1. Karenna Wery
17 November 2011
AP Literature
Mrs. Corbett
Benefits of Music Education
Music is an undoubtably powerful force in the universe, and the benefits of
receiving an education in music are endless. Music improves the functioning of the brain
as a whole. It allows the musician to augment his skills in communication, language, and
mathematics. It even has the power to cure disease through music therapy. An education
in music aids in the learning of languages, reading comprehension, math skills, and
overall brain function.
Even a basic music education ameliorates the ability of learning language and
hearing ability. According to numerous studies, an education in music can aid in the
ability to depict sound as well as the learning of language. A musician has to train
himself to be able to hear his own instrument amongst various other instruments involved
in one piece of music. According to Kraus, Hugh Knowles Chair in Communication
Sciences, "The experience of extracting meaningful sounds from a complex soundscape
-- and of remembering sound sequences -- enhances the development of auditory skills"
(Northwestern University). Because of this, musicians can apply this ability to other
situations that involve skills in hearing, multi-tasking, and even memory. Musicians can
focus on one particular sound, which can increase attention span for activities such as

2. carrying a long conversation without becoming distracted. "Studies have shown that
assiduous instrument training from an early age can help the brain to process sounds
better, making it easier to stay focused when absorbing other subjects, from literature to
tensor calculus. Discerning subtleties in pitch and timing can also help children or adults
in learning a new language. ....These skills may also help the learning disabled improve
speech comprehension" ("Hearing the Music, Honing the Mind").
The musically talented also have the advantage of picking up languages
particularly well. This is due to the formulaic, even mathematical structure of music. The
"rules" of music, so to speak, are organized in a manner quite similar to that of grammar
rules. There are certain ways of putting words together to form a sentence that sound
particularly pleasing to the ear, just as there is a way to put music together that sounds
pleasing. The pronunciation and tone inflections in words are also similar to the tone
played by an instrumentalist or sung by a vocalist. "The brain’s multi-sensory
engagement during music practice and performance enhances the same communication
skills needed for speaking and reading. Musicians sharpen a specialized neural system for
processing sight and sound, music and speech, which means that early musical training
can help children develop literacy skills and reduce literacy disorders" (Desaulniers). The
similarity between these two skills allows for musicians to easily grasp a new language.
The total ability to communicate is ameliorated through the study of music in the
sense that it improves emotional intelligence. According to Northwestern University,
"The latest research shows that music training sharpens an individual's ability to
recognize emotion in sound, an ability that goes a long way in terms of developing
sensitivity to emotional cues and intuitive understanding of social contexts, two skills

3. critical to emotional intelligence" (Desaulniers). This research demonstrates how music
truly does improve all aspects of intelligence.
Music education can also enhance reading comprehension as well as math skills.
Several studies have reported "positive associations between music education and
increased abilities in non-musical (eg, linguistic, mathematical, and spatial) domains in
children" ("Music Education Can Help Children Improve Reading Skills"). Clearly this is
because music compositions are arranged in a strikingly mathematical manner. For
example, a piece of music has a certain number of beats adding up to create each
measure. Understanding musical rhythms can potentially aid in the process of learning
simple math, such as fractions. "When the Princeton, NJ--based College Entrance
Examination Board looked at the SAT scores of college-bound high school seniors, they
discovered that musicians scored 57 points higher on the test's verbal section and 41
points higher in math" ("From A-Sharp to A-Plus"). Music education augments the
ability to learn from an early age, as demonstrated by research. A study in the journal
Social Science Quarterly states "music participation, defined as music lessons taken in or
out of school and parents attending concerts with their children, has a positive effect on
reading and mathematic achievement in early childhood and adolescence" (Wiley-
Blackwell).
There is also a great deal of specific vocabulary that is used to describe the
progression of a piece. Each type of chord involved in a song has a specific function and
a name to fit that function. In addition to this, there are various ways to define the
relationship of one note to another and one chord to another. Vocabulary skills are
certainly sharpened by music education. A test conducted on one group of children who

4. received a music education and another that did not showed that "the music-learning
group had significantly better vocabulary and verbal sequencing scores than did the non-
music-learning control group. This finding, conclude the authors, provides evidence to
support the increasingly common practice of “educators incorporating a variety of
approaches, including music, in their teaching practice in continuing efforts to improve
reading achievement in children” (Music Education Can Help Children Improve Reading
Skills"). The elaborate terms used to describe different aspects of music are practically a
separate language.
Music greatly sharpens the overall functioning of the brain. New studies depict
that "converging research from the scientific literature linking musical training to
learning that spills over to skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even
vocal emotion" (Northwestern University). These benefits of learning music are clearly
demonstrated by the field of music therapy. Music therapy involves rehabilitating
damaged areas of a patient's brain through the use of learning music. Music therapy can
by defined as "the treatment of disease (as mental illness) by means of music" ("Music
Therapy"). Music is, in fact, such a powerful influence on the brain's functioning that it
can go as far as to cure illnesses.
According to research, "because music relies on pitch and rhythm in addition to
speech, it is interpreted in different parts of the brain, not solely the music or language
areas. When rehabilitating injured patients like Giffords, rather than trying to redevelop
the language area directly, this new therapy retrains the connections in the brain and
creates a new language area in the music region of the brain" (Desaulniers). This
highlights how music affects all areas of the brain and refines its general functioning. In a

5. study involving 70 healthy adults age 60 to 83 who were divided into groups based on
their levels of musical experience, "the high-level musicians had statistically significant
higher scores than the non-musicians on cognitive tests relating to visuospatial memory,
naming objects and cognitive flexibility, or the brain's ability to adapt to new
information" (American Psychological Association).
Music improves the ability to learn other subjects as well. A perfect example of
this is how children are taught their alphabet in the form of a song. Evidence captures
music's ability to develop general learning capabilities. Overall, music is an extremely
complex subject, and a thorough understanding of music theory can strengthen all areas
of the brain.
Music improves every aspect of life, including functioning of the brain. An
education in music in highly beneficial to people of any age because of the effects it has
on the brain. Studies have shown that music education improves reading comprehension,
communication and language skills, mathematical abilities, and overall functioning of the
brain. The study of music should be part of every public school program in America due
to the numerous positive effects it has on learning.