Cognitive Benefits of Music Education

HailinA decade ago, musician Angélica Durrell started instructing a small group of high school students in Connecticut on various percussion instruments, such as the charango and toyos, which are traditional to Central and South America, the home regions of many of her students who had recently immigrated. They began by playing Pachelbel's Canon and later progressed to mastering "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," a doo-wop classic from the sixties by The Shirelles, performing the lyrics in both English and Spanish. Exploring other eras, such as 1974 in music, can provide a broader understanding of how different periods influence musical education and styles.

In just a few years, the after-school music program designed for Latino students, many of whom faced academic difficulties, gained recognition within the school district. It transformed from being viewed as a supplementary activity to becoming a crucial resource for tackling some of the district's ongoing issues. Observations from Durrell's students, teachers, and school administrators indicated that participation in the program led to increased school attendance, improved English skills, and a greater ease in forming friendships among the students.

Currently, Durrell's non-profit initiative, Intempo, benefits over 3,000 students annually in Stamford and Norwalk schools, highlighting the significant role of music in education, both cognitively and in terms of social and emotional learning (SEL). Durrell explains, "We shifted our focus from a purely musical angle to one that emphasizes immigrant inclusion, language learning, and achieving reading skills appropriate for their grade level."

Regular engagement with music, such as playing an instrument or taking singing lessons, enhances essential academic and social-emotional skills vital for learning. Research in cognitive neuroscience indicates that, unlike other activities such as sports, music education significantly bolsters language abilities, enhances reading skills, and improves memory and attention.

Experts are optimistic that this collection of evidence could bring about changes to the current state of music education in schools, which is highly inconsistent and, in some instances, completely absent. According to a 2014 survey by Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit advocacy group, teachers indicated that 1.3 million elementary students did not receive music education, and nearly 4 million lacked visual arts classes. More recent data from the 2016 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed some improvements, but access to and participation in the arts differed significantly across regions.

For instance, while 68 percent of eighth graders had music classes in 2016, students in the Northeast were twice as likely to have music education compared to those in the South and the West, where only one-third of students had this access. After several months of educational interruptions caused by the pandemic, organizations that monitor arts education, such as the Arts Education Partnership, which is funded by the government, report that it is challenging to determine the number of students who are learning music in schools.

THE COGNITIVE BENEFITS OF MUSIC

Researchers suggest that the benefits of music can be understood by examining how the brain processes sound, which serves as the foundation for music, language, and even reading skills, surprisingly enough. Sounds that reach our ears travel through a complex "auditory pathway" that is closely linked to brain regions involved in movement, thought, speech, knowledge, and attention. Neuroscientist Nina Kraus, author of the new book *Of Sound Mind*, elaborates in an interview with Edutopia: "The hearing brain is extensive. Many people view the hearing brain as an isolated part of the brain. In reality, our auditory perception activates our cognitive, sensory, motor, and reward systems. This is significant. From an evolutionary standpoint, the ability to interpret sound is an ancient skill that engages many different aspects of our brain."

The power of music learning lies in its ability to involve various systems within a single activity. For instance, to play the violin, a student must integrate their motor skills, cognitive abilities, and sensory perception to accurately position their fingers on the strings, move the bow at the correct moments, interpret musical notes on a sheet, recognize the sounds they produce, and synchronize pitches and rhythms with fellow musicians. Group music activities, such as analyzing 1974 band songs, offer opportunities to enhance both cognitive and social skills through collective interpretation and performance. Additionally, the emotional response to music activates the brain's reward system. This comprehensive engagement of different systems makes learning music one of the most enriching and stimulating activities for the brain. Kraus notes that educators often observe that children who learn to play music tend to perform better academically. Furthermore, young musicians usually exhibit enhanced language and reading skills compared to those who do not play music, as their brains have invested more time in actively interacting with sound.

The specific instrument is irrelevant—whether it's a flute, violin, accordion, piano, or voice—since even frequent exposure to music can have an effect. According to Kraus, "What's crucial is that interacting with sound alters and enhances the brain's reaction to sound."

MUSIC AS ACADEMIC STRENGTH TRAINING

At Durban Avenue School in Sussex County, New Jersey, music teacher Shawna Longo announces a specific rhythm, which her kindergarten students then perform using their Boomwhackers—tuned percussion tubes available in various sizes and colors that represent different pitches. "Now just the red ones! Play 'I like pepperoni pizza,'" she instructs, and the children respond with the rhythm ta-ta-tee-tee-tee-tee-ta-ta. "They can only play when I raise up their specific color," she explains. "They must understand when to wait and when to join in."

