The Benefit of Music

Philip Ball wrote an interesting article called "Why Music is Good for You" at Nature.com.   A common myth people share describes the impact of listening to Mozart.  Listening to such classical music is supposed to make people smarter.  However, under experimental conditions this effect has not been observed.  Listening to music can improve concentration while completing a task, but that music spans classical to classic rock to hip hop.  Music is a universally human trait, meaning that almost all groups/tribes/cultures of our species create music.  The importance of music in our lives creates the soundtrack of our lives and can produce powerful memories.


While listening to Mozart may not make you smarter, studies show that learning how to play music increases IQ, increases concentration, and provides "broader cognitive benefits".  We can train our brain like we train our bodies.  Playing crosswords and sudoku can ward off Alzheimer's and increase mental awareness.  Music does the same thing.  According to the research discussed in the article,

... musical training sharpens our sensitivity to pitch, timing and timbre, and as a result our capacity to discern emotional intonation in speech, to learn our native and foreign languages, and to identify statistical regularities in abstract sound stimuli.

This is a lot of good news and at least some justification for forcing your kid to learn piano.  But the impact can be greater in our schools.  Whenever budget cuts are needed, music programs seem to go first as unnecessary expenses and extra-curriculars.  Perhaps, we should invest in more music programs for schools.  Teach kids to play instruments- they all play guitar hero anyways.  Maybe a quality music program could help our failing schools and our failing students.


Just something to think about today.