Cheap Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Book) (Howard Gardner) Price

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Comments on Garnder's "Musical Intelligence" chapter
I read this book while researching music and intelligence, so what follows is a review and summary of the chapter on musical intelligence. I found the material presented in this chapter very useful in guiding my research; anyone interested in music & mind should definitely check this book out.

Gardner's work on musical intelligence presented in Frames of Mind has had a dramatic influence throughout the field of music-mind research, more so than any other single publication - he is often cited as a definitive expert and referenced in most books, essays, theses, and dissertations on the subject. He asserts that music is its own form of intelligence, unique among a group that includes linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic and personal intelligences. In his writings on musical intelligence, he surveys a wide range of thought and research findings: professional opinions of prominent musicians and composers, anthropological analyses of highly musical cultures, and neurological perspectives examining the evolution of music representations in the brain; just to name a few. Gardner provides a thorough synopsis of musical intelligence in that he addresses it from just about every perspective there is. His arguments are shaped with a forceful tone, but on the other hand they lack depth and proof. This is likely due in part to the fact that his work preceded (and perhaps inspired) the bulk of the available research. His argument that music is in and of itself a distinct form of intelligence is briefly laid out. He presents a wealth of commentary on the subject that is all truly impressive and thought provoking, but then he proceeds to his conclusion by simply stating that the research backs up his argument that music is its own intelligence. He further adds that any sort of relations to the other intelligences are superficial analyses at best. His conclusions are hastily drawn and based heavily on the reader's making assumptions about how the research and his hypothesis are related.

However, from the midst of this colloquium of quotes and references, one can deduce an implied logical theory regarding what composes music intelligence. The research is arranged so that there is a natural flow to it. Gardner starts off by quoting the Polish Hoene Wronsky, who summarized the relationship between music and intelligence rather succinctly: "[Music is] the corporealization of the intelligence that is in sound" (99). When one listens to music, a unique phenomenon occurs. Seemingly arbitrary auditory signals are recorded to memory and deciphered by intellect; meaning is attributed to them after whatever fashion our self wills. For those who have not been the recipients of an extensive music education, the method of processing music would be closest to what Gardner calls the "figural approach"-an intuitive understanding that is reached "based solely upon what is heard irrespective of any theoretical knowledge about music" (110-11). It is at this basic level that musical thought exists, untouched, in its rawest form...indeed, as Levi Strauss noted (among others), "if we can explain music...we may find the key for all thought" (123). In the event that the listener has developed a musical language according to fundamental music theory, they are approaching the music with a "formal mode of thought": this individual "can conceptualize his musical experience in a principled manner" (111). Musical thought is thus translated and transferred over to a common framework that is easily communicated, through speech, performance, or notation. Thus the composer is born - the better one knows the language, the more readily he can proceed to explicate and arrange the initial musical idea into patterns representative of a finished musical work. He has in essence created "passages that articulate or place into proper proportion the elements of the initial idea" (101-2). Aaron Copland calls this initial idea a "gift from heaven", the origin of which still remains the sole element of mystery in the compositional puzzle (102). As if to answer this, another 20th century composer Harold Shapero theorizes to the effect that the mind has a store of all recorded "tonal experiences" that it has absorbed. These are later recalled, and "compounded with remembered emotional experiences" in an act that renders them "more than an acoustical series of tones" (102).

What then, are the components of musical intelligence that make such an act of creative composition possible? Gardner's theory splits everything into two basic categories: pitch (melody) and rhythm. In this schema rhythm simply refers to the underlying beat, while pitch can be used in either a horizontal or vertical aspect. Horizontal pitch refers to the melody-composed of relations among the pitches as they unfold over time. Vertical pitch refers to harmony-when two or more sounds are emitted at the same time, giving rise to a "harmonious" or "dissonant" sound. A separate category that Gardner identifies is that of timbre-the characteristic qualities of a tone, the nuances by means of which emotion and a sense flow can be imbued into the music (104-5). Musical intelligence is made up of the ability to understand and manipulate these components when creating, performing, or listening to music.

All in all, Gardner presents a muddled theory for musical intelligence, which relies largely on the expertise of others, especially in explanation of musical facets. His book provides a good synopsis of the different perspectives and research; but he fails to really add anything unique to the discussion--other than the statement that music is a form of intelligence. The how & why are left to the reader to deduce from the arrangement of quotes & concepts. It needs a clear thesis that describes precisely what musical intelligence is and how the evidence supports this.

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It's all in how you look at it...
Howard Gardner's 'Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences' is a fascinating book that helps to explain how and why different people seem to learn in different ways and possess different skills and talents. Gardner's main thesis throughout the text is that there is not one thing called intelligence, but rather several different types of intelligence that work together (or, sometimes, play together) inside each person's overall intellectual development and structure.

