Learning to play music has several different types of benefits, and we’re still researching what all of those benefits are.

There are social, physical, mental, academic, etc. benefits that will enrich you or your student’s life due to studying music.  

Some of these benefits are:

  • Research at McGill University in Montreal, Canada showed that grade-school kids who took music lessons scored higher on tests of general and spatial cognitive development, the abilities that form the basis for performance in math and engineering (http://nisom.com/index.php/instruction/health-benefits).

 

  • Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training (National Association for Music Education. “The Benefits of the Study of Music.” National Association for Music Education. Accessed July 17, 2014).

 

  • Researchers found that after two years, children who not only regularly attended music classes, but also actively participated in the class, showed larger improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers (Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, quoted in Melissa Locker, “This Is How Music Can Change Your Brain,” Time, December 16, 2014).

 

  • Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education (Arte Music Academy. “Statistical benefits of music in education.” Statistical-Benefits-Of-Music-In-Education.).

 

  • The skills gained through sequential music instruction, including discipline and the ability to analyze, solve problems, communicate and work cooperatively, are vital for success in the 21st century workplace. (Source: U.S. House of Representatives, Concurrent Resolution 355, March 6, 2006.)

 

Here are some links to articles about even more benefits:

General benefits:

https://www.nammfoundation.org/articles/2014-06-09/how-children-benefit-music-education-schools (This article is where I found the above selections. But it has so many more!)

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-benefits-of-music-education/

Physical and mental benefits:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/276595.php?sr

Social benefits:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120509123653.htm