Why Study Music in School?
With the importance the state and federal governments have recently been placing on instruction and testing in math, science, and English, it is easy to wonder why schools spend time on anything else. This section of the web site will provide you with some of the answers to why we study music in school. A great deal of research has been done in the last few years. Some of this research is included on the second page of each Music Notes Newsletter (copies available here). Please check back to this page regularly, as Mr. Bontjes will be adding to this part of the site as often as time allows.
Recent Research
Following are highlights from a few recent studies on the benefits of music education. Each includes a link to further information on the study.
- A five-year long study from the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California found neuronal benefits of music education on a group of 6-7 year old children. The children in the study all received musical instruction, and after two years, their auditory systems had matured faster than children who were part of an athletic extracurricular activity and children who were not in any extracurricular activities.
- There are many long-term effects associated with music education as well. In 2003, a Harvard neurologist found that after 15 months of musical training, there were changes in the structure and neuronal connections of the brain. This is extremely important because these numerous connections can help compensate for cognitive decline and neuronal atrophy later in life.
- In 1996, the College Board reported that students with experience in musical performance scored higher on the verbal and math sections of the SAT when compared to the national average.
- In 2001, another report found that students with experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT compared to students who had no experience in the arts.
- A 2013 study titled, “Music and academic performance” found that adolescent students who took music courses have better grades overall in all subjects.
October 2017 Article on the Power of Music Study
On October 3, 2017 the UK newspaper The Guardian published an article detailing the amazing benefits realized by an inner-city elementary school that chose to address the problem of their students' low achievement by increasing their time in music class instead of increasing their time drilling reading, writing, and math.
The full article can be found here.
A shorter version of the article, rewritten for an American website, can be found here.
The full article can be found here.
A shorter version of the article, rewritten for an American website, can be found here.
Benefits of Piano Lessons
The following article is from a School Board Association Newsletter in Montana. Among other things, the article cites a study in which students showed a 46% increase in test scores after receiving class piano lessons.
piano_benefits.pdf | |
File Size: | 73 kb |
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Benefits of Music Study
Many people have long understood that school music study provides students with many more benefits than simply learning to play music. A great deal of research has been done in recent years about the long term benefits of music study. The following article details the results of recent studies. For those interested in reading the source material, the author has provided links to each study cited.
benefits_of_music_study.pdf | |
File Size: | 63 kb |
File Type: |
Music is...
There's More to Music than Singing and Playing Instruments!
Music is Reading - In music class students sing songs from their music books and song sheets. While they sing, they are not only reading notes, they are also reading the words to the songs. Some of these words are familiar, some are new to them. Often, they already know the words to a song, but seeing the words written out reinforces their reading skills. Reading music (words and notes) reinforces tracking from left to right and helps with overall fluency. In Kindergarten music we sing songs about the alphabet and letter sounds. We reinforce the "letter of the week" with our own musical letter of the week.
Music is Language - In music class we often work with rhyming words; either finding the rhyming words in a song or writing our own lyrics using rhyming words. We also identify nouns, verbs and other parts of speech in our lyrics (especially when their teacher's clue me that the classes are working on that particular language part!)
Music is Math - In music class we learn to read rhythms and that involves math skills. Because each measure of music has a specific number of beats, we have to learn to count notes by their note values to make each measure equal. Music math also involves dividing beats, which helps students understand the mathematical concept of fractions. In Kindergarten we sing counting songs counting up from one and down from ten.
Music is Social Studies - In music class we sing songs from countries all over the world. In the music series that we use each country is highlighted on a world map so first we find America, then we find the country of the current song. We also learn about different customs from all over the world.
Music is History - Music has a rich history dating back to when the first music was written down in the 14th Century. As we listen to songs from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini, Copland etc., we learn a little about the period of history in which they lived. We also study songs that are important to our country and learn the history behind these songs.
Music is Science - In music class we talk about high and low sounds including the science behind each. When we study the different instruments we look for how each instrument makes a sound studying the science behind sound. We make our own instruments as an experiment in sound production and explore how differences in construction change the sounds of the instruments.
Music is a Foreign Language - Music is its own language. Each musical marking is a symbol that represents a musical idea. You can go anywhere in the world and read music just like we read it here in America. I may not be able to go to Russia and talk to the person sitting next to me, but we can share the same music to make the same sounds. Music terminology is almost always in Italian. As we learn our music terms, the students are learning words from the Italian language. Many of our songs from other countries are in the language of that country. We often listen to and sing in these different languages. We really don't learn the language, but we learn about different letter sounds from different languages, expanding our awareness of our world.