Gardner begins his discussion with an overview of the idea of multiple intelligences. The idea of different kinds of intelligence is hardly new, as Gardner concedes, but that idea having been formed, it is rarely carried forward save by the most innovative of teachers and thinkers. Why does a person, for instance, remember particular teachers from elementary or secondary school days rather clearly, while others not at all? Beyond the subject matter and interest, there is a manner of teacher connecting with the student that taps into dominant and active kinds of intelligence, despite the subject matter at hand.

Potential Isolation by Brain Damage
This establishes an autonomy of the function of a particular kind of intelligence from others, thus helping demonstrate uniqueness and separation.

The Existence of Idiot Savants, Prodigies, etc.
That certain kinds of intelligence can be highly developed in some to an extraordinary level also helps demonstrate uniqueness - for instance, rarely is the musical genius likewise a genius in all (or even many) other intellectual areas.

An Identifiable Core Operation or Set of Operations
There must be something that the intelligence processes or does in a particular way differently from others - for example, we process mathematical information and linguistic information in different ways.

Distinctive Development History
Intelligence, even if gifted naturally, has a development line that can be traced from earlier to later proficiency.

Evolutionary History and Plausibility
Intelligence can evolve to higher levels (this is readily seen in science and mathematics); likewise, intelligence can be lost in different arenas.

Experimental Data Support
Intelligences can be isolated and studied - linguistic and spatial abilities are often used as experiments easily documented.

Psychometric Finding Support
While the IQ test is hardly the final arbiter, there are ways of materially charting the relative state of intelligences of people in comparison with one another.

Susceptibility to Symbolic Expression
Intelligences should have a means of symbolic expression and transmission - linguistic intelligence can use words spoken and written; musical intelligence can use written and sound symbols, etc.

Using these criteria, Gardner proposes the following list of intelligences, alerting the reader that while this list is broad and encompasses much of human intelligence, it is not an exhaustive list.

Linguistic Intelligence
Musical Intelligence
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
Spatial Intelligence
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
Personal Intelligence

Most of these items are fairly clear - we know that linguistic intelligence involves language, words, speech, and the understanding and use of such tools. Similarly, logical-mathematical intelligence is fairly well understood. It is on the basis of these two intelligences that most of Western academics is founded and evaluated - even the primary measuring instruments such as SAT tests recognise the difference between mathematical and linguistic abilities by separating out those tests and scoring them differently.

Musical intelligence is likewise understood. It is an intelligence people can tap into for enjoyment even if the sophisticated understanding of theory is not present, unlike the main part of logical-mathematical intelligence.

Spatial and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences are sensed by athletes, dancers, and others who use their bodies in ways that exceed normal abilities. These are intelligences that are closely related. A quarterback or a ballet dancer needs to have both an awareness of body motions and abilities as well as sense of the space involved for the action. However, these are separate intelligences. An architect may have a great sense for spatial requirements and have no real bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Perhaps the most difficult to express is the idea of personal intelligence. This is likewise the one intelligence that Gardner concedes he might have the most difficulty with in defining, symbolising, and expressing. It involves an ability to interact with others and with oneself. Perhaps Einstein is a classic example of a savant in logical-mathematical intelligence while being impaired in the personal intelligence arena - not having a good sense of himself and his relationships with others, with time, with place, etc. Religious leaders and diplomatic persons tend to be high in this intelligence.

In the third part of Gardner's book, he explores the education and application of intelligences. Gardner explores the educational systems of many cultures, past and present, to illustrate ways in which different kinds of intelligence are cultivated. A hunter needs good bodily-kinesthetic abilities as well as good spatial abilities honed to a high degree. City-dwellers tend to need linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities to a higher degree.

'As compared with hundred or even thirty years ago, talk about the development of intelligence, the realisation of human potential, and the role of education is very much in the international air.'

The ways in which all kinds of intelligence, including the very-difficult-to-teach personal intelligence, can be cultivated. First is the requirement of recognition of different kinds of intelligence and the ways in which students respond. In my theology class last semester, we had students who were divinity students, counseling students, and church music students. To have required the same pattern of assignment for each of these groups would have been unfair. So, one person turned in an audio tape as accompaniment for her theology paper. Another student framed her theological discussion in terms of a counseling session. These permitted the students to tap into their stronger intelligences while still learning what was valuable from the basic course materials.

This is a valuable book for teachers, pastors, counselors, parents, supervisors, and anyone who wants a clearer definition of what is working inside oneself as intelligence.

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not a liberal and the book was still good
intelligent people would agree with me when i say that a unique approach to an otherwise tired theory is more than welcome. on the other hand, some readers from glenville, NY can suck it. If you are a close-minded mechanical conservative tight-@ss who cant appreciate a new idea, nor accept that creative minds might be just as much a contributing member of society as your self-righteous politican or tight-wad teacher, then this book might not be for you. stick to something more classic, like The Bible, or The Prince, by Machiavelli.