Benefits of Music Education

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Benefits of Music Education

Music education is important because it provides many benefits. It helps students with their academic success, attitudes, behaviors, and testing abilities. Many studies have been conducted to prove these facts. For example Dr. Frances Rauscher and Dr. Gordon Shaw conducted an experiment on the effects of musical instruction on students: ?The experiment included four groups of preschoolers: one group received private piano/keyboard lessons; a second group received singing lessons; a third group received private computer lessons; and a fourth group received no training. Those children who received piano/keyboard training performed 34% higher on tests measuring spatial-temporal ability than the others. These findings indicate that music uniquely enhances higher brain functions required for mathematics, chess, science and engineering.? (MENC, 1997). It has also been proven that when children learn music early, the brain is enhanced for auditory processing. ?Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have shown that the fibers in the corpus callosum, which connect the left- and right-brain hemispheres, are as much as 15 percent larger in musicians compared to nonmusicians? (Schlaug, Jancke, Huang, Staiger, & Steinmetz, 1995a). Clearly, music has an impact on students. It is a positive outlet for students to express their emotions, it enhances intellectual and social performance, and enhances the brain.

The Struggle

However, many administrators are blind to these positive effects, and neglect to support music education in schools. This is nothing new however, music education has been struggling to stay alive in school curriculums for many years. Since the mid 1900s, music education has be...

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