Music is Good for You!





We've all probably heard at some point in our lives that the study of music benefits both the academic, growing student as well as the mature adult later in life. "Because leading experts say, Mozart makes babies smarter", as our friend Kari is fond of saying.  Just in case more reassurance may be required, NHME compiled lots of intriguing research into one place for your perusal and consideration.  When ready to give music a chance at enhancing your family's enjoyment of the arts, click the green button below to start an online enrollment.  Remember, parents, grandparents, and guardians do not have to sit idly by on the sidelines while their children get to make music and have all the fun.  Why not join us as well?  Always wanted to learn clarinet, fascinated by the cello, or perhaps enthralled by a trumpet's clarion call?  Maybe we already play an instrument or had at some point in the past?  Is there a venerable, vintage instrument of some kind or another hiding tucked away in a secluded closet or dusty attic somewhere just waiting to be picked up and played again?  Go grab it and join us!  Don't worry, if an instrument is needed to come join and learn with us, we probably have one that can be rented at low cost.  Come learn alongside your student while contributing your own unique maturity and expertise to the ensemble!

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How Music Education Benefits the Brain

Beneficial Music Study

Northwestern University professor Dr. Nina Kraus, a leading expert on how music affects the brain, shares her scientific insight on why music education is so important for children and teens.

The Case for Music in the Schools, Phi Delta Kappa

A study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry, and math.

Neurological Research and Music Education Statistics

Students who were exposed to music-based lessons scored a full 100% higher on fractions tests than those who learned in the conventional manner.

National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988

Music students received more academic honors and awards than non-music students. A higher percentage of music participants received AS, AS/BS, and BS than non-music participants.

Neurological Research and Music Education Statistics

Research made between music and intelligence concluded that music training is far greater than computer instruction in improving children’s abstract reasoning skills.

H. Con. Res. 266, United States Senate

Students who participate in school band or orchestra have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs among any group in our society.

Music Making and Our Schools, American Music Conference

Nine out of ten adults and teenagers who play instruments agree that music making brings the family closer together.
Studies find link between music instruction and academic achievement as measured by standardized tests.
 
In a 2000 University of Sarasota Study, Jeffrey Lynn Kluball explored the relationship of instrumental music instruction and academic achievement for the senior class in Lee County High School, Leesburg, Georgia. Significant correlations were found between the number of years of band instruction and academic achievement as measured by the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) Mathematics and GHSGT Science tests.
 
An East Texas State University study by Daryl Erick Trent revealed that high school seniors who participated in instrumental music in grades 6-12 score significantly higher in language arts and math on standardized tests than do students involved in non-music extra-curricular activities or with students not involved in any school related extra-curricular activity.
University of Sarasota study by Jeffrey Lynn Kluball.
             East Texas State University study by Daryl Erick Trent.
NHME at State Grange
The Time May Be Now… For your children and yourself, the opportunity to participate in music may be now.  As caring parents, we too are presented with a unique opportunity: the chance to introduce our children to a new and wonderful world where undiscovered abilities may blossom forth, where awakening dreams become fulfilled, where a richer and fuller life begins. The decision to enroll a child in a music program may be one of the most important contributions we will ever make to their education and perhaps to their life.

Hobbies for Kids With Real Psychological Benefits

Young Pianist

Kids who can bang out “Heart and Soul” on the piano or squeak their way through “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on the violin aren’t just making music — they’re developing lifelong coping skills. According to a new University of Vermont study, children who learn to play musical instruments are better able to control their emotions, reduce anxiety, and focus on any given task...

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Could Playing Tchaikovsky Improve Kids’ Brains?

Viola Lessons

Children who play the violin or study piano could be learning more than just Mozart. A University of Vermont College of Medicine child psychiatry team has found that musical training might also help kids focus their attention, control their emotions and diminish their anxiety [...] the entirety of a young person’s environment – parents, teachers, friends, pets, extracurricular activities – contributes to his or her psychological health. “Music is a critical component [...] "

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6 Benefits of Music Lessons

Music Benefits

Learning to play an instrument can help your child fine-tune her ear and enhance skills needed for education and social interaction. If you're on the fence about adding music classes to the list, take note of the benefits that come with signing your little one up for violin or piano lessons. Maybe she won't be the next Beethoven, but she may have an easier time learning math, practicing good manners (including patience!), and becoming a team player.

