Some of the Benefits of Studying Music

 

Important Benefits of Studying Music

• The Suzuki method of music learning greatly fosters the development of positive, life-long parent/child relationships rooted in mutual respect and cooperation.
• Receive information regarding the social and cultural context of music and composers for the various historical periods in support of history and geography studies.
• Experience memory training which will carry over into all other areas of life!
• Receive opportunities to participate in group work which will foster teamwork skills and the development of friendships and related social skills.
• Have opportunities to develop and polish skills such as poise and concentration (which carry over into public speaking and other forms of public presentation.)
• Enhance self-esteem.
• Learn proper breathing techniques which can enhance athletic and singing erformance. (Some doctors recommend study of the recorder for mild heart conditions or respiratory problems.)
• Learn the vocabulary of music and notation reading skills, and be able to learn languages and how to play other instruments with greater ease.
• Learn the skills and benefits of working toward goals while focusing on small steps. This fosters patience and organizational skills.
• Practice using your imagination effectively!
• Learn an appropriate and satisfying means of emotional self-expression.
• Learn kindness and sensitivity through role modelling and mutually respectful interactions.
• Interpretive listening heightens detail awareness and observation skills.
• Develop hand to eye coordination by playing a musical instrument while reading music notation.
• Study composition and music theory translate and improve writing skills.
• Study music and improve coordination of left and right brain hemispheres (critical to readingl).
• Play and listen to appropriate music and achieve active stress reducuction.

 

 

Other Benefits of Studying Music

• In an article from a conference on pre-school education in Athens, Greece in 1996 , Dr. Shaw describes how inherent brain patterns, when mapped onto various pitches and instruments produce recognizable styles of music. The mapping was done with evolutions from trion model brain-firing patterns, Shaw's model of the brain which he developed with colleague Dr. Xiaodan Leng. A cassette tape of trion music was available from Shaw at the Athens conference. [You can also hear "brain music" on the audio cassette of the National Public Radio broadcast "Gray Matters: Music and the Brain," (Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, March 1998).] Shaw and Leng's work was motivated by their structured neuronal model of the cerebral cortex which hypothesized a causal connection between music training and spatial ability (Leng and Shaw, "Toward a neural theory of higher brain function using music as a window," Concepts Neurosci., 2(1991) pp. 229-258. "Musical activity," they proposed, "strengthens neural firing patterns organized in a spatial-temporal code over large regions of the cortex. These firing patterns are also exploited by spatial reasoning tasks. This model, together with studies which show correlations between music training and spatial tasks, led to the following prediction: Music, which is cross-culturally appreciated from birth, can be used to develop these inherent brain patterns along with their associated behaviors."
• In 1996 and 1997 Rauscher, Shaw and colleagues tested the hypothesis that music training for young children enhances spatial-temporal reasoning. Seventy-eight preschool children participated in this study. Thirty-four children received private piano keyboard lessons, 20 children received private computer lessons, and 24 children provided other controls. Four standard, age-calibrated, spatial reasoning tests were given before and after training. Significant improvement on the spatial-temporal test was found for the keyboard group only. The authors felt this suggested music training produces long-term modifications in underlying neural circuitry in regions not primarily concerned with music. They proposed that an improvement of the magnitude reported might enhance the learning of standard curricula, such as mathematics and science, that draw heavily upon spatial-temporal reasoning. The long-term enhancement found in the study represented an increase of more than a factor of 100 over previous listening experiments. The study suggests that music training, unlike listening alone, produces long-term modifications in underlying neural circuitry in regions not primarily concerned with music, a finding of educational importance for all children.
• On the basis of observations and experiments with newborns, neuroscientists now know that infants are born with neural mechanisms devoted exclusively to music. Studies show that early and ongoing musical training helps organize and develop children's brains. - "The Musical Mind," Susan Black, The American School Board Journal,January 1997.
• Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66 percent of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. Forty-four percent of biochemistry majors were admitted. -Reported in "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994.
• Students who study music and the arts score higher on the verbal and math portions of the SAT than students with no course work or experience in the arts. - Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, 1998.
• A 1997 Gallup Survey on Americans' attitudes towards music revealed that 89% of respondents believe music helps a child's overall development, and 93% agree that music is part of a well-rounded education. - Americans' Attitudes Towards Music, The Gallup Organization, 1997.
• The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians. - Grant Venerable, "The Paradox of the Silicon Saviour," as reported in "The Case for Sequential Music Education in the Core Curriculum of the Public Schools," The Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York, 1989.
• Academic Preparation for College: What Students Need To Know and Be Able To Do states that "preparation in the arts will be valuable to college entrants whatever their intended field of study." - The College Board, New York, 1983 [still in use].
• An education in the arts readily engages a wide variety of learning styles and increases learning potential for students. Schools who have integrated music and the arts into the curriculum have seen an increase in test scores and student attendance and a decrease in dropout rates. - "The Arts and Student Achievement: Ideas for Schools and Communities," background paper for the Goals 2000 Satellite Town Meeting, Arts Edge.

 

 

Music Making Helps Make Active Older Americans Healthier

• Significant Increases in Human Growth Hormone, Decreases in Anxiety, Depression and Loneliness Resulted Following (Music) Lessons.Frederick Tims, Ph.D., MT-BC, Chair of Music Therapy at Michigan State University, (and principal investigator for a University of Miami Alzheimer's project on music therapy), led a team of researchers to conduct the study "Music Making and Wellness"- a joint effort of seven universities in cooperation with the American Music Therapy Association and Fletcher Music Centers.
• The first round of results, announced April 23,1999, showed significant decreases in anxiety, depression and loneliness following keyboard lessons. These factors are critical in coping with stress, stimulating the immune system, and in improved health. On May 24, the second round of results, indicating significant increases in human growth hormones, will be announced.

 

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