a section of it) some beats are major (strong) and some are minor
(weak). Syncopation is the holding of a note beginning on a minor beat
across a major beat. Closely related is off-beat rhythm, where emphasis
is placed on a beat that normally would not receive as much emphasis.’[5]
Some psychologists analysed that the rhythm can help to develop the human
memory. I also feel that the rhythm has some impression that can help us to
build our human nature. A fellow feeling may increase by practicing rhythmic
and melodic poems or songs. It is universal that the children utters first in
rhythm, they practice to speak by saying mamma, dadda, babba, kakka, daddy etc.
After a few days, they learn rhythmic rhymes. Without any trouble, they learn a
tough language easily. They start their lesion with rhythmic sentences and
poems. Without rhythmic rhyme, learning in the childhood would be very critical
and challenging.
Since many years human has
gathered this experiences and they have felt the importance of music and rhymes
for the education of children and consequently this system was established. Now
it is being important the research of the background of such traditional
structure. We have learned that the rhythmic sound generates memory. All human
can preserve much methodically the rhythmic word, sentences, or numbers in
mind.
Relation of Rhythm with our
Memory
Every day we observe many
objects but a few subjects of these we can keep in mind and latter a few of
these we can memories. However, all we learn or listen which are musical or
rhythmical we can remember more. We forget many things but it is easy to remember
the rhyme, poem, song or tune which are composed in rhythm and tune. From the
ancient time, our families used the melodic and rhythmic pattern to keep the
important theory, laws, formula etc. in memory. Therefore, we see the chants
and mantras composed in rhythm and tune because
long time these mantras used to keep in mind without writing. The Ramayana,
Mahabharata, Gita, and Purans are written in verse. The main reason of this is
to preserve in mind and recall them easily.
The folk drama and folk story are also composed in
verse because when listeners listen the verse they feel much better than verse
and they also can preserve it easily. In the Modern literature some rhymes have
composed which have no such meaning but beautiful rhythm attract children even
elders such as ‘Galda Chingri/ Tingri Mingri/ Lamba Danar Karatal/ Pakrasider/
Kankra Dobai/ Makarsader /Haratal’ .
Annie Murphy Paul has used a as reference from an article of David Rubin “Oral
tradition depends on human memory for their preservation. If a tradition is to
survive, it must be stored in one person’s memory and be passed on to another
person who is also capable to strong and retailing it. All this must occur over
many generations…Oral traditions must, therefore, have developed forms of
organization and strategies to decrease the changes that human memory imposes
on the more casual transmission of verbal material.’’[6] David Rubin has written that students of higher
education also capable to recall better the rhythmic portion of their
lesion.
We also find that that
easily we can recall the verse, poem, or rhythmic sentences without any stress.
Such as after first line of a poem second line comes automatically then third,
fourth and other lines without any stress we can recall. That not only we feel
some happiness by recalling these lines and if we expresses loudly these lines
then we feel much better. When we sing a song for myself then we feel a divine
joy.
The experience is that the Alzheimer’s patents lose
memory rapidly but they also can easily remember many verse and songs, which
they have learned from their distant past. So they can also learn or the
treatment of them might be through rhythmic music.
Meaning
of Sound to Children, Animals, Birds & Insects
Almost
all animal, birds and insects can listen sound and have sensation of
rhythm. So they being able to explain
the meaning or decode the various sounds.
Sound impressed them and human. Everyone being aware by listening sound
of danger understands sound of thunder, rain, call of animal etc. All animal,
birds and insects notify their presence using the sound. Someone try to influence another by creating
sound and retained itself as superior.
Children knock their mother by making sound. When
insect, animal and birds create sound in melody and rhythm then we say music.
Actually, the same species understand the meaning of their own. They make
reaction on their own species sound. Such surrounded by thousands of sounds
insects also locate its own pair or similar partner by listening the tune.
Without the use of sound, small insects could not trace their groups or
partners.
Influence of Rhythmic Sound to
the Society
Musical rhythm amends the activity of brain and
therefore some sound gives us additional energy and some music motivates us to
do work and encourage us to help the underprivileged people. Emily,
Sharman has written in an article ‘Symposium
looks at therapeutic benefits of musical rhythm’, ‘Rhythmic
music may change brain function and treat a range of neurological conditions,
including attention deficit disorder and depression, suggested scientists who
gathered with ethnomusicologists and musicians at Stanford's Centre for
Computer Research in Music and Acoustics May 13.’[7]
The Music is verymuch associate with their social customs and worship of
the folk people in the whole world. And thousands of year this system is
continuing. Recently some research have identify, ‘Studies of rhythms and the brain have shown that a
combination of rhythmic light and sound stimulation has the greatest effect on
brainwave frequency, although sound alone can change brain activity. This helps
explain the significance of rhythmic sound in religious ceremonies.’[8]
In the undivided Bengal when Lord Curzon announced to divided India
Rabindranath Tagore composed ‘Banglar Mati Banglar Jal/ Banglar Bayu Banglar
Fal/ Ek Houk Ek Houk, Ek Houk He Bhagaban.’He became out and sung this song
jointly. Millions of people became out and joined with this movement. All the
freedom movement people of each country being inspire by the patriotic song. The
society and political parties always use songs to protect and protest the
dishonesty, criminality and demand the equality and justice. They use slogans
in rhythmic sound. They use song before and after the meeting. When they
express in a rally they try to use some rhythmic sentence, which generates more
outcome to the people. At the time of literacy movement thousands songs were
composed and sung in many states in India. Baul, Sufi, Gambhira, Kabigan and
other folk artists composed and performed many songs and motivated the society
by communicating the importance of education.
Rhythm & Music Develops Togetherness and Integrity
Traditionally Music is fully assign with our everyday social activities
from the Vedic period or from the primitive time. It is for not only their enjoyment,
the music and dance prepared them for togetherness and appeared them to affection
every one of their community. Even today, many tribal communities follow this
arrangement. Modern society does not follow this system though societies
arrange some cultural program but in the locality a few no’s participates with
that. In the school, college, university can arrange such programme where every
one of a class can participate. Especially music is the best form where
everyone can involve.
Everybody should Learn & Practice Music
I humbly suggest that the basic education should start with music and it
should be a compulsory subject in primary education. In the Madhyamik (class X)
and higher secondary (XII) level, also music or any other art form should be a
compulsory subject and in the higher education, music and musical programme
should arrange regularly where each students would participate actively. This
programme may be group song and all the students will sing it jointly at least
once in a day but it should be within the curriculum. Apart from the curriculum,
every person may join in the group programm occasionally or regularly. I have
seen a social welfare society always sing different type songs in their every
gathering and they always develop their feelings of togetherness and broader
mind in the social activities. Therefore, I think the music can precedes a
decent role to develop the mental health of the human and also the health of
the society.
[5] Severance, Scott. The
Psychological Effects of Music.
http://www.scottseverance.us/music/effects_of_music.htm
[6] Paul, Annie
Murphy. Why Music is a Powerful Memory-Boosting Tool, http://www.businessinsider.com/how-music-boosts-memory-2013-9?IR=T
P 2
[7] Emily, Saarman. Saar man Symposium Looks at the Therapeutic
Benefits of Musical Rhythm.
http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2006/pr-brainwave-053106.html
[8] EMILY,
SAARMAN. Saar man Symposium Looks at the Therapeutic Benefits of Musical
Rhythm. http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2006/pr-brainwave-053106.html
