Music and Grades

Music won't rot your mind. In fact, it's good for you. And studying music may help you to learn other subjects better and get better grades in all your courses.

We've always known that music is good for your spirits. Now, scientists are finding out it's good for your brain too. According to recent research, active music making has a direct connection to the brain's inner workings. In fact, the brain seems to operate according to patterns that closely resemble musical notes! Studies have linked active music making with better language and math ability, improved school grades, better-adjusted social behavior, and improvements in "spatial-temporal reasoning," which is the foundation of engineering and science.

In Texas, a study of average SAT scores for music students from 1994 to 2002 (www.tmea.org) showed that students enrolled in music programs such as string orchestra, mixed choir, and other musical ensembles, scored higher than the state and national average. The College Entrance Examination Board, who create and administer the SAT, reports, "Students of the arts continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT. In 2001, SAT takers with coursework/experience in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 41 points higher on the math portion than students with no coursework/experience in the arts." And, it appears that the longer you study music, the better you do in testing. The 1996 report observed, "Those who studied the arts four or more years scored 59 points higher and 41 points higher on the verbal and math portions respectively than students with no coursework or experience in the arts." So music can help you get into a better college.

In Newsweek magazine's February 19, 1996, cover story, "Your Child's Brain," it quoted from research done by Gordon Shaw and Frances Rauscher at University of California at Irvine showing that music education increases a child's learning ability. The big bottom line is this: Teach kids music, and they'll be better at math. Isn't this what your parents (and you) want anyway?

Similar news had gone out in 1995, although not to as wide an audience: According to the National Coalition for Music Education, when students register for the SAT test, they complete a Student Descriptive Questionnaire. In 1995, as in the two previous years in which NCME followed the results, students who participated in music appreciation and performance and other arts-related courses (such as drama and studio art) scored dramatically higher in both verbal and math portions of the testing.

You probably didn't learn the alphabet by repeating in a monotonous, bored-sounding voice. You sang the ABC's. When you learned your addition and multiplication tables, your teacher probably had you fall into a rhythm while reciting through the sequences. And just why has Sesame Street been so successful at getting kids through their numbers and rudimentary reading with snappy tunes? Apparently, the connection was more important than anyone may have realized!