While perhaps not having the same importance as a core subject like Science or English, music has become an increasingly popular area of study, especially about how it pertains to beneficial developments in younger adolescents.
Back in 1997, a study by researchers from the University of Wisconsin found that children who received musical education for just 8 months had significantly better spatial-temporal reasoning skills than children who hadn’t received musical education. The study goes on to show how these spatial-temporal reasoning skills have an impact in day-to-day functions such as communication, memory, and academic skills.
Since then, more and more research has been done in this field, which only led to an accumulation of knowledge about the benefits of having a musical education. A 2005 study done by E. Glenn Schellenberg proved that not only does having a musical education improve one’s spatial-temporal reasoning skills, but it also has a correlation with a higher IQ level and better academic performance. In addition, another study by Rabinowitch, Cross, and Burnard in 2012 found that those who partook in musical education had social and emotional benefits as well. The children who had received a musical education in their youth had had a profound impact on their emotional and interpersonal intelligence by facilitating empathy.
However, the timing of the education was also found to be important to the benefits that the children would end up receiving from the musical education. It was found through a 2009 study done by researchers from the Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives de la Méditerranée that children had received musical training from a younger age had better improvements in terms of language and hearing abilities when compared to those who had started their musical education later in their life.
This study supports the “critical period” concept that is well-known in psychology. The National Library of Medicine defines a “critical period” as a time when “the time during which a given behavior is especially susceptible to, and indeed requires, specific environmental influences to develop normally”. Many psychologists believe that if one learns a skill during that critical period, the more that they would retain that information, or in this case, benefits. In the lens of musical education, having started a musical education earlier in life would have had the impact of having more beneficial developments correlated with that musical education.
It is with these benefits in mind that many schools across the US have started implementing music into their curriculum. In fact, according to the 2022 Arts Education Data Project report, around 92% of students at a US public school have access to a musical education.
However, while many students do have access to a musical education, a national survey shows that more than 3.6 million students still don’t have access to this important extracurricular. To make matters worse, the study found that many of these 3.6 million students attend a majority-Black or Latino school, which only stands to make the disparity in musical education much worse in the long run.
Additionally, even among those with access, some might choose to not let their children participate in the musical activities that are provided by the schools. Some of the common arguments against having a musical education is that music distracts from academics. However, research has shown that having a musical education has been strongly correlated with a higher IQ as well as better academic reports for the students. A 2011 study found that parents who had been informed about the benefits of having a musical education for their children in their pre-puberty years were more likely to enroll their children in high school musical programs than parents who weren’t aware.
Therefore, by being able to educate more people about the benefits of having a musical education, comes the possibility for musical education to take more of a importance in the minds of policymakers and parents. By spreading the news of the benefits of having a musical education, we can build support for music-related programs and improve both academic and social outcomes for students everywhere.
