When music speaks, the soul listens, but does the brain also take note? Involvement in the process of music-making has been shown to maximize creative intellectual capacity and benefit concentration levels.
Whether you are creating a new masterpiece of improvised melody or racing through an historic cadenza, playing music has numerous advantages.
Can music help learning?
Playing music involves a complex combination of reading, listening, understanding, and transferring cognitive processes to physical outcomes, all whilst keeping track of rhythm and timing. In terms of mental benefits, the combination of skills necessary in acquiring musical proficiency has been shown in many studies to improve reading proficiency, numeracy, vocabulary, and memory.
Academic success also requires a good learning technique. The ability to sit and figure out complicated problems is a skill that takes practice. This is a process which musicians practise daily whilst meticulously remembering complicated musical scores.
Additionally, findings from recent studies suggest that an individual’s ability to concentrate is something that can be increased over time. Again, musical training appears to be a fitting method for helping with this, owing to the discipline and commitment to a single task that it instils in a pupil.
Can music improve confidence?
Given the sheer dexterity that a musician will acquire with practice, musicians can also develop a greater physical mastery of the world around them. Is it possible that secondary benefits may arise from this?
Neurological studies using fMRI scanners have shown how the regions of the brain responsible for controlling motor function are more developed in those with musical training. One potential consequence of this is that the confidence gained from this greater motor skill can complement other skill areas by positively affecting self-image in terms of competence.
This improved self-image can increase persistence and self-belief when attempting to solve challenging new problems.
Musical achievements matter to schools
Furthermore, successfully negotiating one’s way through the process of gaining a formal music scholarship can be a gateway to greater academic prospects in and of itself. Many scholarships awarded for private school places and university funding are reserved for those displaying formal musical achievements.
In addition to this, having a graded certificate in violin, flute, bass, or anything else can be just the kind of element to put you a cut above the rest when fighting it out for competitive university, school, or summer camp places. Many Russell Group and other prestigious universities and schools are known to include such things as significant factors when considering candidates. In fact, musical grades six and above actually count for UCAS points in university applications.
This is not exactly a secret, and it is this that offers the third, crucial, benefit for academic success. Many parents and teachers swear by the benefits that involvement in music brings, and consequently they tend to offer musical programs to the most gifted and talented.
Being part of this social group exposes individuals to peers of the highest academic quality, spawning friendships and connections with positive academic role models. This positive social influence is broadly beneficial for fostering a positive academic atmosphere, bringing out the best in all members of the group.
From increased opportunities for study groups to normalising intelligent conversation, this is a supreme advantage for an child’s chances of academic success.
Written by Sam Luther, a writer working in the education industry.
