Why Music is So Important

What Psychology Today  says about music and play.

Benefits of Musical Training:

1. Musicians have an enhanced ability to integrate sensory information from hearing, touch, and sight.
2. Beginning training before the age of seven has been shown to have the greatest impact. The age at which musical training begins affects brain anatomy as an adult.
3. Brain circuits involved in musical improvisation are shaped by systematic training, leading to less reliance on working memory and more extensive connectivity within the brain.

From a Psychology Today blog post titled “Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function” showing research that found musical training can cause fundamental changes in both the structure and function of a young person’s brain.

Supporting Articles:

“Einstein’s Genius Linked to Well-Connected Brain Hemispheres”

“Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function”

“Musical Training May Improve  Brain’s Language Skills”

“Childhood Creativity Leads to Innovation in Adulthood”

“Why Is Dancing So Good for Your Brain”

 

10 Reasons Music is Important for Children

1. Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons.
2. Children with learning disabilities or dyslexia who tend to lose focus with more noise could benefit greatly from music lessons.
3. Music programs are constantly in danger of being cut from shrinking school budgets even though they’re proven to improve academics.
4. Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.
5. In the past, secondary students who participated in a music group at school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs).
6. Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93.9% attendance rate compared to schools without music education, which average 72.9% graduation and 84.9% attendance.
7. Regardless of socioeconomic status or school district, students who participate in high-quality music programs score 22 better on English and 20% better on math standardized exams.
8. Much like expert technical skills, mastery in arts and humanities is closely correlated to high earnings.
9. Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training
10. A 2004 Stanford University study showed that mastering a musical instrument improves the way the human brain processes parts of spoken language.

Source: DoSomething.org