EmilyDavis

Humanities
October5,2014

MusicEducationsBenefits

ArtsEducationPartnership(Sept.2011).MusicMatters.Retrievedfromhttp://www.aeparts.org
/wpcontent/uploads/2012/08/MusicMattersFinal.pdf

Thisarticleexplainswhyitisimportantforchildrentotakemusicclasses,butoverall,to
takeartclasses.Itshowsthatthroughhighschool,theyaremorecreative,havebetter
memories,andgetbetterscoresontheSAT.Whatwasimportantwashowitfollowedkids
throughtheirmiddleandhighschool.Thateffectsoftheseclassesstillhelppeople
throughouttheirschoolingandlife,insteadofjustaffectingthemoverthecourseofayear.
Althoughthisarticleisjustapacketorpamphlet,Ienjoyeditbecauseitlookedintomore
thanoneagegroup.Itwaswrittenonlyafewyearsagoandveryrelevanttomodernday
problemswithmusiceducation.ThiswillhelpwithmyprojectbecauseIwantedthe
evidencethatmusichelpskids,aswellasthearts.NowthatIhavethesearticles,Icannow
makeanopinionaboutthisinformationandtrytohelpotherkids.

BerruetaClement,JohnR.AndOthers(1984).ChangedLives:TheEffectsofthePerry
Preschool

Programon.YouthsthroughAge19.MonographsoftheHigh/ScopeEducational
ResearchFoundation,NumberEight.Retrievedfrom
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED313128.pdf

Thisstudywastestingtheeffectsofmusiceducationwithinlowersocioeconomic
householdsinablackcommunity.Theparticipantswerechildrenandteengersthathad
poorgradesandwereatriskoffailingtheirclasses.Therewerefivephasestothisstudy,
eachfollowingthechildren,teenagers,orfamiliesthroughouttheirlifeinordertomeasure
theeffectsofmusicalstudythroughouttheirwholelives.Thefirstphasewaspreschoolers
learningmusiceducation,thesecondwasthroughthebeginningofelementaryschoolupto
thirdgradeorage8,thirdwasfromage8untilage15,fourthwasthroughage15toschool
departureat19,andphasefivewasmeasuringage19untilage24asyoungadults.Since
thisstudyisover200pageslong,Itookthesummariesofeachsection,frompages40,56,
71,73,77,78,79,and104.Thefindingsofimmediatedifferencesinthepreschool
programswasthattheyhadanincreasedcommitmenttoschoolthroughage15.At14
yearsold,participantsstillhada12pointaveragepointincreasecomparativelytoother
participantswithoutmusiceducation.Whenthescientistsinterviewedparentsover50%of
parentsofmusicalchildrensaidtheirkidhaddoneaswellastheyhopedinschool,while
only28%ofparentssaidthesamethingabouttheirnonmusicalchild.Parentswho
understoodtheimportanceoflearningatayoungage(andthereforeputtheirchildintothe
preschool)hadmoresuccessfulkidsbecausetheyprovedtobebetterrolemodelsfortheir
children.Thisinturninfluencedthekidstotryharderatschoolandhavemorecommitment

thanotherchildren.Atage19,participantsofthepreschoolprogramweremorelikelytobe
hiredatjobswhentheycameoutofhighschool.Itwasalsoshownthatthroughoutthe
study,alloftheparticipantsformthepreschoolhadbetterclassroomconductandbetter
socialandpersonalbehaviorthantheirclassmates.Thepreschoolgroupalsohadless
instanceswiththelawanddelinquentbehavior.Inconclusion,participantswhoattended
preschoolandhadearlymusiclessonswhiletheyweretherehadmoresuccessinschool
andjobsasanearlyadult.Thisarticleisveryhelpfultomeandmyprojectbecauseithas
somuchinformation.Thesescientistsstartedmeasuringtheestudentsinthe1960s,and
finishedwiththisdocumentin1984.Italsodoesntjusttalkaboutchildrenandtoddlers(as
manyotherstudies),butfollowsthesestudentsthroughoutalotoftheirlife.

Besson,MireilleMagne,CyrilleSchon,Daniele(2006).MusicianChildrenDetectPitch
Violations
inBothMusicandLanguageBetterthanNonmusicianChildren:Behavioraland
ElectrophysiologicalApproaches.Retrivedfromhttp://www.mitpressjournals.org/
doi/pdf/10.1162/jocn.2006.18.2.199

