Music Education and Brain Development
- Music training in childhood “fundamentally alters the nervous system such that neural changes persist in adulthood after auditory training has ceased.”
Skoe, E. & N. Kraus. (2012). A little goes a long way: How the Adult Brain Is Shaped by Musical Training in Childhood. The Journal of Neuroscience, 32(34):11507–11510.
- Scientific American’s (2010) board of editors asserted, “Studies have shown that assiduous instrument training from an early age can help the brain to process sounds better, making it easier to stay focused when absorbing other subjects, from literature to tensor calculus.”
Hearing the music, honing the mind. (2010). Scientific American, 303(5), 16.
- The cognitive structures developed through music instruction “exposed and illuminated more general organizing structures relevant for multiple disciplines.”
Portowitz,P., Lichtenstein, O., Egorova, L., & Brand, E. (2009). Underlying mechanisms linking music education and cognitive modifiability. Research Studies in Music Education, 31, 107–29.
Music Education and Math/Spatial Reasoning
- The combined results of 12 experimental studies indicate a positive relationship between voluntary music study and math achievement.
Vaughn, K. (2000). Music and mathematics: Modest support for the oft-claimed relationship. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34(3/4), 149-66.
- Multiple studies indicate that early music instruction is linked to significant improvements in students’ spatial reasoning abilities.
- Hetland, L. (2000). Learning to make music enhances spatial reasoning. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34(3-4), 179-238.
- Graziano, A.B., Peterson, M., & Shaw, G. L. (1999). Enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial temporal reasoning. Neurological Research, 21, 139-52.
- Rauscher, F.H., and Zupan, M.A. (1999). Classroom keyboard instruction improves kindergarten children’s spatial-temporal performance: A field study. Manuscript in press, Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
- Gromko, J., & Poorman, A. (1998). The effect of music training on preschoolers’ spatial- temporal task performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 173-181.
- Rauscher, F., Shaw, G., Levine, L., Wright, E., Dennis, W., & Newcomb, R. (1997). Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning. Neurological, Research, 19(1), 2.
Music Education and Reading/Verbal Skills
- The combined results of 30 studies indicate that music instruction is linked to significantly improved reading skills.
Standley, J. M. (2008). Does music instruction help children learn to read? Evidence of a meta-analysis. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 27(1), 17-32.
- Researchers have found a correlation between three or more years of instrumental music training and enhanced auditory discrimination, fine motor skills, vocabulary, and nonverbal reasoning.
Forgeard, M., Winner, E., Norton, A., & Schlaug, G. (2008). Practicing a musical instrument in childhood is associated with enhanced verbal ability and nonverbal reasoning. PloS One, 3(10), e3566.
- Playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brainstem’s sensitivity to speech sounds. This relates to encoding skills involved with both music and language.
Patrick C M Wong, Erika Skoe, Nicole M Russo, Tasha Dees, & Nina Kraus. (2007). Musical experience shapes human brainstem encoding of linguistic pitch patterns. Nature Neuroscience, 10(4), 420-422.
- Children with music training had significantly better verbal memory than those without such training, and the longer the training, the better the verbal memory.
Ho, Y. C., Cheung, M. C., & Chan, A. Music training improves verbal but not visual memory: cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations in children (2003) Neuropsychology, 12, 439-450
- Adults who had trained on a Western musical instrument for at least six years before age 12 had significantly better verbal memories, as demonstrated by a word recall list, than those without any musical training.
Chan, A.S., Ho, Y.C., & Cheung, M.C. (1998). Music training improves verbal memory, Nature, 396, 128.
Music Education and Academic Achievement
- On the 2012 SAT, students who participated in music scored an average of 31 points above average in reading, 23 points above average in math, and 31 points above average in writing.
College Board SAT, 2012 College-Bound Seniors: Total Group Profile Report. (See table 18.)
- Researchers have demonstrated a strong relationship between individuals who participated in school arts experiences and higher academic success as demonstrated by grade point averages, scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and math and verbal portions of the SAT exam.
Kelly, S. N. (2012). Fine Arts-Related Instruction’s Influence on Academic Success.
- Students in high-quality school music programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the school or school district.
Johnson, C. M. & Memmott, J. E. (2007). Examination of relationships between participation in school music programs of differing quality and standardized test results. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(4), 293-307.
- After assigning 144 children to keyboard lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons, or no lessons, researchers found that children in the music groups exhibited greater increases on an IQ test than students in the drama lessons or those without lessons.
Schellenberg, E. G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological Science, 15(8), 511-514.
- An analysis of data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 demonstrated a significant correlation between participation in school music groups and achievement in math and English.
Broh, B. A. (2002). Linking extracurricular programming to academic achievement: Who benefits and why? Sociology of Education, 75(1), 69-95.
- First- graders who participated in special music classes as part of an arts study saw their reading skills and math proficiency increase dramatically.
Gardiner, M. F., Fox, A., Knowles, F., & Jeffrey, D. (1996). Learning improved by arts training. Nature, 381(6580), 284-284.
