Twelve
Benefits of Music Education
1. Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in
language and reasoning. It is thought that brain development continues for many
years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training
physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved
with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in
specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint
information on young minds.
2. There is also a causal link
between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world
accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence,
by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is
critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced
mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will
be needed for the day.
3. Students of the arts learn
to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions,
rejecting outdated rules and assumptions. Questions about the arts do not have
only one right answer.
4. Recent studies show that
students who study the arts are more successful on standardized tests such as
the SAT. They also achieve higher grades in high school.
5. A study of the arts provides
children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic
towards the people of these cultures. This development of compassion and
empathy, as opposed to development of greed and a “me first” attitude, provides
a bridge across cultural chasms that leads to respect of other races at an
early age.
6. Students of music learn
craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what
constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work. These standards, when applied
to a student’s own work, demand a new level of excellence and require students to
stretch their inner resources.
7. In music, a mistake is a
mistake; the instrument is in tune or not, the notes are well played or not,
the entrance is made or not. It is only by much hard work that a successful
performance is possible. Through music study, students learn the value of
sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work.
8. Music study enhances
teamwork skills and discipline. In order for an orchestra to sound good, all
players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance,
and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals, and practicing.
9. Music provides children with
a means of self-expression. Now that there is relative security in the basics
of existence, the challenge is to make life meaningful and to reach for a
higher stage of development. Everyone needs to be in touch at some time in his
life with his core, with what he is and what he feels. Self-esteem is a
by-product of this self-expression.
10. Music study develops skills
that are necessary in the workplace. It focuses on “doing,” as opposed to
observing, and teaches students how to perform, literally, anywhere in the
world. Employers are looking for multi-dimensional workers with the sort of
flexible and supple intellects that music education helps to create as
described above. In the music classroom, students can also learn to better
communicate and cooperate with one another.
11. Music performance teaches
young people to conquer fear and to take risks. A little anxiety is a good
thing, and something that will occur often in life. Dealing with it early and
often makes it less of a problem later. Risk-taking is essential if a child is
to fully develop his or her potential. Music contributes to mental health and
can help prevent risky behavior such as teenage drug abuse, which often leads
to institutionalization in a teen rehab.
12. An arts education exposes
children to the incomparable.
Carolyn Phillips is the author
of the Twelve Benefits of Music Education. She is the Former Executive Director
of the Norwalk Youth Symphony, CT.
Additional information on brain health and childhood development
can be found in this book by the Amen Clinics.
Of course, the Twelve Benefits
of Music Education listed above all contribute to overall success in school.
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