Posted on 06/30/2019 6:09:40 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
High schoolers who take music courses score significantly better on exams in certain other subjects, including math and science, than their non-musical peers, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.
"It is believed that students who spend school time in music classes, rather than in further developing their skills in math, science and English classes, will underperform in those disciplines. Our research suggests that, in fact, the more they study music, the better they do in those subjects."
"Students who participated in music, who had higher achievement in music, and who were highly engaged in music had higher exam scores across all subjects, while these associations were more pronounced for those who took instrumental music rather than vocal music," he said. "On average, the children who learned to play a musical instrument for many years, and were now playing in high school band and orchestra, were the equivalent of about one academic year ahead of their peers with regard to their English, mathematics and science skills, as measured by their exam grades."
Apart from the strength of the associations, the researchers were most surprised by the consistency of the associations across all three subject areas (math, science and English).
"Learning to play a musical instrument and playing in an ensemble is very demanding. A student has to learn to read music notation, develop eye-hand-mind coordination, develop keen listening skills, develop team skills for playing in an ensemble and develop discipline to practice. All those learning experiences play a role in enhancing children's cognitive capacities and their self-efficacy," he said. "It is that high levels of music engagement for which we saw the strongest effects."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
How are piano lessons ‘vs’ college tuition? You’re gonna be paying $40M+ for it whether you can half-ass a piano or not.
I’ve pondered that music is an audio expression of math.
Programs separate from the school system are always the go-to for anyone looking to excel. As far as music, it's normal to get a private teacher outside of the school. Which is fine.
Agreed!
Right, but what does that have to do with piano lessons specifically? I’m not seeing your connection between them and good college?
You’re more likely to realize a greater gain per dollar. So if you’re willing to go to college, there’s a compelling reason to drop the “too expensive” excuse for music lessons.
You put up a good argument for devaluing musical training. I suggest you’re arguing on the wrong side.
Unless you’re majoring in music, I say spending college level tuition on something you should have done in K-12 is foolish.
Post-secondary programs are great workaround. That plus AP exams. So music students should test out of first year of music theory, just like STEM students should be testing out of Calculus 1 & 2.
The Renaissance composers, especially the big names like Josquin and Busnois and Ockeghem, worked out mathematical puzzles in their music. Story is that Guillaume DuFay's motet "Nuper Rosarum Flores", written for the dedication of the Florence cathedral, with Brunelleschi's great dome, duplicates in its intervals and structure the proportions of the dome itself. Ockeghem wrote a Mass "cuiusvis toni" - "in any key (mode) you like." You could play it in any key and it would work.
The amazing thing was that they could make the music sound so good while working out all these mathematical puzzles.
We are doing our possibles to bring our local Catholic parish back up to par -- they jettisoned the entire musical tradition at Vat II (idiots! they invented it!)
I was kidding around with my former choirmaster, and said, "Hey! You stole our music!" - he didn't miss a beat: "You weren't using it."
The piano market is DEAD. Everybody's buying the high end electronic keyboards instead. Steinway only made a few grands this year - and lesser piano companies are bulldozing pianos into landfills. Literally. Some people pay to have them hauled away.
You do have to pay to have it tuned regularly though.
“I wonder who does better in math - music or chess players?”
Grandson (7 YO) has been playing chess for a few years,,Garnered numerous ribbons and medals AND 7 1st place trophy along the way at various tournaments..Not bad at math either(courtesy genes from his daddy who got them from his mother)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.