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 Uploading ....We've all heard the slogan "Making Music Makes You Smarter". This is much more than just a slogan. There is a growing body of research which backs up this statement. It always boggles my mind when people regard Music as a frill, or when societal pressures tell our students to focus exclusively on "serious" subjects like English, Math, Science etc. Not that there's anything wrong with those subjects. In fact, they are incredibly important. However, study after study has shown that students who study Music tend to do better in those subject areas. Why is this?
Dr. James Caterall of UCLA came to these conclusions after completing a ten year study. Please note that socio-economic background had nothing to do with test results:
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.
Or, as the respected journal "Nature" reported in 1998:
Childhood music lessons actually enlarge portions of the brain. German
researchers found that the brain area used to analyze musical pitch
is an average of 25% larger in musicians. The younger the musical
training begins, the larger the area.
Another study of students in second grade came to this conclusion:
Second-grade students who were given four months of piano keyboard
training, as well as time using math puzzle software, scored 27% higher
on proportional math and fractions tests than children who received
no special instruction. They were also able to solve proportional
math problems at a sixth grade level.
In a landmark study whose results were published in the Phi Delta Kappan by Peter H. Wood, these results came to light:
Music majors are better readers and more successful
med school applicants. 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. Physician and biologist
Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants.
He found that 66% of music majors who applied to med school were admitted,
the highest percentage of any group. Forty-four percent (44%) of biochemistry
majors were admitted.
A profile of SAT scores completed at Princeton in the United States came to this conclusion:
College-bound seniors with school music
experience scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of their
SATs and 41 points higher in math (98 points combined) than those
without arts instruction.
I think you get the idea! Finally, here are a few other facts:
- The very best engineers
and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly
without exception, practicing musicians. (Grant Venerable, The Center
for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York).
- At the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, Dr Frank Wilson says his research shows instrumental practice enhances coordination, concentration and memory and also brings about the improvement of eyesight and hearing. His studies have shown that involvement in Music conncects and develops the motor systems of the brain, refining the entire neurological system in ways that cannot be done by any other activity. Dr. Wilson actually goes so far as to say that he believes music instruction is actually 'necessary' for the total development of the brain.
You can easily find out more information. What I've presented here is but a small sampling of all the information that is out there. What boggles my mind is that with all of this evidence school boards still find ways to treat Music as a "frill" by reducing students' access and/or class hours. With the links between Music and literacy being proven, shouldn't it be the other way around?
We're lucky to have a strong Music program at Notre Dame. It is my firm believe that your son/daughter will emerge from their Music studies here as a more content, confident, caring, and dedicated individual.
Tony Stuart,
Music Director
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