MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Dr. Richard Ellis,

Fayetteville State University

and

JML Piano

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Music educators have always believed that a child’s cognitive, motivational, and communication skills are more highly developed when exposed to music training. Now, study after study proves that music instruction is essential to children’s overall education because it improves their academic performance. The positive effects of music education are finally being recognized by science, verifying what music teachers have always suspected.

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Since the dawn of civilization, music has been an integrated part of a child's education, as everyone has realized the potential that sounds have in shaping the mind of a young pupil. In most countries in the world today, music lessons are still offered in schools as part of the basic curricula, along with sports and drawing. The Ancient Greeks recognized the importance of all these activities being performed alongside mathematics and physics, because they complemented each other.

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Many studies have been performed to examine the affect of musical instruction on the brain. For example, researchers at the University of Munster, Germany, (1998) reported that music lessons in childhood actually enlarge the brain. The auditory cortex is enlarged by 25% in musicians compared to those who have never played an instrument. According to the study by Frances Rauscher of the University of California, Irvine, (1997) links between neurons in the brain are strengthened with music lessons. Dr. Frank Wilson’s study (1989) involving instrumental music instruction and the brain reveal that learning to play an instrument refines the development of the brain and the entire neurological system.

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Grade school music students also show increased learning

in math and reading. The Public Schools of Albuquerque, NM, conducted a study which found that instrumental music students, with two or more years of study, scored significantly higher in the California Test of Basic Skills, (CTBS), than did non-music students. High school students also achieve greater academic excellence when exposed to music training. A study by Mission Veijo High School in Southern California (1981) shows that the overall grade point average of music students is consistently higher than the grade point average of their non-music peers. The music students achieved a 3.59 average while the non-music students achieved a lower 2.91 average.

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

SAT scores of students who took part in music instruction surpassed students with no music training. Data collected from students taking the SAT, indicated that students taking music and arts averaged scores that were higher than non music students by 60 points on the verbal section and 43 points on the math section.

Additionally, data revealed that for every year a student participated in music instruction, their SAT scores improved. Students with four or more years of music study received an average score of about 544 as opposed to a score just above 482 for those with half a at least one semester of music instruction, thus showing a strong correlation between music and academic success. (For more information see MENC Web Page)

Source: The College Board, Profile of College- Bound Seniors National Report for 2001.

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Just 15 minutes a week of private keyboard instruction, along with group singing at pre-school, dramatically improved a kind of intelligence needed for high-level math and science, suggests a new study.

Music lessons appear to strengthen the links between brain neurons and build new spatial reasoning, says psychologist Frances Rauscher of University of California-Irvine.

"Music instruction can improve a child's spatial intelligence for long periods of time - perhaps permanently, " Rauscher told the American Psychological Association meeting here.

Her study compared 19 pre-schoolers who took the lessons and 14 classmates enrolled in no special music programs. After eight months, she found:

A 46% boost in spatial IQ's for the young musicians

6% improvement for children not taught music.

"If parents can't afford lessons, they should at least buy a musical keyboard.... or sing regularly with their kids and involve them in musical activities," Rauscher says.

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The University of Montreal researched brain imaging techniques to study brain activity during musical tasks. Researches concluded that sight-reading musical scores and playing music “activate regions in all four of the cortex’s lobes” and “parts of the cerebellum are also activated during those tasks.” (Source: J. Sergent, E. Zuck, S. Tenial, and B. MacDonnall (1992). Distributed neural network underlying musical sight reading and keybpard performance. Science, 257, 106-109.)

Researchers in Leipzig discovered through the use of brain scans that musicians had larger planum temporale, the region of the brain associated with reading skills. Also, musicians had a thicker corpus callosum, the nerve fibers that connect the two halves of the brain. (Source: G. Schlaug, L. Jancke, Y. Huang, and H. Steinmetz (1994). “In vivo morphometry of interhemispheric asymmetry and connectivity in musicians.” In I. Deliege (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd international conference for music perception and cognition (pp. 417-418), Liege, Belgium.)

MUSIC EDUCATION IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The scientific evidence is abundant, obvious, and compelling; there are strong connections between music instruction and greater student achievement.

Regardless of age, exposure to music helps to develop and fine-tune the workings of the brain.

Music training, whether instrumental, vocal, or music appreciation, helps develop a child’s cognitive and communication skills. Music education is linked to higher test scores, grade point averages, and success in college.

JML Music (Pianos Only)1024 Robeson St.

Fayetteville, NC 28305

323-9187

Edwards Music Company (Good source for instruction books)910 868-1185

524 N Mcpherson Church Rd

Music & Arts Ctr (Good source for instruction books)5075 Morganton Rd Ste 10b 910 864-8808

MUSIC RESOURCES IN FAYETTEVILLETO RENT INSTRUMENTS AND PIANOS