March is Music in our Schools Month. It promotes the idea that music is an important part of a well-rounded education. And not just because it’s fun!
Experts believe music can have a powerful effect on the brain. It can affect mood, learning and performance in a positive way, especially for kids being trained in it.
Even at a young age, musicians have more gray matter in their brains associated with processing sound, researchers say. And this carries over into other areas of life. A brain trained in music becomes better at processing speech, language and emotion.
Even when not engaged in music, people with music training tend to process and hold onto audible information better than those who have no training at all, researchers say. This means they’re better at absorbing what’s said in a speech or lecture. And they also tend to learn new languages easier.
And music training improves memory, too. By involving high memory working load, it works to build memory capacity. And that helps boost IQ scores. It doesn’t make musical students smarter that the rest, researchers say. But it does make them smarter than they would have been without music.
But you don’t have to study music to receive some of its benefits. Just listening is great for young learners, too.
A Stanford University study suggests that listening to music increase one’s ability to focus in on details. In a learning environment, music can create a state where reading and vocabulary are absorbed at an advanced rate.
And at Johns Hopkins University, researchers believe listening to music in a classroom setting can also aid in memorization because it creates a “soundtrack” for what’s being studied. This soundtrack activates the information mentally, physically and emotionally.
At Infinite Energy, we take childhood education to heart. We know supporting learning is one of the best ways to make a difference in the world. And that’s why we give grants and scholarships, hold food and supply drives, volunteer our time at schools and, yes, even write blogs on how music can matter. Happy Music in our Schools Month!