Music's Effects on Elementary School Math Tests

Exposure to music is highly beneficial to a child's intellect

When elementary students are exposed to music and encouraged to play a musical instrument, studies have shown that they do better in math. According to the Coalition for Musical Education, studies reveal that music lessons have been linked to improved spatial-temporal reasoning abilities. Music is viewed as a separate intelligence; however, there is a strong relationship between music and math.

Patterns

Playing music and learning how to play music involves patterns, all of which involve parallel mathematical concepts, regularity and ratios. When a student learns rhythms for a song, he starts thinking in multiples of four. For example, 16 beats of music equals four sets of four beats. In addition, young students comprehend the idea of even and odd when they engage in musical rounds.

Effects

It is easier to learn math formulas and multiplication tables and fractions if you are a musician. When a young child understands rhythm, they score significantly higher on fractions test. Children learn logic in music class which translates well to other academic fields. They solve problems easier and faster including those unrelated to music.

Discipline and Harmony

Another consideration is that exposure to music education teaches a child how to work in harmony as well as effectively in a schoolroom setting. Music tends to discipline a child, and he is less likely to resort to bad behavior or violence.

Benefits

Paul Borgese explains that children develop better concentration skills when they are introduced to music in elementary school. They learn to focus their attention on the matter at hand, including math. A musician also learns perseverance and patience, which helps them stay on task when they are tackling difficult subjects in school. Children exposed to music can more easily comprehend abstractions and are better problem solvers who are capable of finding an appropriate solution to a problem.

The Brain

Researchers from the University of California notes that providing your child with musical training activates inherent patterns in the areas of the brain that are responsible for spatial-temporal reasoning and the child is required to visualize and think ahead.

Considerations

Children who play the piano have far better spatial-temporal IQ scores than those who don’t. This type of skill is vital when doing some types of mathematical reasoning.

The Ballard School reports that second graders who were given four months of piano keyboard training in conjunction with new math software scored better than those students who only used the math software.

References

• Children's Music Workshop: Benefits of Music Education
• Ballard Music and Dance: Important Skills Your Child Learns By Studying Music
• Paul Borgese: Benefit of Music
• Paul Borgese: The Mozart Effect
• Coalition for Music Education: Early Childhood Music