It is based upon the concept that color can affect the observer in various ways, and combines this with standard learning of basic notation.
The Lüscher color test observes from experiments that when individuals are required to contemplate pure red for varying lengths of time, [the experiments] have shown that this color decidedly has a stimulating effect on the nervous system; blood pressure increases, and respiration rate and heart rate both increase.
Pure blue, on the other hand, has the reverse effect; observers experience a decline in blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing.
Stimuli received through several senses excite more neurons in several localized areas of the cortex, thereby reinforcing the learning process and improving retention.
[4] In 1991, George L. Rogers did a study that researched the effect of color-coded notation on music achievement of elementary instrumental students.
The students were then tested in three different parts: The results of this study are as follows: Subjects in the experimental and control groups performed much the same on the task of playing music from memory.
[2] In 1996, Rogers did another study researching the effect of colored rhythmic notation on the music-reading skills of elementary students.
[3] The experimental subjects participated in vocalizing and clapping rhythms notated with colored chalk on the chalkboard as a regular part of general music classes.
Kent Gerlach clarifies some of the symptoms of learning disorders, and establishes that certain difficulties arise, particularly with the following: Rogers found that during the 1991 study on the effects of color-coded notation on music achievement of elementary instrumental students that: The high level of dependence on color-coding among learning disabled and mentally handicapped students may reflect a situation similar to that reported by Chute in which students of different ability levels were affected differently by the presence or absence of color in instructional materials.