Why

Learn
to Play
MUSIC?

Photo Credit: Rob Davidson Photography

 Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or
even a better person. But it helps train you to think
differently, to process different points of view
and most important, to take pleasure in listening.
Educational Benefits Health Benefits
JOANNE LIPMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES 6

In schools in which principals and vice principals

say the quality of their music education programs is Photo Credit: Rob Davidson Photograpahy

excellent or very good, graduation rates are 90.9%, We dont see these kinds of biological changes
and attendance is at 93.8%.1 in people who are just listening to music, who
87% of teachers and 79% of parents strongly are not playing an instrument. I like to give
believe music education has a positive impact on the analogy that youre not going to become
overall academic performance. 2 physically fit just by watching sports.

89% of teachers and 82% of parents rate music NINA KRAUS, TIME 16

education highly as a source for greater student

Photo Credit: Kim Floyd Photography
creativity, a 21st century skill thats highly likely
to help young people stand out in an increasingly
competitive global economy.3
Cognitive Benefits
Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically-trained
Research reveals strong connections between rhythm
children than in those without music training. Significantly,
skills and pre-reading abilities in toddlers.4
listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive
speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep
sounds in memory.7
In order to fully reap the cognitive benefits of a music
class, kidsshow
Studies havethat
to be actively
music canengaged in the
trigger the music
brain and
to release
participate
chemicalsinthat
thedistract
class.8 the body from pain.17
In a 2009 study in the Journal of Neuroscience,
Musical training is thought to improve nervous system
researchers used an MRI to study the brains of 31
function by
6-year-old focusing
children, attention
before on meaningful
and after acoustic
they took lessons
oncues, and these
a musical improvements
instrument in auditory
for 15 months. Theyprocessing
found that
Photo Credit: Kristen Wynn Photography cascade
the music to language
students and cognitive
brains grew largerskills. 18
in the areas that
control fine motor skills and hearingand that students
Children
abilities in who
bothreceive musical
those areas alsoinstruction
improved.have more
The corpus
Music is magical...you take some seemingly random robust brainstem
callosum, responses
which connects thetoleft
sound as adults
and right sidesthan peers
of the
marks on a page, you blow air through a carefully who never participated
brain, grew as well. 9 in music lessons. These results
constructed tube, and what comes out the other side is suggest that neural changes accompanying musical
Music training leads to greater gains in auditory and 19
a sound that can convey things that words cannot...And training during childhood are retained in adulthood.
motor function when begun in young childhood; by
while we can do a million random things with a million adolescence, the plasticity that characterizes childhood
random objects, somehow, when we just blow some air Cognitive and neural benefits of musical experience
has begun to decline. Nevertheless, our results establish
through a tube, we create sounds that can move other continue throughout the lifespan, from childhood through
that music training impacts the auditory system even
human beings, can reach right into our brains and our senior adulthood, and counteract some of the negative
when it is begun in adolescence, suggesting that a
hearts... That is magical. effectsamount
modest of aging,
of such as memory
training and in
begun later hearing difficulties
life can
in older adults. 20
affect neural function. 10
5
PETER GREENE, THE HUFFINGTON POST
 Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or
even Music
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and most important, to take pleasure in listening.
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Educational Benefits andand most
most important,
important, to take
to take pleasure
pleasure in listening.
in listening. Social Benefits
SocialBenefits
Benefits
6

EducationalBenefits
Educational Benefits
In schools in which principals and vice principals
JOANNE LIPMAN, THE NEW YORK TIMES
JOANNE
JOANNE LIPMAN,
LIPMAN, THETHE
NEWNEW YORK
YORK 6 6
TIMES
TIMES Social
Children who study a musical instrument are more
In
In the
say schools
schools in
of which
in which
quality their principals
principals
music andand
education vice
vice principals
principals
programs is Photo Credit: Rob Davidson Photograpahy Children
Children
likely towho who
excel instudy
study a their
alla of musical
musical instrument
instrument
studies, work are
arebettermore
more in
saysay
thethe quality
quality of of their
their music
music education
education
excellent or very good, graduation rates are 90.9% programs
programs is, is Photo Photo
Credit:Credit: Rob Davidson
Rob Davidson Photograpahy
Photograpahy
teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, in in
likely
likely to to excel
excel in in
all all
of of
theirtheir studies,
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excellent
excellent or or
veryvery
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and attendance is at 93.8%. good, graduation
graduation
1 rates
rates areare 90.9%
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and pursue critical
critical further thinking
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skills, 11

andand attendance
attendance is at at 93.8%
is 93.8% .1 .1 staystay in school,
in school, andand pursue
pursue further
further education.
education. 11 11

87% of teachers and 79% of parents strongly Perseverance is developed and strengthened through
87%87%
believe of teachers
of teachers
music andand
education 79%79%
has a of of parents
parents
positive strongly
strongly
impact on Perseverance
Perseverance
music education is and
developed
is developed andand
supports strengthened
strengthened
better study throughthrough
habits
believe
believe music
music education
education
overall academic performance. 2 has has
a a positive
positive impact
impact on on music
music education
education
and self-esteem. 12 and
and supports
supports better
better studystudy habits
habits
overall academic performance.
overall academic performance. 2 2 andand self-esteem.
self-esteem. 12 12

