Effects of Music Education on Academic Achievement

Have we found the perfect educational system yet? At this point, we’re far from perfection. The educational system is failing to produce qualified individuals for different professions. Students are burdened with too many assignments, group projects, and extracurricular activities. Their professors set unrealistic learning goals, which no student has time to achieve. It’s no wonder why formal education is under the pressure of critics.

What can we do to change it? Many parents and students make this suggestion: why don’t we remove all mandatory art classes? If we look at what research studies and experience say, that’s the worst thing we could do. Music education, in particular, has a proven effect on improved academic achievements.

Contemporary Music Education Is Under a Threat

Several trends are guiding the educational reforms at the moment: online learning, interactive writing, flipped classroom, and more. None of these trends is focused on reinforcing music classes at different levels. On the contrary; music programs are receiving less and less funding. Gradually, the system is moving towards diminishing or even eliminating the programs.

This approach takes its toll on students’ creativity. This is a well-known fact: most students struggle with creative projects and hire professional writers to help them write. You can have your dissertation written by an expert service, and you would use that opportunity when you’re burdened with too many projects. Today’s students don’t have enough time to work on papers, since they spend too many hours at school and they have too much studying to cover when they get home. But with the lack of art classes, their creativity is suffocated, too.

Why do schools limit music programs? This is the justification behind this trend: students who are interested in arts can work on those skills outside the school environment. But this opinion is very flawed. Can’t we say the same thing about math, science, literature, and other mandatory subjects? Plus, how can a student know if they have a particular interest if someone doesn’t lay a solid foundation? 

Why Music Education Is So Important

Enhanced music education will contribute towards improved creativity, less stress, better interaction between students, and boosted memory functions. We’ll list several reasons why schools should invest more in music lessons for their students:

1. Students with Musical Education Are Better at Learning

Did you know that music students did better in science and math? The level of engagement they invest when learning to play an instrument reflects on all other aspects of education. Music teaches them that with enough effort and commitment, they can overcome any obstacle and improve their skill. This is the lesson that many teachers try to teach with words, but fail. Music education shows them through experience.

In addition, we can view auditory composition from a mathematical point of view. Pitch, notes, tempo, and sounds are similar to math symbols. When you put them in perfect harmony, they make sense. 

• Music Triggers Curiosity and Imagination

When music is introduced in early childhood, it fosters a positive attitude towards curiosity and learning in the student. Different sounds make us imagine different things. Everyone will experience Mozart’s sounds in a different way.

When you play music and ask children to relate it to visual impressions, you’ll hear all kinds of stories. When this imaginative attitude is nurtured, it grows into creativity. 

• Music Develops a Student’s Spatial Intelligence

This is not a random statement that a musician made; it’s a thesis proven by research. Students who study music have improved spatial intelligence. What does this mean? They can form accurate mental images of the world that surrounds them.

Musicians show a better capacity of the so-called working memory. This is important not only for artistic performance, but for understanding advanced mathematics and science as well.

Music Education Is Important!

Musicians are known to have exceptional auditory skills. But their inclination towards sound affects their spatial IQ and overall intelligence. When introduced at an early age, these classes will help students improve their verbal skills and memory. Their broad cognitive abilities will also be improved. Laying a strong foundation throughout a student’s education will affect the quality of music they listen to later on in life.

Plus, music is fun. Everyone loves it, in one way or another. It’s about time for educators to think about introducing more fun and relaxation into the system.            

BIO: Joshua Robinson is a blogger with exceptional passion for arts and writing. He explores educational systems from all around the world, trying to figure out what the perfect approach is. We still haven’t found perfection in education, so all we can do is motivate students to learn in their own way.

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