The idea that learning music improves a child’s social development is not new, but finally there is irrefutable evidence from a study conducted at the University of Toronto.
The study, published in the August issue of Psychological Science, was led by Dr. E. Glenn Schellenberg and examined the effect of extracurricular activities on the intellectual and social development of children of six years old. A group of 144 children was recruited through an ad in a local newspaper and randomly assigned to one of four classes: piano lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons, or no lessons.
In order to summarize the results, two types of music lessons were proposed, while groups that received drama lessons or without lessons were considered as control groups to test the effect of music lessons on other art lessons that require similar skills, and nothing in all. Events have been provided for one year.
IQ students were given IQ tests before and after lessons. The results of this study showed that the increase in IQ from before and after the test was greater in the music groups than in the other two. As a rule, these increases were observed in IQ subtests, indexes and academic achievements.
While music teachers across the country enthusiastically presented new research, in fact many other studies have previously demonstrated a correlation between musical learning and academic achievement.
In 1997, well-known musical researchers Francis Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and their team from the University of California (Irwin) reported that musical training far surpasses computer training, which significantly improves the abstract mental abilities of children, the skills necessary for teaching mathematics and science. Earlier, a group led by the same two scientists showed that after eight months of piano lessons, preschoolers showed a 46 percent increase in their spatial IQ argument.
The March 1999 issue of Neurological Research published a report by another group of researchers, also at the University of California (Irvine), who found that second-grade students receive four months of learning a piano keyboard, as well as time spent on developing a newly developed computer program. collateral, 27% higher than math and fractions than other children.
Students with term papers and music performance and scores score more SAT scores, according to the Program Test Takers profile, released in 2001 at Princeton, New Jersey, college entrance examination exam. This report states that students of musical activity scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher in mathematics, and students in musical evaluation scored 63 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher in mathematics than students without participation in art.
Another part of the same study shows that a longer musical study means higher SAT scores. For example, students participating in art for two years are, on average, 29 points higher in the verbal part and 18 points higher in the mathematical part of the SAT than students without a course work or experience in art. Students with four or more years in art scored 57 points higher and 39 points higher in the verbal and mathematical parts in proportion to students without art courses.
Another study also found support for the relationship between mathematical achievement and participation in instrumental music. The researchers found that students who participated in teaching instrumental music in high school took an average of 2.9 more advanced math courses, and then students who did not participate.
In fact, various studies over the past 10 years have shown that teaching music to children can increase their ability to do math, reading, and engineering. (One explanation for the improved ability of mathematics is that the theory of music is based on mathematical truths. The rhythms are divided into fractions - half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. The scales have eight tones, and the steps between them follow the equation.)
A 1998 McGill University study found that pattern recognition and mental performance are greatly appreciated by students who receive piano training over a three-year period. The researchers also found that the assessment of self-esteem and musical skills improved for students who were given piano instruction.
And data from the 1988 National Educational Education Study showed that music participants received more academic awards and awards than non-music students, and that the percentage of music participants receiving As, Bs / and Bs was higher than the percentage of participants who did not receive these estimates.
In 1994, in Phi Delta Kappan, a professional print magazine for education, a report was published entitled “A Case for Musical Research in Schools”. It included the details of the research conducted by the physician and biologist Lewis Thomas, who studied the master's programs of graduate students of medical school. Thomas found that 66 percent of the music majors who went to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group.
The same report claimed that the very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry, almost without exception, practiced musicians.
Higher academic countries of the world also pay great attention to music education. In a study of the ability of fourteen-year-old research scientists in seventeen countries, Hungary, the Netherlands and Japan are among the top three countries. All three include music throughout the curriculum from kindergarten through high school.
St. Augustine Bronx Elementary School, which failed in 1984, introduced an intensive music program, and today 90 percent of school students read at a higher or higher level. And a ten-year study in Los Angeles tracked more than 25,000 students and found that music improves test results. Regardless of the socio-economic situation, students who study music get higher marks in standardized tests than those who did not have music. The test results studied were not only standardized tests, such as the SAT, but also reading exams.
According to research published in the journal Nature in May 1996, musical education helps young students. In Rhode Island, researchers studied eight first-grade public school classes. Half of the classes became a group of "test arts", receiving constant musical and visual training. In kindergarten, this group was behind in school. After seven months, students received a standardized test. The “test arts” group was among its students in reading and surpassed its classmates in mathematics by 22 percent. In the second year of the project, art students further expanded this margin. Students were also assessed by attitude and behavior. Classroom teachers also noted improvements in these areas.
In 2005, it seems, the pace of scientific research in the field of music has never been more significant. The most recent data from the University of Toronto confirms that many other researchers have already discovered that this music enhances mental power, academic achievement, socialization skills and emotional health.
It makes sense when you think about it. People who learn to play instruments are groups - groups, choirs, orchestras, combos, worship teams, etc. And work and work with music with other people will help to connect themselves with people and strengthen close ties with other musicians.
Thus, it shows that learning to play music, whether it is a guitar, piano, or some other instrument, actually contributes to your ability to “win friends and influence people.”
