‘The Rainbow With the Pot of Gold’ (http://sulekha.com/printer.asp?ctid=1000&cid=307319) is an article about Accelerated
Learning or ‘Superlearning’, starting with its inception behind the Iron Curtain in the 1960s by Dr. Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychiatrist and development under Sheila Ostrander, Lynn Schroeder and Nancy Ostrander since the 1970s. It explains the underlying concept as the belief in a trained imagination and how to place the mind in a state where it is receptive to quicker yet easier
Learning and longer retention.
The important thing is relaxing or calming the mind at will. Superlearning transcends geographical and cultural boundaries and can be used for a variety of subjects especially languages and mathematics. Organizations such as IBM, AT&T, Siemens and the Pentagon have used the method for effective training.
Sound therapy, in particular the findings of Dr. Alfred Tomatis of France, is closely linked with Accelerated Learning. The correct type of music relaxes, lowers blood pressure, muscle tension and stress and can even cure autism and dyslexia. Research has shown that Mozart’s music is particularly beneficial in
energizing the brain. The article details how different music works on the mind, with special emphasis on music with 60 beats a minute and 50 beats a minute; mainly because of factors of rhythm, pitch and mood and their effect on the human brain.
The other side of the coin is the wrong type of music, which clashes with the heart’s natural rhythm and can therefore lead to behaviour problems and weak performance. Skeptics point out that we don’t know enough about the “underlying biology” and that terms ('Subliminal suggestions', 'Paraliminal' technology, mind machines etc.) associated with Accelerated Learning sound Orwellian ‘Big-Brotherish’.
Although recent developments in this field have been in the western hemisphere, the earliest use of this technique was in India and Indian classical and spiritual music have been acknowledged to have mind energizing qualities.
The article concludes with examples from history on how music has worked in overcoming human weaknesses and achieving human potential.