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The benefits of a musical

education

vicky7 April, 2011Music & Education

The importance of music in schools is an issue that is

coming to the fore again. A UK Department of

Education press notice recently stated that;

Givingall young people the best possible music

education will help the Government achieve its twin

aims of driving up standards and reducing the attainment

gap

But are they serious? Music educators and psychologists

are growing increasingly concerned for the role of music

in schools, in light of the fact that the same government

who spoke the words above is in the process of rolling

out the English Baccalaureate. The English

Baccalaureate is an award that will be given to any pupil

who secures good GCSE or iGCSE passes in all of the

following subjects:

English

Maths

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The sciences

A modern orancient foreign language

A humanity: history or geography

As you can seeno room for music there.Critics fear

that the Baccalaureate, which will eventually take its

place in official school league tables, will force schools

to focus even more on traditional academic subjects in

their curriculum at the expense of practical subjects like

the technologies and creative subjects like art and music.

Leading experts in the field of music education are not

going to take such a worrying change lightly. Musical

engagement is a vital part of educationthat is their line

of argument (and mine!). The key is to expose the right

people to all the evidence suggesting that involving

children with music provides a multitude of benefits for

their cognitive, neurological and social development, as

well as for the classroom environment in general.

This week I was fortunate enough to take part in a

seminar convened by The All-Party Parliamentary Group

on Science Research in Learning and Education called

TheMusical Brain: Implications for Education. The

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12160738http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12160738http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12160738http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12160738http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12160738http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12160738http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12160738

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idea was to hear and discuss the scientific evidence for

the relationship between musical training and academic

ability, and the seminar featured presentations from

Professor Philip Sheppard (Royal Academy of Music),

my boss Dr Lauren Stewart (Goldsmith, University of

London), and Professor Susan Hallam (Institute of

Education, London).

It was a fascinating series of talks, and I am only sorry

that there were so few people in the room to hear them. I

dont have the space to go into depth about each

speakers wonderful presentation, but here are some of

the highlights.

Philip Sheppard

The Mozarteffect,the idea that passively listening to

music can confer cognitive benefits, is akin to watching

the Olympics and expecting it to make you fit.The key

to using music as part of learning is participation and not

just passive reception.

Ensnaring achilds imagination with music can build

on their ability to focus and be creative, and it can boost

their memory and communication skills, and therefore

impact positively on their intelligence an overarching

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ability which he described simply as the ability to

learn.

We are all born with keen pitch acuity and this is lost if

we dont use it. He cited as evidence the example of

higher rates of perfect pitch in Asian students who speak

tonal languages.

Teaching music should focus more on exploration,

creativity and play. Language learning is full of

legitimate creative practise, while music is taught more

by accurate reproduction. Music teachers should focus

less on the right way of doing something and embrace

more the idea of letting a child find their own love within

music, thereby allowing them to explore, develop a sense

of identity and self, create their own transmission

techniques for ideas, and to grow in confidence.

Lauren Stewart

Music as a model of neural plasticity. Neurons and

their connections change and grow through learning and

experience. Skill learning in particular has large effects

on the brain, citing the example of the London Taxi

driver study (Maguire, 2000)

Music is a superskillthat confers multiple

benefits:Motor, coordination between effectors,

http://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/stewart/http://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/stewart/http://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/stewart/

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integration of sensory modalities and online performance

monitoring.

Musicians brains are different: Changes to motor and

sensory areas, auditory and visuo-spatial processing, and

hemispheric integration

Developing expertise as listeners: Listening is a

complex mental process of construction whereby we

seek order and patterns in the vibration of the sound

molecules around us. In music we have an opportunity to

practise learning rule structures, to test expectations, and

to tune our environmental responses in a safe and

rewarding context.

Facets of musicality: We dont need formal musical

training to develop skills in music. The creative and

social aspects of music engagement are too often

overlooked. They are currently being explored in

theHow musical are you? project with the BBC

Susan Hallam

There are a multitude of wider benefits associated with

musical engagement in children. These include

improvements in early encoding of sound, structural

analysis of sound, verbal memory, motor coordination

https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/musicality/https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/musicality/https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/musicality/http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/CPEN/FFPS_17.htmlhttp://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/CPEN/FFPS_17.htmlhttp://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/CPEN/FFPS_17.htmlhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/musicality/

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(important for writing skills) and phonological

awareness.

Positive impact of rhythm training on conditions like

dyslexia and dyspraxia.

Giving a child a sense of achievement, improving self

esteem, self discipline, expression, social skills

(negotiation and compromise; especially in group music

situations) and commitment to projects. All these skills

are good for learning in general.

Discussed theIn Harmony project in Liverpool.Huge

personal and social benefits of a class where children

make music together.Much better performance on

English and Maths STAT exams even though 4 hours of

English and Maths was cut from the timetable to make

room for the music!

Music in everyday life beyond the school

years:Research in older groups suggests involvement in

music clubs can help physical wellbeing (better motor

coordination, breathing, less falls and visits to the

doctor) and mental wellbeing (more autonomy, pleasure

out of life, sense of belonging, less stress and depression,

and help with making friendships and going through

grieving process)

http://www.inharmonyengland.com/http://www.inharmonyengland.com/http://www.inharmonyengland.com/http://www.musicforlife.org.uk/http://www.musicforlife.org.uk/http://www.musicforlife.org.uk/http://www.inharmonyengland.com/

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The paradox of music education is that music is still

often seen as a leisure activity that has limited benefits

when it comes to preparing someone for the real world:

The traditional, if somewhat unreasonable argument, is

to compare an education in music to an education in

subjects like Maths or English. The speakers at this

meeting, and the following round table discussion

featuring leading academics from music psychology,

presented so many powerful arguments as to why music

is such a vital part of learning, at all stages of life.

Turning childs play into childs progress: what could

be simpler, more cost effective or more rewarding

than that?