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Music and Learning

Most parents want their children to develop to their full potential, and they will go to
great lengths to provide their children with lessons that will facilitate this growth. As children
learn through experiences, music instruction is an experience that parents should provide to their
children to greatly help exercise and expand the brains base intelligence. Early music
education will enable children to further develop their cognitive function through exercises
that enhance the motor and auditory cortexes, improve reading skills, facilitate better
memory, and help understanding of math skills. This developed cognitive function will allow
for stronger, long-term development of higher level brain functions such as increased motor
control and auditory discrimination, faster processing while reading, the ability to retain new
information through rehearsal, and the building upon number concepts. Music instruction targets
parts of the brain that are developing during the prime years of neural plasticity in children.
Through different aspects of learning to play an instrument, children are actively exercising
sections of the brain that are necessary for improvement.
Already in existence are many music education programs targeted at teaching children to
play instruments. One of the more well-known and international programs, the Suzuki Method, is
encouraged to be taught to children at age three or four as their brains are still developing (The
Suzuki Method). The founder of the method, Shinichi Suzuki, believed that learning to play an
instrument should be taught the same way a child learns a language, and during the same time
frame (The Suzuki Method). In this way, children would be best able to holistically develop
their character through the principles of the method: an early start to taking music lessons,
emphasis on listening to the tones of the musical notes before learning to read music, repetition
of old skills as new ones are learned, and taking group lessons to facilitate social interaction

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(About the Suzuki Method). Kindermusik is another popular early music education program
among parents who seek to provide their children with the psychological benefits of learning
music before or during elementary school. The program acknowledges the many learning and
physical advantages children with a music background have (Explore the Benefits). Lessons
taught during Kindermusik aim to improve the brains development in areas such as literacy,
math, and motor skills (Explore the Benefits). Through research in childhood development,
Kindermusik has found that the results in improved literacy and math skills from music
education affect phonological processing, spoken language, and comprehension, and spatialtemporal and reasoning skills (Explore the Benefits). Both the Suzuki Method and
Kindermusik are prime examples of how early music education programs provide lessons that
enhance brain development through specific aspects of learning a musical instrument.
One of the basic components of learning to play a musical instrument requires motor
ability through the use of body parts, such as the hands and mouth, to produce sound. After
learning to play a musical instrument, children have more dexterity in their fingers than peers
who have had no previous musical instruction (Hyde). This increased dexterity proves that the
brain has developed the motor cortex responsible for movement of muscles. Similarly, the
auditory regions of the brain are proven to be developed through music instruction by improved
performance when asked to discern between different rhythms and melodies (Hyde). Some may
claim that the brain can be developed solely by passively listening to music. Although this proves
to show results for therapy and education, the results are often only seen for short periods of time
(Sousa 228). When children are actively engaged in music education, they utilize both the motor
and auditory cortexes of the brain at the same time, causing more permanent change in brain
structure (Sousa 228). Compared to adults with a history of music instruction, children who have

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been participating in music instruction show the same changes in the precentral gyri and corpus
callosum when the two groups, respectively, are compared to adults with no music background
and children not participating in music instruction (Hyde). This proves that the music instruction
provided during childhood has a lasting effect on the brain that in the future can assist in more
difficult motor or auditory activities.
The auditory development provided by early music lessons assists the development of
reading skills in children. Through the auditory tasks related to learning an instrument, such as
pitch and rhythm discrimination, childrens brains are able to develop phonological skills that
can be transferred to reading (Tsang). Similar auditory processing skills are used by children
when they discern between music pitch as when they learn how to sound out and put together
words while reading (Tsang). Reading music, and especially sight-reading music, requires that
children learn the difference between symbols and be able to quickly process them in the brain as
to know what note to play (Corrigall). The most important part of this process is the decoding of
the symbol on the page to a known music note in the brain. This relates directly to decoding
words on a page to comprehension in the brain (Corrigall). Music instruction requires continuous
practice of sight-reading music, so children are able to play successive notes in one continuous
melody. This constant decoding of music notes strengthens the same neural pathways that are
used to decode words (Corrigall).
Along with helping improve reading skills, learning to read and sight-read music can help
improve memory through involving the memorization of the musical scale and the identification
of notes from the scale while reading sheet music. Children must constantly work and practice at
the memorization of these notes as they master how to play their instrument. At a more advanced
level, the art of sight-reading teaches children to remember what notes they are currently playing

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on their instrument as they look ahead to what notes they need to play next. These disciplines
require rehearsal, and this rehearsal leads to improvement in memory of children who play a
musical instrument (Gazzaniga). Michael Posner, a professor who has studied cognitive tasks in
the human brain, used the term executive attention to describe what causes the improvement in
brain development through arts disciplines (Gazzaniga). He argues that the attention and
control needed to perform different forms of art are integrated into the brain as strategies to be
used when solving problems outside of learning a musical instrument (Gazzaniga). Under this
belief, the strategies developed in the brain to rehearse and learn to read music are applied when
memorizing or remembering outside information, such as vocabulary or the main idea of a
reading passage (Gazzaniga). As these strategies are utilized by a pupil with a history of musical
instruction, their appearance of having a superior memory than a child with no previous musical
instruction comes from their use of the rehearsal techniques they learned through their musical
training (Gazzaniga).
As music instruction enhances memory, it also helps to improve childrens math skills.
While memory comes from rehearsal of the musical notes, math skills come from understanding
the length of the musical notes and how they relate to one another. In music, the longest note is a
whole note, and this is followed in descending order by half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes,
and so on (Sousa 231). During musical instruction, children must learn about the proportions of
the notes in order to correctly play the music on their instrument. The topic of proportions is
commonly taught in school around the second-grade year, as seen in a study performed by
Gordon Shaw, a professor who studied musics effect on learning (Sousa 231). Shaw split a
group of one-hundred and thirty six second-grade students into groups; one of which was taught
piano keyboard and used a computer program to learn proportions, while the other group only

