Training With a Beat: The Teaching Power of Music

Rating:
Summary: Using Music to Really Enhance Learning
Review: I recently purchased and read Mr. Millbower's marvelous book on integrating music into adult learning. So many trainers attempt to apply techniques that are aimed at enhancing their programs, only to fall short because there is not solid research behind their strategies. Lenn suceeds in bringing theory to life.
He has effectively incorporated his professional and academic training in music into the learning process. Through many real-world examples, listings of actual songs that trainers can use in their programs, and down-to-earth explanations, he has provided a valuable training reference.
Shortly after reading the book, I had an opportunity to see Lenn do a presentation on the book's topic for a local professional group. His humor, technique, presentation style (using a variety of music) were fantastic and he received many cudos from audience members. He really brought his book content to life and showed how effectively trainers can use music to tap into attendee emotion and past learning. I know that even though I write and present on creative training and brain-based learning topics, I picked up a number of new strategies and ideas to incorporate music into my own future presentations.
This book is a "must have" for any professional trainer or educator who is serious about enhancing his or her learning environment.

Rating:
Summary: PRESENTING TO THE BEAT
Review: Reviewed by John Garrison, PhD, MPH Senior Psychologist, Lahey Clinic, Burlington MA Assistant Clinical Professor (Psychiatry), Tufts University Medical School. Reprinted with permission of NAMC, managed by and located at Stewart Communications, Ltd., Chicago, IL

Earlier this year I was invited to speak on the topic of stress as part of an all-day continuing education program for nurses. Having been assigned the dreaded presentation slot immediately following lunch, I was considering the potentially soporific effect of my 45-minute psychophysiology lecture on the audience's postprandial state! I doubted that even my jazzy PowerPoint presentation with video assists would be up to the challenge.

Then I recalled having read a suggestion for using music to counter audience drowsiness after a meal. I flipped open Lenn Millbower's slim but thought-provoking volume, Training with the Beat. Based on the author's recom-mendation, I played an audiocassette of a Brahms Sonata for about 15 minutes as the audience filed back into the auditorium after their lunch. To my surprise, the listeners appeared quite alert during the presentation, and several spontaneously commented on the pleasing impact of the music. Since then, using Millbower's guidelines, I've begun selectively to add music to many of my presentations with pleasing results.

This book, written by a professor who is also a business trainer and musician, is a theory and research-based (but practical) "how-to" guide for speakers, trainers, and educators who wish to use instrumental and vocal music to enhance the learning potential and entertainment value of their presentations. Much like employing a graphic to make a point in a slide presentation, a presenter might choose a recording of a musical piece to produce any one of a number of effects such as developing a positive learning environment, creating a sound metaphor for an idea, or transporting the audience to a different time and place.

Designed for the scholarly but non musician reader, Training includes criteria for selecting specific music to meet the requirements posed by particular situations and audiences - for example, a baroque instrumental to establish a mood or a vocal to create a metaphor for learning. Those doubtful that music holds amazing persuasive power need go no further than radio and TV advertisements for evidence to the contrary. Citations ranging from The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience to Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology are included for those readers requiring additional documentation. The book includes comprehensive listings of CDs/audiocassettes organized into a matrix of recommended applications simplifying choice. Legal and copyright considerations are addressed in the final chapter As the author notes at the end of this work, music does not replace effective lecturing but adds a powerful tool to the presenter's repertory. Speakers, trainers, and educators may all find something of value here.

Rating:
Summary: The Power of Music
Review: What emotions does your favorite song bring to mind? Beethoven called music "the mediator between the life of the senses and the life of the spirit." Lenn Millbower's "Training With a Beat: The Teaching Power of Music" talks about what music is, how we process it, its effects upon us, and how we can use it to enhance adult learning. Aimed at corporate trainers, presenters, and educators, it will also be helpful for anyone in business who wants to enhance meetings or brainstorming sessions with music, as well as anyone wanting to learn about music and its influence on our ability to learn.

Among the types of music particularly good for learning are Baroque, because its rhythm closely matches that of the human heart in a restful state, and Mozart, which is currently being touted as being beneficial to infant development. It is in this state that the brain is most receptive to learning.

Drawing on his backgrounds in training and professional musicianship, Millbower writes concisely, making brain theory and music theory understandable to all readers, gives examples, and illustrates his points with entertaining stories. The text also practices the principles of good teaching in other ways: summarizing key points as you go and providing helpful graphics, such as a chart of specifically how different types of music can be used in training.

He includes a fun list of popular music organized by business-related topic that trainers can use to introduce or close segments of programs: "That's What Friends Are For" for teamwork, "Call Me" for customer service, and "We Can Work It Out" for stress management. No book about music use would be complete without a section on copyright law, which explains the user's obligations.

Overall I'd recommend this book because, as they used to say on "American Bandstand," it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.