More   Flyer

Mr. Brian Gorski, Director of the Adrian City Band, describing the expressive dividends musicians gain from learning and playing music.

Chorale Singing Helps Everyone!

Don't have a harpsichord handy?  Misplaced your marimba?  No problem!  We can reap all the benefits of music with the instruments we were born with - our voices!  Click the buttons to learn more, and come join choir!



Mapping the Musical Mind

Musical Mind

Researchers in Japan used magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains of secondary school students during a task focused on musical observation. They found that students trained to play music from a young age exhibited certain kinds of brain activity more strongly than other students. The researchers also observed a specific link between musical processing and areas of the brain associated with language processing for the first time.  Interesting patterns of brain activity emerge during musical analysis exercises...

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Strong Links Between Music and Math

Beginning Strings

A music educator thought that if he could just control his study for the myriad factors that might have influenced previous ones - race, income, education, etc. -- he could disprove the notion of a link between students' musical and mathematical achievement. Nope. His new study showed statistically significant associations between the two at both the individual and the school-district levels.

Studies Show...

Music Students Do Better in School

Medals

High school students who take music courses score significantly better on math, science and English exams than their non-musical peers, according to a new study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology. "The more the students engage with music, the better they do in those subjects..."

Journal

Music Promotes Well-Being

Beginning Band

According to a recent study from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, learning to play the violin or piano might help kids’ brains by giving them some added benefits in key behavioral areas of the cortex. A team specializing in child psychiatry published a research article in the September 3, 2014 online edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, which showed that musical training might help kids focus their attention, control their emotions, and diminish their anxiety. "A violin might help a child battle psychological disorders even better than treatment with medication."

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The NAMM Foundation has a nice brochure explaining the benefits of music study.  Check it out!

Pamphlet

How playing an instrument benefits our brains by Anita Collins.

“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosphy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks, and invents.”

Ludwig van Beethoven

Kathe discusses the many benefits of studying music with NHME.


But what about taking an active role? Research   indicates that music lessons change the course of brain development and -- just possibly -- influence children's success in other, non-musical tasks.


"I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning."
Plato


Rather than passively listening to music, Psychologist Frances Rauscher advocates putting an instrument into the hands of a youngster to raise intelligence. She cites a 1997 University of California, Los Angeles, study that found, among 25,000 students, those who had spent time involved in a musical pursuit tested higher on SATs and reading proficiency exams than those with no instruction in music.

A child's brain develops faster with exposure to music education.


When asked about the benefits of being involved with music at a young age, Yo-Yo Ma directed his answer to an awestruck  twelve year-old cellist sitting nearby:

"If you love some instrument, if you like the sound of it, it's like no other sound. It's really yours. It comes from deep within, and it's something you can always connect with inside. How good can that be? Your music, your sound—it's your friend for life. You can express how you feel, send yourself into the larger world. You will always have that voice. That's a pretty powerful thing."

Learning to play a musical instrument can have a beneficial effect on your brain. Jessica Grahn, a cognitive scientist at Western University in London, Ontario says that a year of piano lessons, combined with regular practice can increase IQ by as much as three points.

YouTube


Twenty reasons to study music at the University.

20 Reasons

Twelve Benefits of Music Education at any Age.

12 Benefits

Your brain on viola!

Engaging in music throughout your life is associated with better brain health in older age, according to a new study published by experts at the University of Exeter.

A music-related hobby boosts language skills and affects the processing of speech in the brain. The reverse also happens - learning foreign languages can affect the processing of music in the brain.

Musically trained children perform better at attention and memory recall and have greater activation in brain regions related to attention control and auditory encoding, executive functions known to be associated with improved reading, higher resilience, greater creativity, and a better quality of life.