Music Education and Successful Schools
- Schools in Texas that have higher levels of student participation in the fine arts receive higher academic ratings and have lower drop out rates.
Analysis conducted by the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education and the Texas Music Educators Association (2007)
- Schools that have music programs have significantly higher graduation rates than do those without music programs (90.2 percent as compared to 72.9 percent). In addition, those that rate their programs as “excellent or very good” have an even higher graduation rate (90.9 percent).
Harris Interactive Inc. (2006). Understanding the Linkages Between Music Education and Educational Outcomes.
- Schools that have music programs have significantly higher attendance rates than do those without programs (93.3 percent as compared to 84.9 percent).
Harris Interactive Inc. (2006). Understanding the Linkages Between Music Education and Educational Outcomes.
Music Education and Social and Emotional Development
- 70% of those who were involved in music say that it was at least somewhat influential in contributing to their current level of personal fulfillment.
Harris Interactive Inc. (2008). MENC Executive Omnibus Results Summary.
- Costa-Giomi (2004) investigated the effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s self-esteem. Children in the study were divided into two groups: piano instruction weekly for three years, and no music instruction. Both groups had similar levels of self-esteem at the beginning of the study. The researcher found that the children who completed three years of piano instruction had a significant increase in self-esteem while the children who did not participate in piano instruction or dropped out of piano instruction did not.
Costa-Giomi, E. (2004). Effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s academic achievement, school performance and self-esteem. Psychology of Music, 32(2), 139-152.
- Chorus America found that choral singers are far more likely to be involved in charity work, as volunteers and as donors (76 %), than the average person (44% according to a 2001 report by Independent Sector). Choral singers are also more than twice as likely as non-participants to be aware of current events and involved in the political process. They are also twice as likely as the general public to be major consumers of other arts – and not just music.
America’s Performing Art: A Study of Choruses, Choral Singers, and their Impact (Chorus Impact Study, 2003).
- Students who participate in music groups score significantly higher than their peers on measures of social capital including talking more with parents and teachers.
Broh, B. A. (2002). Linking extracurricular programming to academic achievement: Who benefits and why? Sociology of Education, 75(1), 69-95.
- Jenlink (1993) conducted a qualitative study of a school’s attempts to raise the self-esteem of its at-risk students by emphasizing the school’s music program. The author concluded that the music program lessened students’ feelings of alienation, promoted individual growth, and provided a common bond between the home and the school. Further, participation in the select musical performing group promoted goal attainment, teamwork, leadership, academic achievement, feelings of success, and cultural exposure.
Jenlink, C. L. (1993). The relational aspects of a school, a music program, and at-risk student self-esteem: a qualitative study. (Doctoral dissertation, Oklahoma State University, 1993). Dissertation Abstracts International, 55(2A), 0214.
Does Music Really Affect Academic Achievement?
(NOTE – This section is meant to be informative. It is not recommended for advocacy purposes.)
- Elpus (2013) found that “music students did not outperform non-music students on the SAT once these systematic differences had been statistically controlled.” Elpus, K. (2013). Is it the music or is it selection bias? A nationwide analysis of music and non-music students’ SAT scores. Journal of Research in Music Education.
- Rickard, Bambrick and Gill (2012) did not find academic benefits for students of ages 10-13 who received increased time in classroom-based music classes.
Rickard, N.S., Bambrick, C.K., & Gill, A. (2012). Absence of widespread psychosocial and cognitive effects of school based music instruction in 10-13-year-old students. International Journal of Music Education, 30(1), 57-78.
- After analyzing longitudinal data from the Department of Education, the Southgate and Roscigno (2009). state, “This suggests to us that music is meaningful not as a predictor of achievement in and of itself, but rather as a mediator, to some degree, of family background and student status, thus supporting arguments and theorizing pertaining to cultural capital” (p. 17).
Southgate, D. E. & Roscigno, V. J. (2009). The impact of music on childhood adolescent achievement. Social Science Quarterly, 90 (1), 4-21.
- Kinney (2008) found that band student test score differences remained stable over time.
Kinney, D. W. (2008). Selected demographic variables, music participation, and achievement test scores of urban middle school students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 55(2), 145–61.
- Fitzpatrick’s (2006) research suggests that instrumental classes may simply attract students with higher test scores.
Fitzpatrick, K. R. (2006). The effect of instrumental music participation and socioeconomic status on Ohio fourth-, sixth-, and ninth-grade proficiency test performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(1), 73–84.
- Costa-Giomi’s (2004) research revealed that while students from low-income households who studied piano exhibited increased self-esteem, their academic achievement in math and language did not improve.
Costa-Giomi, E. (2004). Effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s academic achievement, school performance and self-esteem. Psychology of Music, 32(2), 139-152.
- Schellenberg (2001) and Steele, Crook, & Bass (1999) have demonstrated or noted the failure of researchers to replicate the “Mozart effect.”
