Why Music Education is Important
Why Music Education is Important
August 23, 2018
Music Education is a great for just about every student who joins and there are probably hundreds of reasons why they should join. This list focuses on the data of why music education participants have a higher chance at a successful life. Beyond the basic reasons of developing a strong work ethic and building life-long friends, there is evidence that even more benefits come from being a part of these groups. The multiple studies show that these students excel in many other areas in life.
Music Education helps Students Develop Better Memories
There have been studies done with evidence that music education helps with memory. It’s to be expected that a musician would have better musical memory, but there are signs they may have better verbal memory as well.
For example, multiple studies have shown that musicians are better are recalling a list of words than those who aren’t musicians. In a study shared by Psychology Today, students had to recall a set of 20 words. Then they had to recall a set of 40 words that randomly included the previous 20 words. They then had to identify which words were old and new. The students who had music education did better with this exercise than the students with no music experience.
This study shows a similar result as well.
Music Education Students Tend to get Better Grades
There is recent evidence that suggests there may be a correlation between good grades and continued music education. In this study shared by Pacific Standard, 180 students were selected because they were at the top of their class. At the time these students were selected, everyone was in music education because it was required for their first two years of secondary school. But for the final three years, it was optional. Every year, the average grades of the students that had chosen to continue with music education were higher than the students who did not.
This study at Whitworth University shows the same result. Analyzing an incoming class of freshmen, here is what they found:
High School GPA:
All freshmen – 3.6708
Band freshmen – 3.7077
SAT (Verbal):
All freshmen – 595.34
Band freshmen – 611.07
SAT (Math):
All freshmen – 600.09
Band freshmen – 615.71
Also note that “All freshmen” includes the band freshmen, so the numbers for freshmen who weren’t in band are even lower.
Music Education Students are More Likely to Attend College
The Harmony Project and researchers at Northwestern University have found that over 90% of high school seniors who participated in Harmony Project’s free music project in Los Angeles went to college even though dropout rates in the area can be as high as 50%. Many other studies have found that a large portion of the Top 10 students in most graduating classes have a majority of them being in the band. Now, the correlation is not conclusive that students who are in band will have a top 10 class ranking but there is definitely a correlation of smart students doing activities with other smart students that improves the likelihood of college attendance after high school. In addition to surrounding yourself with other intelligent students, the skills of good time management, collaboration, and dedication to excellence that band requires are also key factors to not only getting into a college but being successful while there.
Music Education Students Learn to Grow from Adversity
Students that are in marching band or another music education program may have the ability to face adversity better later in life. In music education, they need to learn to recover from a poor performance whether it’s at a competition or at practice. They’re always trying to improve and this is no different from life itself. They learn to overcome hurdles and letdowns during their time in music education which can help set them up for success later in life.
Music Education Students Become Lifelong Friends
Students will learn to work as a unit. They will learn teamwork which is a skill they’ll continue using after they graduate. Everyone is working towards the same goal, and facing adversity together, a cohesive unit will be formed and they will learn how to work together.
Through teamwork, students will meet some of their best friends in marching band and some of those friendships will last a lifetime because of the shared experience of all the ups, downs, and everything in between in marching band.
At the end of the day, students will become better people all around through the teamwork, struggle, and triumph that music education provides.
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