Music Education and Your Child

Much more results from the education of children in music than the training of professional musicians. Characteristics of musicians include discipline, leadership, consistent accuracy, reliability, and respect for group performance over personal virtuosity. These are also the characteristics of world-class architects, business owners and executives, physicians, performing musicians and educators. Music education teaches the skills of life.

Findings of many research studies link music education with academic and social performance, identifying music students of all ages as among the most active contributors to society as a whole. Music education provides a creative and artistic vehicle for self-expression. When adults reflect on their music studies and experience the spiritual rewards of music education and performance are among the most treasured attributes. In the words of Plato, "Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul."

Below you will find factors that may be helpful to you as a parent when considering musical instrument and/or vocal lessons for your child.

Music Education Promotes Achievement in School.

Second and third grade students who were taught fractions through musical rhythms scored 100% higher on fractions tests than those who learned in the conventional manner. ­ "Rhythm Students Learn Fractions More Easily," Neurological Research, March 15, 1999.

College students majoring in music achieve scores higher than students of all other majors on college reading exams. ­ Carl Hartman, "Arts May Improve Students' Grades," The Associated Press, October 1999.

A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reported that music training for preschool children is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science. ­ Shaw, Rauscher, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb, "Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning," Neurological Research, Vol. 19, February 1997.

Music students outperform non-music students on achievement tests in reading and math. Skills such as reading, anticipating, memory, listening, forecasting, recall and concentration are developed in musical performance, and these skills are valuable to students in math, reading ad science. ­ B. Friedman, "An Evaluation of the Achievement in Reading and Arithmetic of Pupils in Elementary School Instrumental Music Classes," Dissertation Abstracts International.

Music education decreases test anxiety, increases SAT scores and promotes admission to college and professional school.

Music students demonstrate less test anxiety and performance anxiety than students who do not study music. ­ "College-Age Musicians Emotionally Healthier than Non-Musician Counterparts," Houston Chronicle, 1998.

On the 1999 SAT, music students continued to outperform their non-arts peers, scoring 61 points higher on the verbal portion and 42 points higher on the math portion of the exam. ­ Steven M. Demorest & Steven J. Morrison, "Does Music Make You Smarter?," Music Educators Journal, September 2000.

Seniors who applied for audition-based scholarships from Reading Musical Foundation in 2004 scored almost 200 points higher in the SAT than the Pennsylvania average.

Music Education Promotes Good Work Ethic, Good Citizenship and a Healthy Mind.

There is a very high correlation between positive self-perception, high cognitive competence scores, healthy self-esteem, total interest, school involvement, and the study of music. ­ O.F. Lillemyr, "Achievement Motivation as a Factor in Self-Perception," Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities.

Courses in music, as well as in art and drama, positively influenced the decisions of high school students not to drop out of school. ­ N.H. Barry, J.A. Taylor & K. Walls, "The Role of the Fine and Performing Arts in High School Dropout Prevention."

A 2000 Georgia Tech study indicates that a student who participates in at least one college elective music course is 4.5 times more likely to stay in college than the general student population. ­Dr. Denise C. Gardner, Effects of Music Courses on Retention, Georgia Tech, 2000.

Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence, traits that carry over into intellectual pursuits and lead to effective study and work habits. An association of music and math has, in fact, long been noted. Creating and performing music promotes self-expression that provides self-gratification while giving pleasure to others. In medicine, increasing published reports demonstrate that music has a healing effect on patients. For all these reasons, it deserves strong support in our educational system, along with the other arts, the sciences and athletics. ­ Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Leading Heart Surgeon, Baylor College of Music.

To learn more about the benefits of music education, visit www.menc.org

-Provided by Reading Musical Foundation

Tammy K. Mitgang, President

Reading Musical Foundation (RMF) supports music education and outreach programs, music presenters and concerts in Berks County and provides financial assistance for student musicians. A non-profit foundation, RMF is supported primarily by individuals, businesses and partner foundations.

For more information - www.readingmusicalfoundation.org or contact Tammy Mitgang at 610-376-3395

Parents' Source, December 2005/January 2006

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