Music Education Gives Even High Achievers an Edge in Academic Performance

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.” – Confucius

Musical training equips students with the foundational abilities to learn and develop greater cognitive skills compared to children with no musical training. The results of a recent study, published in Behavioural Brain Research, further document how music education benefits students by showing how students who practice music achieve higher grades in core academic subjects – even among high performing students.

The participants in the study consisted of students ages 14-17 years old enrolled in a secondary school. Each participant belonged to an academic honor’s program due to their high GPA and academic performance.

At this particular high school, music courses were required during the first two years of students’ school curriculum. Over the third, fourth and fifth years, music courses were optional and students had to choose between painting and sculpture, dramatic art, or music.

During the first two years of schooling, students’ academic performance was similar in this highly selective program; however, differences in students’ grades emerged in later years between students who continued to enroll in music classes compared to students who had not chosen music as an optional course.

Students who continued with their musical training had higher grades and test results in math, science, physics, English, history, chemistry, and Spanish compared to students who no longer selected music as a course of study.

The findings demonstrate that despite equally high initial achievements, students who continued to enroll in musical courses outperformed their academically equivalent peers. Musical training, therefore, further facilitated children’s overall scholastic success.

Musically trained children are shown to have greater auditory, phonological, and working memory skills. And so, whether your child is ahead or behind, enrolling your son or daughter in music classes at a young age and encouraging them to continue in those classes could help give them an edge in primary and secondary school.

Bron: http://neuronetlearning.com/blog/music-education-gives-even-high-achievers-an-edge-in-academic-performance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=music-education-gives-even-high-achievers-an-edge-in-academic-performance