Playing a Musical Instrument:
- Increases Memory Skills
- Teaches Perseverance and Creates a Sense of Achievement
- Improves Coordination
- Improves Math Skills
- Improves Reading and Comprehension Skills
- Creates Responsibility
- Exposes the Student to Culture and History
- Nurtures Self-Expressions
- Improves Listening Skills
- Improves Social Skills
In a 2009 study in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers used an MRI to study the brains of 31 6-year-old children, before and after they took lessons on musical instrument for 15 months. They found that the music students’ brains grew larger in the areas that control fine motor skills and hearing— and that students’ abilities in both those areas also improved. The corpus callosum, which connects the left and right sides of the brain, grew as well.
Musically trained children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, visuospatial processing, mathematics, and IQ.
Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons. |
Kids who make music have been shown to get along better with classmates and have fewer discipline problems. More of them get into their preferred colleges, too. |
Articles and Statistics on the Benefits of Music Education.
Why Music Matters | Be Part of the Music
How Children Benefit from Music Education in Schools | National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM)
10 Benefits of Children Learning a Musical Instrument | Peterson Family Foundation
9 Ways Music Education Makes Better Students | National Association of Music Parents (AMP)
The Benefits of Playing Music Help Your Brain More Than Any Other Activity | inc.com
How Children Benefit from Music Education in Schools | National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM)
10 Benefits of Children Learning a Musical Instrument | Peterson Family Foundation
9 Ways Music Education Makes Better Students | National Association of Music Parents (AMP)
The Benefits of Playing Music Help Your Brain More Than Any Other Activity | inc.com