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How music education boosts learning

January 17, 2014

How Music Education Boosts Learning

Today, music occupies a special place in the hearts of those in the field of childhood development. This is because music supports learning in a number of ways. Let’s take a look at three of them:

Music Aids Brain Growth and Development Regardless of whether your child is an auditory learner or a visual learner, music has a unique impact on a child’s brain. When a child hears music, his brain responds causing a spike in brain wave activity. This causes the brain to release dopamine, a hormone which in addition to improving mood also causes the child to become interested in things they normally would not. With respect to development, the brain acts like a muscle. The more a child learns, the more quickly their brains will develop.

Music Improves Verbal Recall Learning can occur in any number of ways under any number of conditions. Most children learn in a setting where a high emphasis is placed on verbal explanations. Studies have proven that music improves the speed and efficacy with which children recall verbal explanations. Once a child recalls verbal recognition, the brain cross references the material with the visual information with which it was associated, allowing them to apply the knowledge practically come test time.

Learning Music Improves Hand-Eye Coordination and Memory The moment a child is born, he begins the process of learning how to interact with his environment. Hand-eye coordination is an integral part of this process. One of the ways that a child can begin to improve hand-eye coordination is to learn to play an instrument. Learning an instrument also improves memory. The practical application of hand-eye coordination and recall stimulates the brain affording the child the opportunity to improve on what he already knows.

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KU Researchers establish a link between music education and academic performance

KU research establishes link between music education, academic achievement

January 16, 2014

Music Makes Us

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas researchers have confirmed what decades of anecdotal evidence and national research suggested: Increased music participation has important direct and indirect effects on positive outcomes in student achievement and engagement.

For a baseline study commissioned by Nashville’s Music Makes Us initiative, KU researchers from the School of Music and the Center for Public Partnerships & Research (CPPR) examined four years of districtwide data on the 2012 graduating class, as well as student surveys and focus groups, to determine what influence music can have on students. Principal investigators were the School of Music’s Christopher Johnson and CPPR’s Becky Eason.

“The results of this study strongly support the notion that education advocates should also be advocates for music education,” said Johnson, a professor of music education & therapy and director of the Music Research Institute at KU. “It has been stated many times that the reason that kids in music do better in school is because the smart kids participate in music. This is the first study that has ever taken those fourth-grade test scores and used them to even the playing field, allowing us to see what happened as the students progressed from fifth grade to 12th grade. The results noted in this study were calculated after the initial differences in the fourth-grade test scores were removed from the equation.”

Analysis showed that students engaged in music programs outperformed their peers on every indicator: grade-point average, graduation rate, ACT scores, attendance and discipline referrals. Overall, the study demonstrated that the more a student participates in music, the more positive these benefits become.

Johnson analyzed quantitative data about high-school music participation, school engagement and academic achievement for 6,006 students in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools class of 2012 cohort. Eason conducted qualitative surveys and focus groups with current fifth- through 12^th-grade students. Analyzed together, the data establish a benchmark — a picture of students who have been enrolled in middle- and high-school music and the potential effect of music study on student engagement and student academic achievement.

“One of the key findings that shouldn’t get lost is how important music is for creating a sense of belonging and purpose for the students who participate,” said Eason, associate director of CPPR. “They identify themselves as musicians, as being in the band or chorus, and they’re motivated to come to school so that they can participate in music. The students also believe that music participation teaches them skills like discipline and concentration that they can use to their benefit throughout the school days.”

Eason said the project was also a great example of how units across the university can work together; the study marks the fourth research collaboration between CPPR and the Music Research Institute.

“Professor Johnson brings credentials in music education and the necessary quantitative skills to the research,” Eason said. “I have a background in qualitative research and the staff to administer the project. Between the two of us, we were able to accomplish a pretty remarkable study.”

Metro Nashville leaders are using the study’s findings and its recommendations to inform decisions about the future of the Music Makes Us initiative. Eason and Johnson hope to replicate and extend this project in other communities and school districts.