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used the computer program to learn proportions with no piano keyboard training (Sousa 231).
When tested on the math subject of proportions and fractions at the end of four months, the
group who had received the piano keyboard lessons scored twenty-seven percent higher (see
figure 1) than the group who had solely used a computer program to learn the topic (Sousa 231).

Figure 1: Scores from a Proportions and Fractions Test

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31.2
31
30
29
Mean Test Score

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27.2
27
26
25
Group 1-Piano keyboard and computer program
Groups of Students

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Source: (Sousa 232)

Presented in figure one are the test scores on a proportions and fractions test from two
groups of second-grade students; the first group was taught piano keyboarding simultaneously
with learning the tested topic using a computer program while the second group only used the
computer program to learn the tested topic with no piano keyboard lessons (Sousa 232).
Those who believe that music instruction may enhance brain development say that music
instruction can reap the same benefits when taught at any age. Although this is a valid point, it is
important to understand that teaching music during childhood allows for the most absorption of
learned skills into the brain as part of its development. The principle of an acquisition period in
which the brain is most flexible, known as plasticity, to change through development and
integration of new information not only applies to learning language but also to music (White).
Childrens brains, specifically around the age of five, show a higher degree of reaction in the
cortical network to tactile stimulation (White). The cortical network is the set of processors in
the brain that are responsible for brain functions that include recognition and categorization
(Zylberberg). This tactile stimulation is provided by learning to play a musical instrument,
which requires communication in processes connected by the cortical network (White). These
processes include the motor, sensorimotor, and auditory portions of the brain. Connections in the
cortical network are best strengthened during childhood when plasticity in the brain is greatest.
Through music instruction, changes in brain structure during childhood that enhance neural
systems are proven to last into adulthood (White).

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Parents should enroll their children in music education programs during childhood when
the brain is most able to adapt to new learned skills. The principles of learning a musical
instrument and reading music help the brains development through exercises that utilize the
motor and auditory cortexes, train for better memory, and assist with learning math as well as
reading comprehension. The brains networks of neurons in these areas are strengthened during
childhood while learning a musical instrument and the processes gained through practice will be
able to assist in the future by providing a strong base off of which childrens brains can develop
even more.

Works Cited
"About the Suzuki Method." Suzuki Association of the Americas. Suzuki Association of the
Americas, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <https://suzukiassociation.org>.
Corrigall, Kathleen A., and Laurel J. Trainor. "Associations Between Length of Music
Training and Reading Skills in Children." Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary
Journal2nd ser. 29 (2011): 147-55. JSTOR. JSTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org>.
"Explore the Benefits of Music for Children." Kindermusik. Kindermusik, n.d. Web. 18 Feb.
2014. <http://www.kindermusik.com>.
Gazzaniga, Michael, Ph.D. "Learning, Arts, and the Brain." Ed. Carolyn Asbury,
ScM.P.H., Ph.D. and Barbara Rich, Ed.D. The Dana Foundation, 2008. Web. 16 Feb.
2014. <http://www.wjh.harvard.edu >.

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Hyde, Krista L., Jason Lerch, Andrea Norton, Marie Forgeard, Ellen Winner, Alan C.
Evans, and Gottfried Schlaug. "Musical Training Shapes Structural Brain
Development." The Journal of Neuroscience. Society for Neuroscience, 11 Mar.
2009. Web. 16 Feb. 2014. <http://www.jneurosci.org >.
"The Suzuki Method." International Suzuki Association. International Suzuki Association, n.d.
Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://internationalsuzuki.org>.
Sousa, David A. How The Brain Learns. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks: Corwin, 2011. Print.
Tsang, Christine D., and Nicole J. Conrad. "Music Training and Reading
Readiness." Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal 2nd ser. 29 (2011): 15763. JSTOR. JSTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org>.
White, Erin J., Stefanie A. Hutka, Lynne J. Williams, and Sylvain Moreno. "Learning, Neural
Plasticity and Sensitive Periods: Implications for Language Acquisition, Music Training
and Transfer across the Lifespan." Frontiers. Frontiers, 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.frontiersin.org >.
Zylberberg, Ariel, Diego F. Slezak, Pieter R. Roelfsema, Stanislas Dehaene, and Mariano
Sigman. "The Brain's Router: A Cortical Network Model of Serial Processing in the
Primate Brain." PLOS Computational Biology. PLOS, 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 16 Feb.
2014. <http://www.ploscompbiol.org>.