MUSICAL SKILLS
Music students have the opportunity to develop skills that are directly related to music, but also have obvious benefits in other areas:
o Listening: Good musicians are, by necessity, good listeners. They have been trained to listen purposefully, intently and carefully for differences between every note and every chord they play. They listen to discern harmony versus dissonance. They listen to distinguish when a note is sharp, flat or just plain off-key. They have developed their sense of hearing and their ability to focus and pay attention to sound.
o Rhythm: Through the study of music, students become able to recognize and create rhythm. Music is a fun and entertaining way to learn about rhythm and patterns.
o Memory: In order to learn how to play students learn the names and placement of notes on the staff and the corresponding key to strike in order to play a piece of music correctly. Pieces of music are eventually committed to memory over time with enough practice. Memorization skills are strengthened with regular use.
INTELLIGENCE & BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Early musical training helps to develop brain regions involved in language and reasoning as well as spatial intelligence.
o “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
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EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
Music students frequently outscore non-music students in standardized tests and general school performance.
o Students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT: students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation. — College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers.
o In an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students (NELS:88, National Education Longitudinal Survey), researchers found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show “significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12.” This observation holds regardless of students’ socio-economic status, and differences in those who are involved with instrumental music vs. those who are not is more significant over time. — Catterall, James S., Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga. “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music and Theater Arts.”
LIFE SKILLS
An education in music also teaches important and enduring life lessons that are readily transferable:
o Craftsmanship: Students of music understand how musical details come together to produce good, rather than mediocre, sounds. These exacting standards in the craft of music demand a level of excellence that, when applied to other endeavors, require students to push their own limits.
o Perserverance: Music making requires focused and sustained effort in routine practice. Professional musicians rehearse regularly to stay on top of their repertoire. It is only through a great investment of time and effort that a successful performance is possible. There are no shortcuts. Through the study of music, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve concrete results.
o How to perform: Music making focuses on "doing" rather than observing and teaches students, quite literally, how to perform in front of an audience.
o Risk taking and conquering fear: Perfoming music in public whether formally or informally generates at least a little fear in most people. Becoming used to this anxiety early in life makes it less intimidating later on and develops a sense of poise and self-confidence to help face future stressful situations.
CREATIVITY
Music is a wonderful means of self-expression that can convey anything from the deepest sorrow to the greatest joy and everything in between.
Students derive a unique sense of satisfaction in active music-making as opposed to passive music consumption.