Music is Physical Education - In music class we do various body percussion activities as well as games and dances. All of these help to work on coordination and motor control. Some of our games and expecially our dances get our hearts pumping from physical activity.
Music is Listening - In music class we work on listening skills. We practice listening by sitting quietly and using our ears and minds, not our mouths. We work on sitting quietly, keeping our bodies still so that we can focus on the music. We also work on following directions...something that we all need to practice.
Music is Art - All art is inspired by emotion and beauty and seeks to inspire those who experience it to share in those emotions. In music class our books will often show us a famous painting that illustrates the feeling of the music. Music itself is an art form that allows us not only to feel emotions, but also to express them. In this way, music helps us be more fully human. Music can stir feelings within us like nothing else in the world.
What's Next? - "Common Core" standards are now a reality in Illinois and across the country. More than anything, this is a change in how students are tested and evaluated. Music classes and piano lessons continue to reinforce the skills that will help students succeed in their classrooms and on these tests.
Music is Reading - In music class students sing songs from their music books and song sheets. While they sing, they are not only reading notes, they are also reading the words to the songs. Some of these words are familiar, some are new to them. Often, they already know the words to a song, but seeing the words written out reinforces their reading skills. Reading music (words and notes) reinforces tracking from left to right and helps with overall fluency. In Kindergarten music we sing songs about the alphabet and letter sounds. We reinforce the "letter of the week" with our own musical letter of the week.
Music is Language - In music class we often work with rhyming words; either finding the rhyming words in a song or writing our own lyrics using rhyming words. We also identify nouns, verbs and other parts of speech in our lyrics (especially when their teacher's clue me that the classes are working on that particular language part!)
Music is Math - In music class we learn to read rhythms and that involves math skills. Because each measure of music has a specific number of beats, we have to learn to count notes by their note values to make each measure equal. Music math also involves dividing beats, which helps students understand the mathematical concept of fractions. In Kindergarten we sing counting songs counting up from one and down from ten.
Music is Social Studies - In music class we sing songs from countries all over the world. In the music series that we use each country is highlighted on a world map so first we find America, then we find the country of the current song. We also learn about different customs from all over the world.
Music is History - Music has a rich history dating back to when the first music was written down in the 14th Century. As we listen to songs from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini, Copland etc., we learn a little about the period of history in which they lived. We also study songs that are important to our country and learn the history behind these songs.
Music is Science - In music class we talk about high and low sounds including the science behind each. When we study the different instruments we look for how each instrument makes a sound studying the science behind sound. We make our own instruments as an experiment in sound production and explore how differences in construction change the sounds of the instruments.
Music is a Foreign Language - Music is its own language. Each musical marking is a symbol that represents a musical idea. You can go anywhere in the world and read music just like we read it here in America. I may not be able to go to Russia and talk to the person sitting next to me, but we can share the same music to make the same sounds. Music terminology is almost always in Italian. As we learn our music terms, the students are learning words from the Italian language. Many of our songs from other countries are in the language of that country. We often listen to and sing in these different languages. We really don't learn the language, but we learn about different letter sounds from different languages, expanding our awareness of our world.
Music is Physical Education - In music class we do various body percussion activities as well as games and dances. All of these help to work on coordination and motor control. Some of our games and expecially our dances get our hearts pumping from physical activity.
Music is Listening - In music class we work on listening skills. We practice listening by sitting quietly and using our ears and minds, not our mouths. We work on sitting quietly, keeping our bodies still so that we can focus on the music. We also work on following directions...something that we all need to practice.
Music is Art - All art is inspired by emotion and beauty and seeks to inspire those who experience it to share in those emotions. In music class our books will often show us a famous painting that illustrates the feeling of the music. Music itself is an art form that allows us not only to feel emotions, but also to express them. In this way, music helps us be more fully human. Music can stir feelings within us like nothing else in the world.
What's Next? - "Common Core" standards are now a reality in Illinois and across the country. More than anything, this is a change in how students are tested and evaluated. Music classes and piano lessons continue to reinforce the skills that will help students succeed in their classrooms and on these tests.