Paganini for temporary boost in spatial reasoning
 

As of late, I've reignited my passion for upbeat classical music, and trying to find something complex enough to boost spatial reasoning performance for when I do math with my kids... I've been recommended to Paganini but would like to explore other options as well, since I'm very rusty in this genre.

Any recommendations??

It sounds like you're talking about the Mozart effect, which has been proven to be a myth. Still, it can't hurt to give your children a musical vocabulary by showing them the greats. Here are some of my favourites: Schoenberg, Bach, Mozart, Richard Strauss, Terry Riley, Wagner, Schubert, Chopin, Tchaickovsky, John Cage, and Steve Reich.

Out of the above, Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians is the closest to "thinking music".

Actually the Mozart effect is based on the premise that classical music can actually raise your IQ, which is obvious rubbish that was debunked ages ago, I'm not arguing with that.... but the TEMPORARY effects on certain neurological pathways becoming temporarily stimulated has been verified from a neurological approach. That's what in wondering about:

WHICH classical music best ignites the neurons that run along the spatial reasoning pathways of the brain??

Schoenberg makes my neurons flood with electricity. Not too sure which in regions though, I'll go get an MRI and get back to you.

Not necessary ;). Thanks for the recommendation.

As far as I know there is no correlation between the complexity of the music and the short-time increase in spatial reasoning. In fact it has been suggested, that every type of upbeat music, not only classical, may have this effect. Although I for one think it's a good thing for children to grow up with classical music.
It would probably be best to find out which music resonates most with your kids. Finding something they actually like and can relate to might have the best effect, instead of listening to things pretentious people like Frownie or me would recommend.

There have been studies that show that listening to music that you enjoy boosts brain activity, so I second this suggestion.

Indeed.

They have been exposed to my current rut, which includes a schizophrenic mix of Celtic music, binaural beats, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, rockabilly, Counting Crows, and of course a lot of Collective Soul and Fratellis :). It's interesting to watch different sounds bring about different responses from each of them... My two oldest have sensory processing challenges and seem to work better when "primed" with appropriate beats (whatever wavelengths they seem to connect with on any given day, that is)...I play music with teaching strategies in mind (a la "Frames of Mind" by Howard Gardner) because I really want music to help channel their other abilities. That's why I'm open to new suggestions from people less musically rusty than myself, who connect to the same wavelengths that my children and I do, but who have tasted and digested a variety of sounds and artists within these genres.

... If that makes any sense lol

As a kid Vivaldi's Four Seasons were my favourite, totally blew my mind back then.

P.S.: Try not to make listening to music a chore for them, though.
They should see it as a world of wonder, fun and possibilities.

Yeah I listened to a lot of Mozart as a child. Music for me is not so much a chore as it is a coping mechanism... I realized that I had been using it as a crutch (hence the rut) instead of to widen my horizons. So im trying to change that by pairing it with my chores to jopefullu enhance both the chores and my love for music :) Oh and I love chores they keep me "sane" (I use that word loosely, as you'll soon discover)....

Thanks for the rec

Alright, I'm not reading all these words, but I've been turned against Paganini by Yngwie Malmsteen's douchebag ass, who talks about him like he's Jesus, but is there any reason to listen to him if you're not a mindless tech head?

He makes some pretty solid music. Don't let Yngwie ruin it for you, that's like nu-metal being responsible for you not checking out metal.

Recs? I'm all for cool violin ****.

Edit: **** as in poop.

On a side note, I liked your other avatar better. Although nothing beats The late Mowzer if I do day so myself...

I've just been using it for too long. I don't like using the same avatar for too long. I've actually used that avatar before, so using it again is almost unheard of, but I can't just use it forever.

You've put a lot of thought into this. My thought process went something like this: "avatar... Me or Mowzer.... Mowzer"

But then I'm a simple girl. Hence my love for Collective Soul and unabashed refusal to repent thereof.

We're all simple girls here.

I used to have Enya playing softly when putting my daughter to sleep, which has a relaxing quality to it that can spike melatonin levels, but going in the stimulation (serotonin) direction never occurred to me. Looking back to some of the music that had stimulated my thought process, I can think of only a few artists/composers. Schubert is one of my favorites for piano compositions, and then there's Segovia (or probably more accurately, Isaac Albéniz) for guitar. Then again, I'm fairly biased to guitar oriented pieces and that is a bit of a narrower spectrum. As far as my limited knowledge, there aren't many people comparable to Paganini's virtuosity, but stimulation can come from anywhere, as it's a subjective thing.

I love fast-paced violin music such as this:

As others have suggested, your children's responses are probably your best guide; look for more of what they respond well to. I imagine the best music is light, easy to follow without being either too soporific or too insistent. I think Satie and Smetna has some music like that, in addition to the composers already mentioned.

@ E5150. That's a nice Paganini piece! If you're not too much of a purist, you might enjoy this:-