What does Yanni and Mozart have in common? Except for the musical genious, their music seems to provoke the famous reaction called Mozart Effect.
A composition from the album Live At the Acropolis , “Acroyali / Standing in Motion“, is thought to have the “Mozart Effect,” by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine because it is similar to Mozart’s K 448 in tempo, structure, melodic and harmonic consonance and predictability.
What is the Mozart Effect
The Mozart effect refers to disputed scientific studies that test a theory suggesting that classical music increases brain activity more positively than other kinds of music, and that listening to certain kinds of complex music may induce an improvement in the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as “spatio-temporal reasoning”.
Two pieces of Mozart’s music, Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K. 448) and Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488), were found to have this effect. Later research also suggested that K448 can reduce the number of seizures in people with epilepsy.
Studies found that rats negotiated a maze faster after hearing K448 than rats who were played white noise, silence, or minimalist music. Elsewhere, children taught a keyboard instrument for six months, learning simple melodies of Mozart, did better on spatial-temporal tests than children who spent the time working with computers.
A closer look shows that Mozart’s music does have a profound effect on the brain, though no one yet knows why. Rats raised on music by Mozart, run through mazes faster and more accurately.
People with Alzheimer’s disease function more normally if they listen to Mozart and the music even reduces the severity of epileptic seizures.
Yanni and the Mozart Effect
In addition to using the Mozart piano sonata, scientists also used the song Acroyali by Yanni . This particular song was chosen because it was similar to Mozart’s in tempo.
The results of the studies showed significant effects for these music conditions in which children and adults were exposed to Yanni’s and Mozart’s music.
The only two themes in the history of music known to induce this improvement on the performance of certain species, are Mozart’s K448 and Acroyali by Yanni, the famous Greek composer.