ShoreMusic.org Forums ShoreMusic.org Common Time : General Discussion Does music make you smarter?

Many counties across that US will have to fight to keep their music programs in the next several months. It seems that music educators all around the nation are always looking for research that will help validate the music programs. We defend music by saying how music involves science, history, math and language. It has also been stated by some that music makes you smarter.

I must let you know that it has not been proven that music makes people smarter. There have been research studies that have tested the relationship between participation in school music programs and standardized test scores. There are studies that show that there are relationships between participation in school music programs and standardized test scores. The research has also found the students in successful music programs do have a higher average than students that do not participate in music programs. There have been studies that have shown no difference in averages from students that were in music programs and students that were not. No study has shown that music students received lower scores than students that were not in a program.
As much as it would be nice to hear, this does not necessarily mean that music EFFECTS student�s grades.
Possible Scenarios:
Higher average students tend to join music programs.
Students in band may be from a higher socio-economic status (They are able to afford an instrument and possibly lessons).

In order to prove the effect of music on there grade average, students with the same socio-economic status and students with similar averages would have to be split in to two groups. The students would all have to WANT to be in a music class. One group would take music and the other would not be allowed to. This study would not be possible because students that want to take music classes would be told that they could not.

This does not mean it is not true but iff we were to find research that concludes that music did affect grades, than it would only be a tool to strengthen other things. AS SOON AS a school does not achieve higher grades, they will get rid of music because the higher grades would have been the only value.

OVERALL- We should not have to say that music�s only benefit is through its value to helping students get better grades. The benefit of music is music itself. We should spend time thinking about how we can show that music is important on it's own. What makes it dificult is that music does not involve a spoken language and it communicates so many different things. Music is more than words and that is not easy to describe.

I agree that the value of music goes much farther than just academics. It seems that modern educational trends are trying to cut out cultural awareness and/or cultural education. It's one of the hardest things to grasp and actually put into words...why is music important. It serves so many roles in modern life and has served countless other roles in the history of humanity. There's a saying that you don't know what you have until its gone. That may be the best way to discover the value of music...to imagine a world in which it doesn't exist.

The question of whether music makes one smarter. In my opinion, music does not make one smarter. I do believe that performing music increases ones capacity to learn. In a nutshell, I believe that the brain can be strengthened like a muscle. We all know that if one doesn't keep an active brain, it starts to dull and fade.

Performing music involves a number of complex operations and requires a great deal of communication between the hemispheres of the brain. In a sense, performing music is akin to upgrading the CPU in your computer. Think of the many different tasks that must take place:

• The performer sees the notes on the page
• The brain translates these symbols into a kinesthetic motion
• Signals are sent to the embouchure and hands to produce sound.
• The sound is analyzed and corrected
• An emotional connection is made to the music which helps in expression

Here is an article that talks about how the brain is hard wired for music. It's pretty interesting.

Newsweek - Music on the Mind