Inverting the Mozart Effect: Discovering What Composers Can Learn from Writing

Abstract

According to the Mozart Effect, listening to Mozart can briefly increase IQ’s in certain circumstances. Today, we generally accept that studying classical music benefits us in other areas. This paper investigates an unnoticed connection with the opposite phenomenon: if studying music can help us learn other subjects, can studying other subjects help us learn music? Specifically, how can composers improve their compositional skills through writing?

I explore two approaches: pattern-thinking and reflective writing. Composers and writers both employ patterns, and composers can transfer skills of assembling building blocks to their music. I consider innovative, non-traditional patterns in composing and writing. Composers can also use reflective writing to synthesize their ideas and decide how to arrange their patterns. Whereas manipulating patterns is a mental shift, reflective writing is a physical action to accomplish the shift. Composers can use reflective writing to capture and interpret moments of real learning.