The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit by Don Campbell Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit
Book Review: The musical references are a mess....
Summary: 2 Stars
I enjoyed reading this: it has sparked my imagination about the uses of music (my own doctoral degree is in musical performance). I like books of anecdotes, like this one, as light reading. Campbell introduces the field of music therapy in plain and simple language. I read about half of this while attending a family member in the hospital, and read the rest of it in odd moments before and after that. It gave me a few ideas about how to bring in music that could help the healing. But the "science" in this book is a mess (as other reviewers here have pointed out), and the musical references are even worse. There are so many errors of fact when Campbell refers to classical compositions and composers, it gave me serious doubt whether *any* of this book is actually well researched. Titles, dates, spelling, descriptions of the music...easily verifiable facts that are laugably wrong (for example, the author asserts that Ravel's "Bolero" accelerates). A competent editor should have caught those errors, and an author who really knows the field of classical music wouldn't have written them in the first place.
The author is content to pull together material from everywhere, without synthesizing it into a coherent argument. That's the strength and the weakness here. This book is fluff, merely a popularized introduction to a field. Don't expect to find convincing scientific reasoning here, or to learn much about music. Just take the music-therapy anecdotes for what they're worth: occasional success stories where people's lives have been turned around by music. The author suggests that almost any form of music can be put to use in some situation or another to help someone through a difficult time, and that's a pretty obvious thing that one would know without reading this book. (If someone is not doing well, encourage participation in some music or movement that the person resonates with; this helps the body and spirit to heal themselves. The participation takes the mind off the pain, gives a more positive outlook to life, etc., etc....anyone can figure that out without reading this book.)
Music therapy is an established field; check with the trained experts. This book merely suggests what might be possible. The most valuable thing here for me was seeing where some of the scientific researchers are looking. If I want to learn more about music therapy, Campbell has given me some useful leads in those directions.
Book Review: Well documented
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely disagree with any reviewer who states that this booklacks substantiation. The "recommended reading" section is seven pages long and lists several dozen books written by academics, scientists, medical doctors and therapists. The "resources" section is eleven pages long and lists active training and music therapy centers in Europe, Asia and North and South America. The "footnotes" section is twenty-two pages long. This is an entertaining and well written overview of the field of music therapy and would benefit any person interested in expanding human potential. I've been involved in music for twenty-four years including record and concert production and hosting a daily radio program. I've had the opportunity to come in direct contact with some of the world's greatest musicians and I feel certain most of them would find this book fascinating. I certainly did. I also received scientific training as an undergraduate at an Ivy League university (neuroscience at Princeton) and did not find this book deficient in any way.
Book Review: jason i don't think its that good
Summary: 4 Stars
i've also read this book for a science project on how music affects the brain. Testing on mice, i've decided that although the book has tons of examples and info, its gets quite boring. Perhaps this is because i am in high school. However if you weren't a student doing a science project and researching this, in my opinion this book would not be that goodBook Review: Great for certain things
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a college student, and i give this book 5 stars not necessarily because of it's content, but because it was great for what i needed. i wrote a paper a couple years ago on music and it's effects on the mind, and this book was an incredible source for me. It's an easy and quick read (I was able to read it in a week, even w/ a busy school schedule), and it has quality information that is easy to understand. Having had no background in music therapy or psychology, this book provided me with what i needed. I understand that this book is pretty bias, and doesnt exactly explore the shortcomings or faults in the concept of the mozart effect, but in all fairness, it does a good job of explaining things in lehman's terms. Therefore, if you're a veteran psychologist or music therapist, this book may be basic for you, but if you are a student, teacher, or a casual reader, this book is wonderful.Book Review: Music Therapist supports the big picture
Summary: 5 Stars
Don Campbell had the courage to show the big picture of how music has helped many people. He writes beautifully on how to inspire , focus and empower our lives through the inspired art. As a music therapist for many years, I help patients regain their hope and power with music. Science will never be able to measure the power of music. I hope science will begin to appreciate that no one piece of music will make us smart, make us well or creative. Good research comes from the antedotal observatrions. Pay attention to this book, it may open many new possibilities for music in hospitals and schools.