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12 IMPORTANT
SKILLS YOUR CHILD LEARNS BY STUDYING MUSIC
TEN-YEAR STUDY SHOWS MUSIC IMPROVES TEST
SCORES
MUSIC LESSONS HELP STUDENTS MORE THAN
COMPUTER TRAINING
MUSIC TRAINING HELPS
UNDERACHIEVERS
PIANO BOOSTS STUDENT MATH
ACHIEVEMENT
MUSIC STUDENTS SCORE HIGHER ON
SATS
SUBSTANCE ABUSE LOWEST IN MUSIC
STUDENTS
12 IMPORTANT SKILLS YOUR
CHILD LEARNS BY STUDYING MUSIC
Self-Confidence:
Being able to go from learning notes and rhythms to
producing meaningful music instills in your child a
sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.
Coordination: Hand,
eye, body posture and thought all working together
are the ingredients of playing an instrument. These
coordination skills transfer to many other aspects of
life.
Teamwork: Every
child wants to be part of a group. Theory and
musicianship classes, in addition to group
performances and recitals provide just such unique
opportunities.
Comprehension:
Learning to perceive and derive meaning from musical
sounds sharpens your child's ability to comprehend
abstractions.
Problem-Solving:
Learning the basics of musical language and
interpreting a work through performance teaches your
child the ability to understand a problem and reach
an appropriate solution.
Discipline:
Learning all of the basics of music and applying them
correctly takes perception and discipline.
Art Appreciation:
The words beauty, serenity and excitement come to
life with each musical experience. These feelings
help every child appreciate all forms of the
arts.
Logical Reasoning:
When your child learns to analyze a musical work from
all perspectives or to improvise within a certain
musical style, both inductive and deductive reasoning
grows stronger.
Communication:
Music offers the ability to cultivate our feelings
and thoughts through nonverbal means and to respond
to these nonverbal thoughts in others.
Conceptualization:
Your child learns to classify by learning to identify
different types and styles of music and to recognize
how cultures use music for personal expression.
Making Value
Judgments: Learning to comprehend, consider
and evaluate in music can help your child make
informed decisions and uphold value judgments in
other aspects of life.
Using Symbols:
Learning to read, write and interpret musical
notation strengthens the use of other symbol systems
such as mathematics and language.
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TEN-YEAR STUDY SHOWS MUSIC IMPROVES TEST
SCORES
Regardless of socioeconomic background,
music-making students get higher marks in
standardized tests.
UCLA professor, Dr. James Catterall, led an analysis
of a U.S. Department of Education database. Called
NELLs88, the database was used to track more than
25,000 students over a period of ten years.
The study showed that students involved in music
generally tested higher than those who had no music
involvement. The test scores studied were not only
standardized tests, such as the SAT, but also in
reading proficiency exams.
The study also noted that the musicians scored
higher, no matter what socioeconomic group was being
studied.
Reference: Dr. James Catterall, UCLA, 1997.
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MUSIC LESSONS HELP STUDENTS MORE THAN
COMPUTER TRAINING
Research shows piano students are better equipped to
comprehend mathematical and scientific
concepts.
Preschoolers were divided into three groups: One
group received private piano keyboard lessons and
singing lessons. A second group received private
computer lessons. The third group received no
training. Those children who received piano/keyboard
training performed 34% higher on tests measuring
spatial-temporal ability than the others - even those
who received computer training.
"Spatial-temporal" is basically proportional
reasoning - ratios, fractions, proportions and
thinking in space and time. This concept has long
been considered a major obstacle in the teaching of
elementary math and science.
Reference: Neurological Research February 28,
1997
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MUSIC TRAINING HELPS
UNDERACHIEVERS
Researchers find arts training not only raises
scholastic performance, but also improves
student behavior and attitude.
In Rhode Island, researchers studied eight public
school first grade classes. Half of the classes
became "test arts" groups, receiving ongoing music
and visual arts training. In kindergarten, this group
had lagged behind in scholastic performance.
After seven months, the students were given a
standardized test. The "test arts" group had caught
up to their fellow students in reading and surpassed
their classmates in math by 22%. In the second year
of the project, the arts students widened this margin
even further.
Students were also evaluated on attitude and
behavior. Classroom teachers noted improvement in
these areas also.
Reference: Nature May 23, 1996
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PIANO BOOSTS STUDENT MATH
ACHIEVEMENT
Taking piano lessons and using math puzzle software
significantly improves math skills of elementary
school children.
Second-grade students were given four months of piano
keyboard training, as well as time using newly
designed math software. The group scored over 27%
higher on proportional math and fractions tests than
children who used only the math software.
Music involves ratios, fractions, proportions and
thinking in space and time. The software - called
Spatial-Temporal Animation Reasoning (STAR) - allows
children to solve geometric and math puzzles that
boost their ability to manipulate shapes in their
minds.
The findings are significant because a grasp of
proportional math and fractions is a prerequisite to
math at higher levels, and children who do not master
these areas of math cannot understand more advanced
math critical to high-tech fields.
Reference: Neurological Research March, 1999
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MUSIC STUDENTS SCORE HIGHER ON
SATS
In both verbal and math scores, high school
student-musicians outpace peers.
The College Entrance Examination Board reports,
"Students of the arts continue to outperform their
non-arts peers on the SAT(R). In 1998, SAT takers
with coursework/experience in music performance
scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion of the
test and 37 points higher on the math portion than
students with no coursework/experience in the
arts."
Longer arts study proved to parlay into even higher
test scores. The 1996 report observed, "Those who
studied the arts four or more years scored 59 points
higher and 41 points higher on the verbal and math
portions respectively than students with no
coursework or experience in the arts."
Reference: Profile of SAT and Achievement Test
Takers, The College Board, compiled by Music
Educators National Conference, 1998, 1996.
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SUBSTANCE ABUSE LOWEST IN MUSIC
STUDENTS
College-age musicians emotionally healthier than
non-musician counterparts.
According to a study conducted at the University of
Texas, college-aged music students have fewer
problems with alcohol, are emotionally healthier, and
concentrate better than their non-musical
counterparts.
"This study is interesting on many levels," commented
Dr. Kris Chesky, one of the study's researchers.
"First of all, it flies in the face of all the
stereotypes out there about musicians. It also seems
to support the assertion that studying music helps
people learn to concentrate."
The study looked at 362 students who were in their
first semester of college. They were given three
tests, measuring performance anxiety, emotional
concerns and alcohol related problems. In addition to
having fewer battles with the bottle, researchers
also noted that the musicians seemed to have surer
footing when facing tests.
Reference: Houston Chronicle, January 11, 1998
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