“This benchmark study confirms what every music teacher knows,” said Laurie Schell, director of Music Makes Us. “Music engages students in school and can motivate them toward greater achievement. Our job now is to take this knowledge and let it guide us in expanding a high-quality music program that reaches all students.”

More about Music Makes Us

Launched in fall 2012, Music Makes Us is a K-12 initiative focusing on music literacy and student participation. A joint effort of Metro Nashville Public Schools, Mayor Karl Dean, music industry leaders and community advocates, Music Makes Us is intended to strengthen traditional school music while adding a contemporary curriculum that embraces new technologies and reflects a diverse musical landscape. The initiative has augmented traditional school music with contemporary, culturally relevant music offerings (bluegrass, hip-hop, rock) as well as real-life music industry experiences (record-label production, audio-engineering and audio-technology programs).

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools is the nation’s 42nd-largest district with more than 83,000 students. “Music and other co-curricular activities are going to play a key role in our journey to becoming the highest-performing urban school district in the country,” said Director of Schools Jesse B. Register. “We will offer every student in Metro Schools the opportunity to learn a music instrument or otherwise participate in music programs. This new research reinforces our resolve. Music will help students grow, achieve and be empowered in education.”

For more information, contact Bill Woodard, Achievement & Assessment Institute, 785-864-1680, or J.D. Warnock, School of Music, 785-864-9742.

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university’s mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.

kunews@ku.edu | 1450 Jayhawk Blvd., Suite 37, Lawrence, KS 66045

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Music Lessons for Students of all ages

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Music Instruction

January 7, 2014

Long Beach elementary parents decide to pay for extra music instruction

by Mary Plummer

89.3 KPCC

Parents at a Long Beach school are taking their students’ music instruction into their own hands and paying for two days of music instruction per week, according to the Long Beach Press Telegram.

The move will double the amount of music instruction currently available.

In an article published last month, the newspaper noted that the PTA at Longfellow Elementary gave $20,000 to the school for students to learn music. The money came from $45,000 that the PTA raised during an October jog-a-thon.

The article, written by Nadra Nittle, said about three-quarters of the district’s students get only one day of music instruction per week.

Longfellow Principal Laurie Murrin said that the school’s stakeholders have traditionally supported all forms of art and praised the PTA for enriching arts instruction for students. Longfellow “always had a very strong choral music program,” thanks in part to the active group of parents there, said Murrin, now in her third year as principal.

Parent-teacher associations fill the arts education gap in many schools.

Nationally, 94 percent of public elementary schools provide music instruction, according to 2009-2010 data, the most recent federal data available. Most – 83 percent of elementary schools – also offered visual arts, but only 4 percent offered dedicated drama instruction and 3 percent offered dance.

What kind of arts education instruction does your school offer? KPCC is surveying school districts in Southern California. For details, contact Mary Plummer at mplummer@kpcc.org.

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Music in our schools

Music in schools

January 6, 2014

Music in Schools

Rennay Moore, Contributor

The Gleaner – Jamaica

I publicly commend the efforts of the First Global team for their bold Perfect Pitch for a Sound Education initiative, which has already had much success. First Global has brought to reality the dream I have been lobbying for – the in-depth integration of music in schools. Quite frankly, a school without music is as radiant as a graveyard, and the sooner we value the role of music in education, the more rapidly we will see growth and development among our students. I guarantee you, as one who facilitates children’s learning, that there will be fewer fights, a decline in maladaptive behaviour, and a greater sense of worth among students who learn to play instruments and who learn to create as well as appreciate different forms of musical instruments. Music is all around us; our students have a natural inclination to gravitate towards music. They beat the desks, they clap their hands. Like the hills, they too come alive with the sound of music.

