Article by: Jason Kidd, Head of the Music Department at John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School, explains the positive effects that music education has on children’s brain development.
Of all the arts, music is unique, providing extrinsic benefits that positively impact children’s cognitive, motor and emotional development and allowing them to grow creatively and reach their potential. According to neurologists, music ‘literally “lights up” the brain like no other human activity’. It has long been believed that music experiences, particularly engaging and meaningful music education, have shown benefits beyond purely musical skills, including in other learning areas.
Neuroscientists have noticed differences in the brain structure and brain functions between musicians and non-musicians and that actively engaging in music-making changes the brain in several ways. Music education’s neurological benefits translate into learning benefits in several ways, particularly Executive Function (EF), a set of skills pertaining to goal setting and problem-solving, as well as maintaining attention. A large amount of the literature suggests that these neurological benefits result in increased academic achievement, particularly in mathematical skills, literacy and language skills.
The Effects of Music Education on Brain Development
Music education appears to lead to increases in many areas of the brain. Evidence in the literature suggests that music education has a positive effect on the development of the brain through increased grey matter, the area of the brain responsible for many significant functions of human life, including movement, emotions and memory. In addition, increases in grey matter density in regions responsible for motor, auditory and visual skills, compared to students who received no musical training, have been observed. This ability of the brain to change its structure, including the ability to increase the amount of grey matter, is referred to as neural plasticity.
Studies show that neural plasticity can occur after short periods of music education, but a greater degree of plasticity can be seen after more extended periods of engagement with meaningful music education. It has been found that music learning in early childhood had positive effects on the brain that lasted into adulthood. Engaging in music experiences also allows the brain to mature faster, developing the prefrontal cortex, an area responsible for cognitive processes known as Executive Functions (EF) (including inhibitory skills such as the ability to control one’s attention and emotions, improved working memory, the ability to be more cognitively flexible, and to have strong logical reasoning).
Music and Academic Achievement
Studies have shown that students who participate in music education achieve greater academic gains in numeracy and literacy compared to their peers who do not. In fact, research indicates that students highly engaged in music education can be up to a year ahead in these subjects, outperforming even those who receive other academic interventions.
Numeracy
Recent research has found there to be common ground between math and music, in terms of content and concepts, and that engaging in music education benefits learning in numeracy in several ways. For example, studies found that rhythmic tasks allow for exploring patterns and developing algebraic skills. Music activities have also been shown to support mathematical memory skills such as timetables and numbers, the development of spatial skills and geometric concepts, and composing in music allows students to practice mathematical concepts such as fractions, patterns, and lapsed time. Music education allows students to improve mathematical skills associated with patterns and spatial reasoning and an improved understanding of proportion (including ratios, subdivision and fractions). This results from the need to practice these skills as a vital element in understanding rhythmic notation. It is interesting and important also to note that this improvement in musical skills is not only evident in neurotypical students or those who are already performing well academically. Students with diagnosed Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) and those identified as at risk of low mathematical achievement have had more remarkable improvement in mathematical skills after an intervention in music education than their peers who received further mathematical support.
Literacy
Researchers have identified skills developed through music education that are paralleled in literacy, including phonological awareness, identification of sight words, orthographic and phonemic awareness and reading fluency. This is most likely because music and reading language use similar auditory cues, decoding symbols representing sound, and both require focused active listening and auditory memory. Research suggests that musicality is a natural skill for the brain, and the same skills are vital for acquiring and processing language. The brain does not treat language and music as strictly separate domains but rather treats language as a special case of music.
Reading development has been improved, including in children at risk, for primary-aged students as young as seven years through engagement in music education. Studies have found that the spelling abilities of children with dyslexia were improved through rhythm-based tasks. Early music education intervention may help avoid literacy difficulties, as early music education experiences have a greater impact on academic achievement in literacy than early reading experiences.
In addition to the benefits for brain development and academic achievement, music also builds a sense of belonging, discipline and increased confidence, and perseverance that enhances any neurological benefits. It is these non-academic outcomes that must also be celebrated.
The value of other areas of The Arts should not be devalued, as it could be argued that any of The Arts could also be associated with improved IQ and academics. However, a recent review of 199 studies shows no causal relationship between arts education and increased academic achievement, apart from in Music. Researchers well understand that the benefits of Music are unique among The Arts. However, if music education is not delivered by an expert teacher in a way that is engaging, imaginative, nurturing of confidence and creativity, and involves sound pedagogies, it will be superficial and not deliver the benefits that this article has outlined.
References: Music and the Brain – JSRACS
Jason Kidd
Head of Department – Music
