Building your baby's brain with Beethoven, Bach, Mozart

Building your baby's brain with Beethoven, Bach, Mozart

By Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Young couple David and Endah were not fans of
classical music - they sometimes even teased others who had a
zeal for this kind of music as having an "old fashioned" way of
life.

But now the music is heard almost every day coming from their
house in the Kemang Pratama housing complex in Bekasi, about 40
kilometers east of here.

The couple started collecting CDs of the great composers like
Bach, Beethoven and Mozart last year shortly after their first
son Billy was born. The new parents now play the music to wake
their son up or even as background music when he is playing
around.

"We read that this kind of music is good for the growth of the
childrens' brains and that's why we play the music even though we
are not lovers of it," said David.

So far, Endah said, they haven't proved whether Billy's
intelligence has been influenced by the classical music, "but for
sure he shows a reaction everytime he listens to the music."

For lay people like them, it is not easy to select the music
which is most suitable for the "brain's development", but this
problem has been solved thanks to cassette and CD producers who
have compiled certain classical music recordings for this
purpose.

Some of the companies which produce such compilations are
Sony, Polygram and Philips, according to Sudiarto, an employee of
Duta Suara cassette and CD shop in Central Jakarta.

Just go to the shop's classical music section and you will
find certain cassettes and CDs with pictures of babies on their
covers.

Sudiarto said that he sells quite a lot of these cassettes and
CDs. "Some of them have even reached the best selling category,
meaning we have sold more than 10 pieces in a week," he said,
referring to the cassettes Build Your Baby's Brain Through the
Power of Music and Build Your Baby's Brain Through the Power of
Mozart, both released by Sony.

Staff member of the promotional department of Sony Music
Entertainment Indonesia, Sundari, said that the company had
released five volumes of the classical music for babies series,
which includes pieces by the great composers like Bach, Beethoven
and Mozart.

She said that Sony in Indonesia have been importing the
cassettes and CDs since 1998. "That's why we are not involved in
the music selection process. We just receive the product from
Sony's Southeast Asia head office in Hong Kong."

Sundari also said that the series has been received
enthusiastically by people to the point that within two years
sales have exceeded 100,000 copies.

"Of course it (the selling rate) is great for the classical
music category due to its segmented position in the market," she
added.

This kind of music is not only good for babies but also for
pregnant women, which is reflected in the popularity of series
like Philips' Mozart for Mothers-to-be and Madamaya Utama
Record's Untuk Ibu Hamil (For Pregnant Women), Metode Mendengar
Musik Klasik (The Method of Listening to Classical Music),
Membuat Bayi Cerdas Sejak di Kandungan (Making Baby Smart While
in the Womb).

Membuat Bayi Cerdas is even enclosed with notes from prominent
psychologist S.C. Utami Munandar, expert on public health
Hardywinoto and physician Suharwan Hadisudarmo. They share a
belief in the importance of music for children's early
development.

Munandar said that the psychological condition of pregnant
women is influential in the growth of the embryo. "That's why it
is important for pregnant mothers to be in a calm, happy and
comfortable condition.

"(The condition) is created, among other things, through
listening to classical music," she said.

Indeed, researchers have shown that music plays a great
function in the development of personality, creativity and in
improving the brain's analytical thinking abilities.

That's why lecturer of music education Widia Pekerti, whose
thesis is about the influence of integrated music and math
teaching systems, hailed the release of the cassettes and CDs on
classical music for children.

According to her, classical music has a regular form which
creates stability and composure in humans.

"The most suitable music is that in which the regularity is
similar to that of the heartbeat, like baroque music which has a
steady tempo from the beginning to the end," said the lecturer at
the drama, dance and music department of the Jakarta State
University.

Widia, who also teaches at several other universities, said
that when the musical tempo is the same as the heartbeat it
influences the nervous system and results in greater composure.

"The condition of people who naturally have a peaceful
disposition and whose emotions are usually under control will
automatically become less stressed. People who are usually
stressed will have it decreased," said the mother of two who also
educated her children through music.

Her research, conducted in 1997 at Regina Pacis elementary
school in Jakarta, showed that the students who received
integrated music and math teachings got higher marks for their
math compared to those who followed a conventional math teaching
system.