The Effect of Music on Children’s Intelligence

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The Effect of Music on Children’s Intelligence

Studies after studies are showing that learning music can make kids smart. When your child learns to play a musical instrument, not only does he learn how to make tunes, but he also enhances other capabilities of his brain as well:

A 10 year study involving 25,000 students show that music-making improves test scores in standardized tests, as well as in reading proficiency exams (Source: James Catterall, UCLA, 1997).
High school music students score higher on the math and verbal portion of SAT, compared to their peers (Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by Music Educators Conference, 2001).
The IQ’s of young students who had nine months of weekly training in piano or voice rose nearly three points more than their untrained peers (Study by E. Glenn Schellenberg, of the University of Toronto at Mississauga, 2004.)
Piano students can understand mathematical and scientific concepts more readily. Children who received piano training performed 34 percent higher on tests measuring proportional reasoning – ratios, fractions, proportions, and thinking in space and time (Neurological Research, 1997).
Pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly in students who were given a 3-year piano instruction (Dr. Eugenia Costa-Giomi study presented at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 1998).
Music students received more academic honors and awards than non-music students. These music students also have more A and B grades compared to non-music students (National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 First Follow-Up, U.S. Department of Education).
More music majors who applied for medical school were admitted compared to those in other majors including English, biology, chemistry and math. (“The Comparative Academic Abilites of Students in Education and in Other Areas of a Multi-focus University,” Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480; “The Case for Music in Schools”, Phi Delta Kappan, 1994)

Other research also linked music making with increased language discrimination and development, improved school grades, and better-adjusted social behavior.

Why does this happen? What is at work here?

Researchers think that since piano and music-learning involve appreciating the length of notes in proportion to others (half-note has half-duration when played compared to whole note, etc), when a child plays music, he exercises the part of his brain that processes proportional thinking.

A grasp of proportional math and fractions is required for students to understand math at higher levels. Children who do not master these areas of math cannot understand more advanced math which is important in high-tech fields.

Learning musical instruments also involves interpreting notes and musical symbols that the brain sees to form melodies - a series of sounds that vary with time. Music making therefore enhances the brain’s “hard-wiring” for the ability to visualize and transform objects in space and time.

Also, learning to play music develops discipline that is beneficial to academic achievement.

"With music lessons, because there are so many different facets involved--such as memorizing, expressing emotion, learning about musical interval and chords--the multidimensional nature of the experience may be motivating the [IQ] effect," said study author E. Glenn Schellenberg, of the University of Toronto at Mississauga.