"With music, one’s whole future life is brightened. This is such a treasure in life that it helps us over many troubles and difficulties. Music is nourishment, a comforting elixir. Music multiplies all that is beautiful and of value in life."
—Zoltan Kodaly
Why Music
The power of music and music education can be life changing for our students. It is one of the greatest gifts we can give our kids. Research has shown that not only does it improve students’ cognitive function and academic performance, but it enhances students’ social emotional skills, creative thinking skills, and ability to collaborate. Children’s lives, inside and outside of school, are vastly improved when music plays a part in their schooling.
Amazing facts and articles about music education:
- Scientists have researched the effects of singing in a choir and the results show benefits for mood, stress levels, and even the immune system.
Harvard Article - “Music instruction appears to accelerate brain development in young children, particularly in the areas of the brain responsible for processing sound, language development, speech perception and reading skills.” - According to a five-year study conducted by USC (University of Southern California)
USC Article - Analyzing brain scans of musicians ages 6 through 18, researchers out of the University of Vermont College of Medicine have found tremendous thickening of the cortex in areas responsible for depression, aggression and attention problems. According to the study's authors, musical training "accelerated cortical organization in attention skill, anxiety management and emotional control."
The Chorus Impact study discovered the following:
- Children who sing in choruses get significantly better grades in school than kids who have never been part of a choir. Children’s ability or performance in English/language arts, mathematics, and academics overall improved after their child joined a choir.
- Parents of children in choirs are significantly and consistently more likely to report that their children are better team players and have more advanced social skills than parents of children who’ve never participated.
- Large majorities of educators, often 80 percent or more, agree that choir participation can help make students better participants in groups, help develop stronger social skills, lead to better emotional expression and management, improve overall academic performance, help instill self-discipline and punctuality, and more.
"Music education isn't about creating incredible musicians. It's about creating incredible humans."
Kris Bowers, Director of "The Repair Shop"