Music Is Brain Power!
The study of music helps students achieve success in school.
Students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT: 53 points higher on the verbal and 39 points higher on the math for music performance, and 61 points higher on the verbal and 42 points higher on the math for music appreciation than students with no arts participation. -1999 College-Bound Seniors National Report Profile of SAT Program Test Takers, The College Entrance Examination Board, Princeton, New Jersey
Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. 44% of biochemistry majors were admitted. -As reported in "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappa, February, 1994
A study of 811 high school students indicated that the proportion of minority students with a music teacher-role model was significantly larger than for any other discipline. 36% of these students identified music teachers as their role models, as opposed to 28% English teachers, 11% elementary teachers, 7% physical education/sports teachers, 1% principals. -D. L. Hamann and L. M. Walker, "Music teachers as role models for African-American students," Journal of Research in Music Education, 41, 1993
A study of 237 second grade children used piano keyboard training and newly designed math software to demonstrate improvement in math skills. The group scored 27% higher on proportional math and fraction tests than children that used only the math software. -Graziano, Peterson, Shaw, "Enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial-temporal training, "Neurological Research, Vol. 21, March 1999
Music develops Intelligence and Self Esteem
A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science. -Shaw, Rauscher, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb, "Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning." Neurological Research, Vol. 19, February 1997
Students in two Rhode Island elementary schools who were given an enriched, sequential, skill-building music program showed marked improvement in reading and math skills. Students in the enriched program who had started out behind the control group caught up to statistical equality in reading, and pulled ahead in math. -Gardiner, Fox, Jeffrey and Knowles, as reported in Nature, May 23, 1996
A McGill University study found that pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly for students given piano instruction over a three-year period. They also found that self-esteem and musical skills measure improved for the students given piano instruction.
In the kindergarten classes of the school district of Kettle Moraine, Wisconsin, children who were given music instruction scored 48 percent higher on spatial-temporal skill test than those who did not receive music training. -Rauscher, F. H., and Zupan, M.A. (1999)/ Classroom keyboard instruction improves kindergarten children's spatial-temporal performance: A field study. Manuscript in press. Early Childhood Quarterly
Information provided by MENC: The National Association for Music Education, NAMM: The International Music Products Association and NSBA: The National School Boards Association.
Visit the MENC website at www.menc.org
The results of these and other studies are available at www.menc.org/information/advocate/facts.html.
