Music Education Importance

Not that much is known about his life, but Chum Kem was one of the fortunate Cambodians who received a scholarship to study ceramics in Italy. Sometime within the early 1960′s, he entered a singing contest and to his surprise, he won. That eventually started his music career and led him to record a few songs onto vinyl. His most notable upbeat song out of all them was “Twist! Twist! Khnyom” which immediately became a hit back in his home land. Soon enough, the Cambodian people were learning how to dance the in the twist style as well. In 1971, he played “Il Cinese” (a Chinese) in the Italian musical Un mandarino teo. This black and white film is probably the only one that shows actual, clear footage of him.

Music is one of the most ancient forms of art, as well as one of the most beneficial activities for the brain. Musicians, for example, have a stronger hippocampus, which is part of the brain involved in learning and memory. Neurogenesis, the process that is critical for learning and memory in the hippocampus is brought about through musical practice (What Happens). Musical practice on the piano is also associated with positively affecting the brain. One study conduct demonstrated through a special MRI that measures white matter in the brain, that regular piano players had a higher myelin levels than non-piano players (What Happens). This contributes to faster, and quicker nerve impulses, which then strengthens the brain. Not only does playing contribute to performing better cognitively, it over takes one's body. Musicians know when, “Each note rubs the others just right, and the instrument shivers with delight. The feeling is unmistakable, intoxicating” (Popova). The feeling

Another reason is music can be benefit for people’s brain development. Music uses both sides of the brain, thus resulting in the overall development of the brain. In fact, several researches proved that the all four of the cortex's lobes are activated when the brain is involved in musical activity. In fact, during these musical tasks, even the cerebellum of the brain is activated. A musician has to constantly make decisions about the elements of music, like form, timbre, melody, etc and also tempo, tone, rhythm etc. This helps in enhancing the ability of the brain to become very good at multitasking and organizational abilities. It improves abilities of expression and enhances intelligence of a person.

People can develop and enlarge the brain with training, the most part of musician that play a piano or violin, they are capable in increase the part of his brain that is responsible to the musician ability, with a long session of training.

Aheadi, Dixon, and Glover were able to identify the benefits of musical training in a study involving the Mozart effect. Aheadi et al. state that, “Evidence suggests musical training can lead to long term enhancement of intelligence” (Aheadi, Dixon, and Glover, 2009, pg. 1). The results in this study showed that musicians had a higher overall performance compared to non-musicians. In a 1998, study completed by Overy, they were able to show that musical training tends to lead to increased intellectual abilities. They extrapolated that musical training improves cognitive functioning in attention, coordination, language, and concentration (Overy,

Playing an instrument stimulates the brain. Researchers from the University of Vermont discovered that musical training in the early stages can help kids focus their attention, control their emotions and can reduce their anxiety by strengthening the gray matter of the cortex. Not only that but it can also expand the one's creativity and make them more active, enhance coordination, improve reading and comprehension skills, enhance the capacity of memory, and boosts listening skills.

The study found that when developing students are learning to play and instrument that they develop the ability to not just hear and appreciate the sounds of music differently but also process the sounds in a different way compared to kids of the same age not learning an instrument. This is due to learn to play an instrument help develop neurophysiological distinction which has been linked to aid and boost literacy and this which possibly improve success in academics. A quote that I believe is really great in driving home this point is by Nina Kraus in her book “Frontiers in Psychology” and that quote is, “We like to say that making music matters, Because it is only through the active generation and manipulation of sound that music can rewire the brain.” And she was saying this after hosting a study at Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Lab. And the experiment was to see if a music appreciation class had the same effect as actually learning and participating in band class. And they found that the kids that were in the process of learning an instrument has better of improved neural processing skills than the students who were only in music appreciation group.

A 2003 study indicates that two years of music lessons can improve performance on arithmetic tests (Rauscher and LeMieux qtd. in Črnčec, Wilson, and Prior 583). In fact, music lessons can boost IQ levels simply because they provide a learning opportunity. The most widely cited neuro-scientific theory is one done by Leng and Shaw in 1991 which states:

Music and music experiences support the formation of important brain connections that are being established over the first three years of life (Carlton 2000). Musical experiences are helpful for academic achievement in childhood, because music actually accelerate brain development, particularly in the areas of language acquisition and reading skills. (The University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute) Moreover, music ignites all areas of child development and skills for readiness intellectual,

There have been continuous studies that have found positive links between learning to play a musical instrument and mental development. In the article, “Music of the hemispheres: Playing instruments gives brains a boost,” Rachel Ehrenberg discusses the benefits of learning an instrument, saying “Evidence suggests that with musical training comes

Have you ever felt as though listening to music helped you focus when learning? Have you felt it increased your brain activity and made you work better and faster? Music is a fascinating element used by many people from different cultures to express themselves and learn. An argument at large with the use of music is, can music truly further and express learning and cognitive development? Like most debates, this topic has two opposing sides, as to whether it can or cannot affect the brain. On one side, it has been said that music has a positive effect on learning, development and brain activity and on the other hand, it has been said to have little to no effect. From the research and studies conducted, music has a positive effect on cognitive development, recall and learning. When working, listening to music can

Even as infants and into early childhood, music is extremely beneficial to brain development. In early childhood development, music and learning music helps develop the reading and writing

It’s a proven fact: music strengthens the brain. The most beneficial type of music to the brain is instrumental, specifically playing an instrument. Playing an instrument involves all parts of the brain. ‘“There’s some good neuroscience research that

This development on the brain is called brain plasticity, which is defined as “the capacity of the brain to change, remain flexible, and continue to learn throughout one's life” (Collins, 2014). The practice of music education, allows musicians to enhance the brain’s pathways, making the brain work twice as hard, than a person who is a non-musician. Musicians have been found to attain higher levels of skills than non-musicians (Collins, 2014). The problem with this, is whether music education does have an impact to the brain of musicians. Parents should take music education into consideration. This will help their children to perform better in school, therefore getting good grades will be something easy for them. Many people question whether music education really helps or not, neuroscientists are studying this, to find if music education does help a person develop several areas of the

Although many, one positive way music education is beneficial to students is that it has a large impact on brain stem growth. With the incorporation of music in a student’s daily life, the brain stem’s responses become more robust (Brown). Therefore, the amount of brain stem growth correlates with recent musical training. As stated by Brown, an adjunct professor at the University of Baltimore, “student’s that are involved with a large amount of music will see more gains in brain stem growth”. Furthermore, the neural changes that occur in students as adolescents stay with them into adulthood (“Music Matters”). This allows students to be more prepared once they go into the workforce as adults. Along with the brain stem’s responses being more robust, it’s sensitivity to sound increases (“The Benefits” 1). This is abundantly evident from early on, as mother’s sing to their infants to facilitate brain stimulation and development. Enrichment through music, starting at a young age, seems to improve individuals speech sound development and use of more advanced vocabulary. Adolescents’ language also improves with the use of music in a student’s academics (Miller 46). Luehrisen