Thisarticleisastudythatresearchersdidon8yearoldstoseeifmusicimprovedother
skillsthestudentsneededorhadintheirlives.Previousstudiesresearchedtheeffect
betweenlearningmusicandauditory,visual,andspatialskills.Thisstudyinstead,wished
tostudytherepeatedpracticeoflearningmusicandtheeffectithadoncognitiveskills.A
resultofcognitiveskillswouldincludeperceptionandintuition.Itwasshownthatnotonly

students,butadultswhohavestudiedmusicinthepast,orstillstudyitnowwouldhave
betterauditoryskills,notonlyinmusic,butinspeakinglanguagesandsentencesaswell.
Whattheseresearchersdidwasresearchif34yearsofcontinuouspracticeofamusical
instrumenthadthesameeffectofstudyinganinstrumentforalongerperiodoftime,such
as15years.Themostimportantconclusionthatthesescientistscametowastheyfound
behavioralevidenceforpitchprocessinginlanguageandmusicperception.Allofthe
studentshad4(plusorminus1)yearsofmusicaltraining,werenativefrenchspeakers,all
fromthesameelementaryschool,were8(plusorminus1)yearsold,andtherewere26
childrenintotal(13musicians,13nonmusicians).Theyweretestedwith96sentencesin
Frenchand96melodiesofmusic(halfweremelodiesthechildwouldknow,halfwere
pickedbyaprofessionalmusician).Thestudentswouldlistentoeitherthesentencesor
melodies,thendetermineiftheendingpitchseemedtomatchthemelody/sentence.This
study/articlewillhelpmewithmyprojectbygivingmeclearevidencethatsupportshow
importantmusicistoourcommunity.Italsosuppliesmewithcharts,tables,andgraphsthat
Icanusetoshowtheevidencethrough.

Dewar,Gwen(Mar.2014).MusicandIntelligence.Retrievedfromhttp://www.parenting
science.com/musicandintelligence.html

Musicandintelligenceareintertwinedtopicstomanypeople.Alotofpeoplethinkthat
listeningtoclassicalmusicmakesyousmarter,butalotofpeopledontbelievethat.What
istrueisthatmusiciansbrainsaredifferentfrompeoplewhodontplayaninstrument.

Musiciansdevelopmorespacialskillsandtheyshowmorerobustbrainresponsesthan
peoplewithnomusiceducation.Thisisnottheresultofgenetics,anyonecanlearntoplay
aninstrument.Thefocusofthispaperistheeffectofpracticingandlearninganinstrument,
ratherthanthepassivelisteningofclassicalmusic.Insteadofhavingyourbabylistento
Mozarttodevelopandbecomesmarterfaster,whichisamyth,morepeoplearenow
talkingaboutteachingkidstoplaymusicalinstrumentsinstead.Thiswillhelpmyresearch
becausemostofthesourcesIamfindingonlinearejustaboutlisteningtoclassicalmusic
andthissourcelistsalotofstudiesthathavebeendonetotestbrainactivitywithmusicians
andchildrenlearningtoplayinstruments.

Tumbokon,Chacha.RaiseSmartKid.TheEffectofMusiconChildrensIntelligence.Retrieved
from
http://www.raisesmartkid.com/allages/1articles/16theeffectofmusiconchildrensintelli
gence

Therehavebeenmanystudiesoverthepastfewdecadesmeasuringtheeffectofmusic
educationonthebrain.Therehavebeenvariedresults,butonecommonoutcome:music
educationimprovesIQsandtestscores.Whatwassurprisingtomewasthatmusicstudents
havemoreacademicawardsthannonmusicians.Ifoundthisstrikingbecausemusicians
spendsomuchoftheirtimeonmusic,itwouldbehardtojuggleenoughacademicsto
reachanawardandstillprogressintheirstudiesofamusicalinstrument.Moremusic
majorsgetadmittedtomedicalschoolsthanstudentswiththemajorsofchemistry,biology,

English,andmath.Thisisanimportantsourcebecausetherearesomanymentionsof
studies,fromthe90storecentstudieswithpianoandvoicelessons.Alloftheseresultswill
enforcemyargumentthatmusiceducationisavitalpartofbeinghumanandthatwe
shouldmakesurechildrenarelearningit.Itusedtobeeasierwhenmusiclessonsand
classeswerebeingtaughtatelementary,middleschool/juniorhighschool,andhigh
schools.Nowthatthemusicprogramshavebeencut,weneedtoputinmoreefforttoteach
ourkidsmusic.

PeterReuell(December11,2013).MutingtheMozarteffect.Retrievedfrom
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/12/mutingthemozarteffect/

Eversinceanarticlewaspublishedaboutchildrengainingcognitiveskillsafterlistening
to/learningmusic.Thiswasmeasuredbykidstakingatestafterlisteningwhereitshoweda
minorincreaseabilities.ThiswascalledtheMozartEffect.Thisarticleanditsstudiesare
debunkingthistheory.Itstrue,studentswholearnclassicalmusiceducationonan
instrumentgainafewIQpoints.Theyaveragelygained2.7points,overanentireyearof
lessons.Thatisnotmuch,andsothisauthorwantedtoprovethatthiseffectwasnt
accurate.Throughstudies,musiceducationgivespeoplespacialskillsthatstaywithpeople,
itisalmostcommonknowledge.Butmusicdoesntmakepeoplesmarter.Itisimportantto
learnmusic,althoughitisavitalskill.Peopleshouldlearnmusicbecauseitisakeypartin
beinghuman,notbecausetheythinkitwillmakethemselvesortheirkidssmarter.Music
existsineveryculture.Musiceducationisimportantbecausethepeoplethatlearnitwillbe

moreinvolvedinthemusiccommunityandimpactit,opposedtopeoplewhodontknow
orlistentoanyspecificgenrethatisimportanttothecommunity.