Music Education: Great for Young Minds

Learning to play a musical instrument is fun and rewarding. Based on numerous scientific studies, however, the benefits for young students go far beyond personal enjoyment and gratification. Research shows a strong correlation between music education and childhood development of specific mental abilities.

Laurel Trainor, director of the Institute for Music and the Mind at McMaster University in West Hamilton, Ontario, and colleagues compared preschool children who had taken music lessons with those who did not. Her research indicated that even a year or two of music education leads to enhanced levels of memory and attention when measured by the same type of tests that monitor electrical and magnetic impulses in the brain. “We therefore hypothesize that musical training affects attention and memory, which provides a mechanism whereby musical training might lead to better learning across a number of domains," Trainor said.

Numerous studies and statistics support the value of music education as part of well rounded early childhood programs. A study of 237 second grade children used piano keyboard training and newly designed math software to demonstrate improvement in math skills. The group scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than children that used only the math software*.

In another study, students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT: students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math; and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation*.

A research team exploring the link between music education and intelligence reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing childhood development of reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science.

While it’s important to note that the cognitive benefits of studying music will vary from one student to another during early childhood programs, it’s safe to say that music education can be a healthy supplement for young minds.

*Excerpts and statistics for this article were provided by Inside Science News Service.