"Too Many Notes"

1 Chronicles 13:8
“And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.”

Perhaps you remember the line from the film Amadeus in which someone observes of Mozart’s music, “Too many notes.” That statement reflects some people’s opinion of Mozart’s highly complex music. But researchers are finding that this mathematical complexity may be the reason for what some call “the Mozart effect.”
    
Researchers at several universities around the United States have confirmed that Mozart’s complex music has positive effects for both adults and children. In one study, rats were subjected to Mozart for 12 hours a day, beginning four weeks before birth. A second group heard only silence, a third heard only a constant hissing sound, while a fourth group heard only minimalist composer Philip Glass. When the rats were old enough to run a maze, they were tested. The Mozart rats not only ran the maze considerably faster than any of the others, but they made fewer mistakes. Other research has shown that adults do better on intelligence tests after hearing Mozart. While this effect is temporary in adults, children exposed to Mozart show a permanent improvement.
    
It is thought that the complex nature of Mozart’s music encourages the brain to make more connections within itself. The more connections you have, the smarter you are. Surely music is a gift of God that benefits us and could never exist in a universe created by the forces of chance.

Prayer:
Thank You, Lord, for the gift of music. Help me to use music to praise You and to tell others of Your salvation. Amen.

Notes:
John Fauber, “Mozart is music to the brain’s ears,” The Christian News, January 18, 1999, p. 9. Photo: Mozart sheet music.