89% of teachers and 82% of parents rate music As they make music together, Making music together,
89%89%
education of teachers
of highly
teachers as and and82%
a source 82% for of parents
of greater
parents raterate
student music
music As As they
they
children makemake
learn tomusic
music work together,
together,
as a team Making
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music
they together,
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each
children
children learn
learn to work as a team while they each
education
education highly
highly as as
a a source
source for for greater
greater
creativity, a 21st century skill thats highly likely
student
student contribute to totheworksongasina their
team own whileway.theyAteachthe
creativity,
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a 21st century
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thats highly
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in their own ownway.way.At At
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to help young people stand out in an increasingly same time, music helps children learn that together
to help
to help young
young people
people
competitive global economy. 3 3
stand
stand 3outoutin anin an increasingly
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CognitiveBenefits
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helps children
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they can make something larger than the sum of
learn
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competitive
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global economy.
economy. theythey
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Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically-trained its parts.
Research reveals strong connections between rhythm Everyday
Everyday listening
listening skills
skills areare stronger
stronger in musically-trained
in musically-trained its its parts.
parts. 13 13
Research
Research reveals
reveals strong
strong connections
connections between
between rhythm
rhythm children than in those without music training. Significantly,
skills and pre-reading abilities in toddlers.44 4 children
children thanthan in those
in those without
without musicmusic training.
training. Significantly,
Significantly, More benefits of music for children include learning
skills
skills andand pre-reading
pre-reading abilities
abilities in toddlers.
in toddlers. listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive MoreMore benefits
benefits of music
of music forfor children
children include
include learning
learning
listening
listening skills
skills areare closely
closely tiedtied to the
to the ability
ability to: to: perceive
perceive cooperation, sharing, compromise, creativity, and
speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep cooperation,
cooperation, sharing,
sharing, compromise,
compromise, creativity,
creativity, andand
speech
speech in ainnoisy
a noisy background,
background, paypay attention,
attention, andand keepkeep concentrationskills that become invaluable as they
sounds in memory.7 7 7 concentrationskills
concentrationskills thatthat become
become invaluable
invaluable as as
theythey
sounds
sounds in memory.
in memory. enter school, face new challenges, and begin to
enter
enter school,
school, face facenew new challenges,
challenges, andand begin
begin to to
In order to fully reap the cognitive benefits of a music form new friendships and develop social skills. 14
In In order
order to fully
to fully reapreapthethe cognitive
cognitive benefits
benefits of aofmusic
a music formformnew new friendships
friendships andand develop
develop social
social skills.
skills. 14 14
class, kids have to be actively engaged in the music and
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class, kidskidshavehave to be
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Photo Credit: Kristen Wynn Photography
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Music is
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is magical...you
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Music
Music training
training
training leads
leads to greater
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to gains
greater gains
gains in auditory
in auditory
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andand
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random
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that music training
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55 5
PETER
PETERGREENE,
PETER
GREENE,THE
GREENE, HUFFINGTON
THETHE POST
HUFFINGTON
HUFFINGTON POST
POST
Music and the Arts are Vital
Elements of the Curriculum
Visit NAMMFoundation.org to learn the benefits of
music education; how to support music programs in
schools; and to join the SupportMusic Coalition, a
national network of music education advocates.

Sources
1. Harris Interactive, 2006. 2. NAMM Foundation and Grunwald Associates LLC
(2015).Striking a Chord: The Publics Hopes and Beliefs for K12 Music Education in
the United States: 2015. 3. NAMM Foundation and Grunwald Associates LLC (2015).
Striking a Chord: The Publics Hopes and Beliefs for K12 Music Education in the
United States: 2015. 4. Woodruff Carr K, W.-S.T.,Tierney A, Strait D, Kraus N. , Beat
synchronization and speech encoding in preschoolers: A neural synchrony framework
for language development. , in Association for Research in Otolaryngology Symposium.
2014: San Diego, CA. 5. Peter Greene,Stop defending music education,
The Huffington Post, June 11, 2015. 6. Joanne Lipman, Is Music the Key to
Success? The New York Times, October 13, 2013. 7. Strait, D.L. and N. Kraus,
Biological impact of auditory expertise across the life span: musicians as a model of
auditory learning. Hearing Research, 2013; Strait, D.L. and N. Kraus, Can you hear
me now? Musical training shapes functional brain networks for selective auditory
attention and hearing speech in noise. Front Psychol, 2011. 2: p. 113. 8. Dr. Nina
Kraus, director of Northwestern University Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory. 9.
Reported in Joanne Lipman, A Musical Fix for American Schools, The Wall Street
Journal, October 10, 2014. 10. Adam T. Tierney, Jennifer Krizman, Nina Kraus,
Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development, Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015.11. Arte Music Academy. Statistical
benefits of music in education. Statistical-Benefits-Of-Music-In-Education. Accessed
July 17, 2014. 12. Arts Education Partnership, 2011.13. 2015 Program for Early
Parent Support (PEPS), a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. 14. 2015 Program for
Early Parent Support (PEPS), a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization. 15. Dick Zentner,
2013 Patrick John Hughes Parent/Booster Award Recipient 16. Nina Kraus, director
of Northwesterns Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, quoted in Melissa Locker, This
Is How Music Can Change Your Brain, Time, December 16, 2014. 17. Abbie Fenress
Swanson, Music helps vets control symptoms of PTSD, Time, March 8, 2010.
18. Nina Kraus, Jessica Slater, Elaine C. Thompson, Jane Hornickel, Dana L. Strait,
Trent Nicol, Travis White-Schwoch, Music Enrichment Programs Improve the Neural
Encoding of Speech in At-Risk Children, Journal of Neuroscience, September 3,
2014. 19. Skoe, E. & Kraus, N. (2012). A Little Goes a Long Way: How the Adult
Brain Is Shaped by Musical Training in Childhood, Journal of Neuroscience, 32 (34).
20. Parbery-Clark A, A.S., Kraus N., Musical Experience and Hearing Loss: Perceptual,
Cognitive and Neural Benefits, in Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Symposium. 2014: San Diego, CA.

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