Analysis has shown that some brainwaves, like intense relaxation, are ideal for learning and retaining new information while delta brainwave states promote relaxed healthy sleep. Until the adaptation of binaural beats tapes, CDs and MP3s, the only technique to create deliberate changes in your brainwave patterns was with deep meditation. For thousands of years this type of meditation has only been possible for practitioners of meditation with over 20 years experience, such as Zen Buddhist Monks.

via Binaural Beats | Meditation | Health and Nutrition Guidelines.

One of the pioneers of accelerated learning, Dr. Georgi Lozanov, determined through his research that music played at 60 beats per minute resulted in the type of brainwave activity needed for learning. Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K 448, for example, is written in this meter.

Dr. Alfred Tomatis, in his 1991 essay, “Pourquoi Mozart?”, coined the term “Mozart Effect” when he shared his research conclusion that Baroque music, particularly Mozart’s, was written in the perfect meter to stimulate the brainwave activity necessary to accelerate learning.

Additionally, though controversial, research by the University of California, Irvine, also concluded that specific pieces of music composed by Mozart, when played in a controlled learning environment, could enhance the student’s ability to absorb new information quickly, and eve

via masterwordsmith-unplugged: Music.