Benefits of Music Education
In an effort to trim budgets and improve academic performance, music education is disappearing as a result of state officials.
Some believe that music isn’t as important as the core academic subjects. However, research has shown that benefits of music education include students’ academic success.
Here are 10 benefits of music education that highlight why it should be an integral part of students’ lives—whether inside or outside of school.
1. Language skills. According to PBS, “Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways.” Learning a musical instrument also improves how the brain understands human language, which can help students learn a second language.
2. Improved test scores. Studies have shown that students who are involved with a high-quality music education program in school perform better on tests than students who don’t engage in music. “A study published in 2007 by Christopher Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy at the University of Kansas, revealed that students in elementary schools with superior music education programs scored around 22 percent higher in English and 20 percent higher in math scores on standardized tests, compared to schools with low-quality music programs.”