Why Study Music?
A Student with Musical Instruction Tends To Excel in Other Scholastic Areas
* Music involves ratio, fractions, proportions, and thinking in space and time. Music study has proven to help kids understand advanced math concepts.
* University studies conducted in Georgia and Texas found significant correlations between the number of years of instrumental music instruction and academic achievement in math, science, and language arts.
* According to "The Case for Music in the Schools", Phi Delta Kappa, February 1994, a study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry, and math.
* High School music students score higher on SATs in both verbal and math than their peers. In 2001, SAT takers with experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 41 points higher on the math portion than students without that experience.
* Music involves ratio, fractions, proportions, and thinking in space and time. Music study has proven to help kids understand advanced math concepts.
* University studies conducted in Georgia and Texas found significant correlations between the number of years of instrumental music instruction and academic achievement in math, science, and language arts.
* According to "The Case for Music in the Schools", Phi Delta Kappa, February 1994, a study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry, and math.
* High School music students score higher on SATs in both verbal and math than their peers. In 2001, SAT takers with experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 41 points higher on the math portion than students without that experience.
The Brain Works Harder
* Research indicates the brain of a musician works differently than that of a non-musician. “There’s some good neuroscience research that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training. When you’re a musician and you’re playing an instrument, you have to be using more of your brain,” says Dr. Eric Rasmussen, Chair of the Music Department at the Peabody Preparatory of The Johns Hopkins University.
* Research indicates the brain of a musician works differently than that of a non-musician. “There’s some good neuroscience research that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training. When you’re a musician and you’re playing an instrument, you have to be using more of your brain,” says Dr. Eric Rasmussen, Chair of the Music Department at the Peabody Preparatory of The Johns Hopkins University.
Music Study Develops Character
* In addition to cognitive skills, the study of music helps to develop character traits such as discipline, perseverance, resourcefulness, teamwork, appreciation for beauty, patience, self-control, problem solving, and empathy.
* “There is a massive benefit from being musical that we don’t understand, but it’s individual. Music is for music’s sake,” Rasmussen says. “The benefit of music education for me is about being musical. It gives you a better understanding of yourself. The horizons are higher when you are involved in music,” he adds. “Your understanding of art and the world, and how you can think and express yourself, are enhanced.”
* In addition to cognitive skills, the study of music helps to develop character traits such as discipline, perseverance, resourcefulness, teamwork, appreciation for beauty, patience, self-control, problem solving, and empathy.
* “There is a massive benefit from being musical that we don’t understand, but it’s individual. Music is for music’s sake,” Rasmussen says. “The benefit of music education for me is about being musical. It gives you a better understanding of yourself. The horizons are higher when you are involved in music,” he adds. “Your understanding of art and the world, and how you can think and express yourself, are enhanced.”