Research has demonstrated that a child's capacity to maintain a consistent beat and predict the next one are strong signs of their readiness to learn reading. However, according to education researcher Anita Collins in her latest book, The Music Advantage, maintaining rhythm is not the only musical skill that supports language development and reading.

Studying music—interpreting musical symbols and relating them to sounds—engages the same "phonological loop" in the brain that children use when they learn to read text, thereby strengthening the association between sounds and words. Collins elaborates on this process in her book:

The eye identifies a symbol on the page, be it an eighth note D or the letter 't' at the beginning of a word.
The brain detects the sound, retrieving it from the memory of music and speech sounds that all brains have.
The brain directs the body to produce that sound, whether it's through fingers playing an instrument or the mouth forming to create the 't' sound.
The brain monitors to confirm that the appropriate sound was produced and subsequently makes any necessary adjustments. (From page 54 of The Music Advantage)

Analyzing sound activates the same regions of the brain involved in acquiring language and developing reading skills. Although neuroscientists are still exploring the mechanisms behind this connection, Collins notes that recent studies suggest "music and reading could be complementary learning activities," with music serving as a powerful aid for enhancing language acquisition.

THE SOUND OF SOCIAL COHESION

In March 2020, as Covid-19 lockdowns were implemented worldwide, numerous videos emerged of people in Italy singing from their balconies. In a period marked by intense stress and isolation, Italians embraced music as a way to bond with their neighbors.

For thousands of years, music and song have been fundamental methods for human connection. According to Collins in Edutopia, "Music resides in the most ancient areas of our brain. Music and song are nearly as old as language itself."

A groundbreaking study conducted in 2018 by researchers at the University of Toronto discovered that when an adult sang and moved to music with a one-year-old child, it enhanced social bonding. As a result, the child was more inclined to assist the adult when they "accidentally" dropped something later on. According to Collins, this study has been replicated numerous times and illustrates how music connects with a fundamental bond that may promote prosocial behaviors such as empathy and helpfulness—qualities that adults wish for children to cultivate as they mature and that schools aim to foster through social and emotional learning principles.

When students enthusiastically sing the school song during basketball games or join in the clean-up song in kindergarten, it serves as a powerful method for reinforcing fundamental social connections among people. Kelly Green, who is the vice president of education at Kindermusik, a company that develops research-driven music curricula for young learners, explains, “Singing is an incredibly effective way to foster a sense of community among children. It’s an essential aspect of social and emotional learning.” Similar to the balcony singers in Italy during the lockdown, engaging in social singing and music-making could greatly benefit students right now, especially as loneliness, anxiety, and depression among young people are on the rise. However, Green notes that students in schools are singing much less than they used to. Collins points out that our perception tends to be that music education is solely for those wanting to become musicians. Many people lack the confidence to sing, as the belief that “I can’t sing, I’m not musical” runs deep. When I begin singing with students, they often come to understand that singing is just a skill that can be developed. As a result, they experience a wave of euphoria.

CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM IMMERSIVE INVOLVEMENT

Due to constrained budgets, heightened academic demands, and a shortage of music educators, many schools and districts are turning to nonprofit organizations and community allies for assistance. Organizations such as the Save the Music Foundation offer grants to help schools acquire instruments for students and fund teacher training. The Harmony Project provides comprehensive music training and support to underprivileged students in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Soulsville Charter School, a middle and high school in Memphis, Tennessee that focuses on music, leverages its connection to the origins of American soul music and the iconic Stax Records with the help of the Soulsville Foundation.

"You must be ready to acknowledge that 'we can't tackle this on our own'," states Tamu Lucero, the superintendent of Stamford Public Schools, where Durrell’s Intempo program has become a vital part of the district's initiative for new arrivals. Lucero notes that although Stamford schools already had standard music offerings, they were open to exploring how collaboration with an external partner could enhance the educational experience for students.

Researchers are still exploring the various reasons why learning music is highly advantageous for students, yet they have already determined that simply listening to music or composing a song for an assignment only touches on the potential benefits. To fully harness the cognitive advantages of music, students should actively participate by learning to play an instrument or studying voice, ideally in a group environment. The evidence is compelling enough to advocate for music education as a separate subject for all students, across all grade levels, as a vital investment.