Music has multiple learning benefits, and several recent studies establish a causal relationship between music and enhanced learning abilities. Here's some of the evidence:

• Music lessons are superior to computer instruction in the development of reasoning skills.

  In 1997, psychologist Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., now at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, and Dr. Gordon Shaw, professor emeritus of physics at UC Irvine, reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills, which are essential to learning subjects such as math and science. Rauscher and Shaw compared the spatial and temporal reasoning ability of three- and four-year-olds who had studied piano with that of their peers who had spent the same amount of time learning to use computers. At the end of the study, the piano students performed 34% better on spatial and temporal ability tests than the computer students.

• Music studies increase reading skills and math proficiency dramatically.

  According to a controlled study of first graders in the Pawtucket, Rhode Island, school system, reported in the Journal Nature in May, 1996, the study of music can improve childrens’ academic performance. At the end of the seven-month study Rhode Island, 96 first graders took standardized tests. The children in the more active and frequent music program not only had better attitudes toward learning, but had significantly increased their reading scores and math performance. In addition, the Rhode Island team found that the children who continued their special music and visual arts classes for a second year continued to improve in math.

• Music and Academic Achievement:

  At Mission Viejo High School in Southern California in 1981, the overall grade point average of music students was 3.59 and for non-music students the overall grade point average was 2.91. This same study also found that 16% of the music students had a 4.0 overall grade point average and only 5% of the non-music students had a 4.0 overall grade point average.

  Winston writes about how learning to read music enhances the student's ability to perform the skills necessary for reading, listening, anticipating, forecasting, memory training, recall skills, concentration techniques and speed reading A study conducted in the Albuquerque, New Mexico public schools concluded by comparing all areas of the California Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). It was found that music students in an instrumental class for two or more years scored significantly higher than non-music students.

  One study found a direct correlation between improved SAT scores and the length of time spent studying the arts. Those who studied the arts for four or more years scored 59 point higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the math portions of the SAT than students with no course work or experience in the arts.

• Music instruction enhances brain development

  Dr. Frank Wilson, an assistant clinical professor neurology at the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, .reports that his studies show that instrumental practice enhances coordination, concentration and memory and also brings about the improvement of eyesight and hearing. He further reports that the process of learning to play an instrument refines the development of the brain and the entire neurological system (Mueller, 1984). Dr. Wilson's research has shown that involvement in music connects and develops the motor systems of the brain in a way that cannot be done by any other activity. In support of this, Dr. Wilson shared recent data from UCLA brain scan research studies which shows that music more fully involves brain functions (both left and right hemispheres) than any other activities studied.

Notable Quotations:

• “Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence, traits that carry over into intellectual pursuits and that 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 and 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.

• As Dr. John J. Mahlmann, Executive Director of MENC, said in a letter recently-published in The Washington Post, “Without music in every child’s education, we will not be giving our children the best possible education for their development as human beings. Music contributes to a person’s ability to perform- whether that’s with a musical instrument or a new technology we’ve yet to dream of.”

• “Music is a magical gift we must nourish and cultivate in our children, especially now as scientific evidence proves that an education in the arts makes better math and science students, enhances spatial intelligence in newborns, and let's not forget that the arts are a compelling solution to teen violence, certainly not the cause of it!”— Michael Greene, Recording Academy President and CEO at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, February 2000.

• “Music is one way for young people to connect with themselves, but it is also a bridge for connecting with others. Through music, we can introduce children to the richness and diversity of the human family and to the myriad rhythms of life.” — Daniel A. Carp, Eastman Kodak Company Chairman and CEO.

• “The musician is constantly adjusting decisions on tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feeling--training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once. Dedicated practice of this orchestration can have a great payoff for lifelong attentional skills, intelligence, and an ability for self-knowledge and expression.” - Ratey John J., MD. A User’s Guide to the Brain. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.

• “Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them - a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.” - Gerald Ford, former President, United States of America

  Last update: March 19, 2004