Every child can learn, every child must learn, but learn what, and under what conditions? I say enough with the philosophical clichés and forward with practical actions. We want music!

jump on the train

I throw out the challenge to our private and public sectors to feel the music, smell the coffee and jump on the train.

I don’t believe music in schools is given the attention it deserves and some people tend not to understand how significant it is to the development of our children. A number of students have short attention spans but because playing of a musical instrument requires focus and discipline, it can help to improve their ability to focus, as their brains will be engaged throughout the process and their creativity will be challenged.With music, we will have them right where we want them as it provides the perfect opportunity to reach out to them. When we take this approach we are better able to channel their energies in a positive way and therefore guide and educate them in becoming future musicians, who can make a positive impact on society. Much of what I remember from school days has a musical connection. Take for example, nursery rhymes, I can recite all I was taught mainly because of the musical elements as well as the joy I felt learning with music.

music aids with memorising

In high school, my friends and I used acronyms to remember key concepts and sang the content to remember. So I can testify that music aids with memorising and the ability to recall – deficits a number of students unfortunately have.

First Global, whatever inspired you to partner with the Ministry of Education to provide those ten schools with instruments and on top of that, train the teachers, I’m glad you had the vision. It’s unfortunate to be born without sight, but to have sight and no vision is even more unfortunate. I want corporate Jamaica to follow and embrace this vision, and with the success experienced in the programme I suggest that the minister of education makes it mandatory for all schools; from kindergarten to tertiary to incorporate music in the curriculum.

A music teacher once told me of the remarkable success he had with some students who benefited from having music lessons at least twice per week. Can you imagine the sense of accomplishment those students feel being part of a choir, going solo or even being able to play a note?

Tessanne Chin’s success is more than enough indication of the musical talents we can unearth and hone. Music is the food of love, so what good would we be doing if we fail to play on?

Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com

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Making sure young brains get benefits of music training

Mozart Effect

December 17, 2013

Intelligence is defined as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. This simple fact was my first cause for skepticism when I saw an article that has been circulating entitled, “The Mozart Effect myth: research finds music doesn’t make you smarter.”

There is a direct correlation between learning any new skill to increased intelligence; otherwise there is no point in teaching at all. Brain plasticity shows that learning instruments (or any skill) directly changes the neuron connections in the brain and increases the inter-connectivity between different parts of the brain.

In reality, the article isn’t really addressing The Mozart Effect, so the title itself is misleading. The Mozart Effect has nothing to do with learning music theory. The Mozart Effect is a set of research results indicating that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as “spatial-temporal reasoning.” The irony here is that while the author mistakenly invokes The Mozart Effect they also included this line:

“While the music group did perform slightly better at one spacial [sic] task, there wasn’t much of a difference between either group in cognition, nor vocabulary or mathematics.”

So, there was an increase in the student’s performance when it came to a spatial task – the specific type of reasoning that The Mozart Effect hypothesis claimed that listening to music improved.

When you are in a classroom of twenty or more four year olds and in music class that lasts a mere six weeks, it is unlikely that any of these children were learning to play an instrument in any meaningful way. This article leads people to believe that listening to music and learning music at an intermediate or higher level are the same thing. Listening to music when you are a skilled musician is so very different than just at an appreciation level.

Being exposed to music will most certainly increase your thinking capacity, and learning music theory even more so. Then there are also the fine motor skills that have to be developed and refined in order to play a musical instrument. Learning new skills and introducing new stimulus will always make your thinking process more complex.

Written by Dave Bolla

Guitar Technician and Luthier

Grosse Pointe Music Academy

Music has the power to shape a child’s mind

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How music education boosts learning

How Music Education Boosts Learning

KU research establishes link between music education, academic achievement

Music Makes Us

Music Instruction

Long Beach elementary parents decide to pay for extra music instruction

Music in schools

Music in Schools

Mozart Effect

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How Music Education Boosts Learning

Music Makes Us

Long Beach elementary parents decide to pay for extra music instruction

Music in Schools

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