Over the next series of five Music Corners I will suggest some CDs to buy and give ideas on how each might be used.
All the CDs are available from Amazon, whose website also offers short downloads so you can preview each CD. Why not involve the children in making the order by sitting at the computer and clicking on some of the audio-previews?
The idea that listening to classical music has a beneficial effect on babies' and young children's brains has been wildly exaggerated by the media. One small piece of evidence from one experiment with adults showed that listening to Mozart improved their ability to do a test involving spatio-temporal thinking. But nobody has been able to repeat this slight evidence so it doesn't prove anything. Some researchers suggest that listening to any bright lively music makes you feel more energetic and alert. So, while being quite clear that there is no evidence that listening to classical music improves intelligence, here is a Mozart CD as the first for the collection.
'Mozart for the morning commute' is a bright, lively bit of music for travelling with. Play it in the morning when you are setting up the nursery and the first children are arriving or play a track at tidying-up time.
Just as some nurseries sing a song as part of the tidying-up routine, so putting on the same CD might serve as a signal.
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Conductor: Iona Brown, Jeffrey Tate, et al.
Orchestra: Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London Symphony Orchestra, et al.
Label: Philips
ASIN: B0000041M6
