Earlier in this blog series, we talked about how music helps develop students’ language abilities¹. We learned how SAT scores and GPA scores are consistently higher for students who take guitar lessons or piano lessons. In this article, we want to explore the specific ways that music lessons nurture these and other academic abilities.
Pattern Recognition
Studying music develops what psychologists call “neurophysiological distinction”. Essentially, music students are better able to distinguish between different sounds, developing excellent pattern recognition skills. Additionally, students learn to read music bar by bar – which means they learn to think in terms of division and fractions. This is why those in piano or guitar lessons develop excellent math skills!
Recall Abilities
Music lessons require memorization and practice for students to succeed. They also often culminate in a recital, where the student displays what they’ve learned. This all works toward developing excellent recall abilities – a skill that serves students well during, say, college exams or any situation where people are required to “think on their feet”.
General Cognition
Though it takes years of guitar or piano lessons to develop proficiency, studies have shown that it only takes a few weeks of music lessons for there to be a measurable increase in students’ IQs²! This may be due in part to how many different functions the brain is required to exercise when making music. NAFME points out that a musician must identify and decode symbols to read music. Then, she must translate those to movement (requiring memory recall of previous music lessons and precise motor skill usage). Finally, the student must confirm her translation via visual and auditory feedback³. No wonder we see such amazing neurological development in music students!
Supporting Your Student: Although there are a lot of exciting extra-curricular activities available to students, one powerful way to support your own student is to commit to music lessons long-term. The longer you invest in your child this way, the more academic advantage they can receive!
Learn more about Greenleaf’s current private music lessons here and contact us for any enrollment questions you may have.
Sources:
¹https://nafme.org/advocacy/what-to-know/music-education-and-academic-achievement/
²https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00711.x