Music Education: A Magic Wand for Improvement?

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White Paper on the Educational Value of Music Instruction

Magic Wand Boosts Student Test Scores

By Jim Hollomon, Publicist, The Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia
Reprinted from the Va. Bch. Assoc. for the Gifted & Talented Newsletter

Today there is a massive push to improve education for our youth. Vital breakthroughs in science or medicine, things essential to our very life, may well depend on the scientific and mathematical skills of kids currently in our schools. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could isolate a magic wand that would improve test scores, spatial reasoning, language comprehension, math skills and the like. It sounds like a fantasy, but it may just be that such a shaman's stick is within our reach. A large and increasing body of evidence shows that the music conductor's baton may be education's magic wand. Consider the hard evidence that musical instruction in an orchestra or band benefits a wide area of educational goals.

Surveys show that 80% of the practicing physicians in the USA participated in music during their formative years. Coincidence? The evidence suggests that it is not. A number of recent studies have looked at how music and other intellectual activity may be related. Musical instruction, especially that begun early in a child's development, has a profoundly positive influence on a variety of things; among them SAT scores, grades in school, and achievement in life.

The magic wand was first suggested by a study at the University of California, Irvine. This research showed that listening to Mozart's music for 10 minutes before a test improved scores for visual and spatial reasoning by 15 points or more. The maestro's magic seems to work equally well for Mozart aficionados and those who prefer other composers. However, music with more simplistic harmonies and rhythms, such as disco, rock or rap does not impact scores on the same test.

Encouraged by the UC Irvine work, others began to look at the relationship between music and learning. In Rhode Island, underachieving third graders were split into two groups. One group was given special remedial-math instruction. Their test scores on math improved by 20%. A second group took music classes along with their previous curriculum. The young musicians' math test scores went up by 77%. A separate study of Pawtucket, RI first graders found that students whose instruction included long-term classes in music and visual-arts did significantly better on spatial reasoning tests than did students from a control group not taking the special classes in the arts.

Dr. Frances Rauscher, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, researched the benefit of music education for preschoolers. Her study looked at the impact to IQ scores when three-year olds were given piano and singing lessons in their preschool. She found they scored significantly higher in abstract reasoning, a skill fundamental to top performance in mathematics. Dr. Rauscher notes that training in the arts, and particularly in music, enhances children's ability to understand proportions and ratios, foundational abilities for mathematical reasoning. From these and a number of other studies, researchers have concluded that music and the arts stimulate "mental stretching" that develops brain power useful to other academic pursuits.

How early can we start children using music to bolster mental attainment? A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to excellent music may even help in the development of an unborn fetus, or newborn infant. While some controversy remains as to how to interpret these data, the connection was strong enough that the Governor of Georgia recently introduced a plan to provide excellent music CDs to all expectant mothers in the state.

However, it is important to note that benefits are not limited only to the earliest formative years. Scholastic Aptitude Test scores for high school seniors with four or more years of musical education were compared to seniors having had no arts education. According to The College Board, the national organization that administers the SAT Tests, students with the music exposure scored 59 points higher on the verbal portion and 42 points higher on the math section, for a combined improvement in SATs of 101 points.

Educators note as well that students involved in music and arts education have better attendance records, create fewer discipline problems, are less often found with drugs, and have higher graduation rates than those who are not involved in the arts. According to the US Department of Education, students concentrating in the arts earn 26% more A's and B's than students in general.

Recent studies have established that an early start of musical education is critical in allowing a child to develop perfect pitch, the ability to recognize a given note just from its sound. Neurological research has shown that people possessing perfect pitch have an asymmetrical brain structure that is unique. Such people are almost always involved in music during their early youth, although many go on to distinction in other areas, particularly science, medicine and mathematics.

Do these benefits translate to high achievement in adult life? For evidence, consider how many eminent scientists and mathematicians also studied music. Dr. Marie Curie, a pioneer in nuclear physics, passed her love of music on to her daughter, Eve, who became a performing artist. Caroline Herschel, famed British astronomer and the first woman to discover a comet, spent part of her youth singing as a soprano. Dr. Robert Goddard, one of the three men instrumental in founding the science of rocketry, played piano for his high school dances. Dr. Albert Einstein was an excellent violinist. Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory during the development of the atomic bomb, was a lifelong musician and lover of music. Dr. Edward Teller was an accomplished pianist. Nobel prize winner, Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a world famed organist and authority on Bach. Prominent computer scientist, Donald Knuth, is an organist and composer. Virtual reality pioneer, Jaron Lanier, is yet another scientist who doubles as a musician and composer.

Of course, beyond its value as an enhancer of math and science understanding, arts education is important because a growing number of young people will make their living in the arts. The arts are a significant and expanding part of today's economy. The Hampton Roads metroplex in Southeastern Virginia has 15 jurisdictions and 1.5 million people. In Hampton Roads alone, the arts contribute $274.9 million to the local economy. Currently, the arts account for 6% of the US gross national product. Compare that to 4.8% for construction, and you can see that the arts cannot be dismissed as unimportant.

David Kearns, former Chairman & CEO of Xerox Corp., said, "Why arts education? Why education at all?" Ernest Boyer, former US Commissioner of Education put it this way. "Art is humanity's most essential, most universal language." To appreciate fully what Mr. Kearns and Mr. Boyer mean, imagine that in the days of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, all activity had been focused on greater commerce. How much richer would society have been in that day? How much poorer would the whole world have been then and forever more?

This information was supplied by the Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia, Inc. The Bay Youth Orchestras encourage parents of musically gifted children to attend our concerts. These events are designed to acquaint young people with excellent music, and to stimulate their interest in performing arts. We have programs for young musicians from elementary school through senior high school.

Bay Youth provides the opportunity for highly talented young musicians from all the Hampton Roads cities to rehearse and play more challenging music than that offered by in-school music programs. Bay Youth Orchestras gratefully acknowledges the help Of Dr. Steven Ambrose, Director of Music Education for Virginia Beach Public Schools. Much of the statistical data presented here was supplied by Dr. Ambrose.

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