Take your learners to a concert (or two)

The use of background music during lectures, vocabulary decoding, or group readings is a cornerstone of Accelerated Learning techniques. Two methods for using music, designed to create very different but equally effective learning environments, were developed through Lozanov’s methods.

They are called concerts.

The Active Concert activates the learning process mentally, physically and/or emotionally while the Passive Concert is geared to place the student in a relaxed alpha brain wave state and stabilize the student’s mental, physical and emotional rhythms to increase information absorption. Both teaching methods result in high memory retention.

Used together the two concerts provide a powerful learning experience.

Active concerts

Active Concerts are often used to present course information for the first time, as a process of decoding information. The decoding provides an overview and insights into the upcoming material, as well as motivation to learn.

Creating an Active Concert means selecting information that is especially important to your content. It may be in the form of a story, selected important text, quotes by significant people, a dialogue or play, or essential vocabulary terms and definitions.

This information when read with supporting instrumental music will stimulate the content.

An Active Concert is intended is to energize information and effective music to use may be:

• energizing music such as the faster movements of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos or Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Rondo movement, found on The Mozart Effect, Vol1: Strengthen the Mind recording
• content-related music–upbeat music that is from the era being studied, of the genre of the cultural studied or somehow creates a mental association with the topic

Passive Concerts:

The goal of a Passive Concert is to move the students into a state of relaxed alertness, where their bodies are relaxed and they are in an alpha or theta brainwave state, a slower brain rhythm than our normal busy, actively-thinking beta state. We are able to learn large amounts of information in this state because we are not busy thinking about other things and we are allowing our right-brain to process information in a global, holistic manner.

Passive Concert text material can be the same information used for an Active Concert or it may be different.

Here is a “how to…” example of a passive concert

Tips for Memorizing Words, Terms Facts:

• Select text important to the content such as explanatory information (text from a book or reading), words and their definitions, or a metaphorical story.
• Ask your participants to sit comfortably and give them time to settle in, close their eyes, sit back, etc. Let them know they will be hearing music for a minute or two and then you will begin your reading.
• Begin the music and let it play for a minute or two. Then begin to read your content information slowly and in a calm voice that is loud enough to be heard above the music.
• The music and your voice should be about equal or your voice should be slightly louder. If reading words and definitions, pause for a mental count of 4 between sets of words. Keep your reading to 30 words/definitions or 3-5 minutes or text-less for young students.
• When you have completed your reading, allow the music to play for a minute or two after you have finished speaking, then slowly turn the volume down on the CD player.

Passive Concert music is:

• slow and relaxing music such as Dan Kobialka’s Velvet Dreams and Steven Halpern’s Music for Accelerated Learning
• calming music with a slow beat that reinforces the entrainment experience (bringing you to a new energy level) of the music like The LIND Institute’s Relax with the Classics or Peace and Quiet from The Brain Store.
• peaceful multicultural music such as Breathing Spaces, Chinese music performed by Jiang Xiao-Qing or the native flute music of R. Carlos Nakai.

So our call to action is simply this:

Take your learners to a concert and see what happens. They and their learning will thank you.

concert image by BockBilbo
both 'head' images by digitalbob8

Paul and Ally are working on an exciting 6-part (online) course to help your learners fully engage with your training - sign up for the 'early bird' list for advanced notification and more info

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