The Importance of a Music Education

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Plato, a famous Greek philosopher, once stated, “I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.” Often times, humans can be seen possessing the inner desire to achieve greatness through hard work and dedication to an ideal. Some aspire to accomplish simple everyday goals, such as getting up in time for work. Whatever the case may be, teens often try to find ways to achieve social and academic “checkpoints” so that their future seems heartier. Over the years, studies have been conducted regarding whether or not music has an influence on these achievements. These experiments have shown that music does help with many aspects of accomplishment. Because of these studies, it is imperative that society and the human race itself understand that a music education has an impact on social and academic achievement.
Firstly, studies have shown that standardized test scores are higher than the average test taken, as well as higher ACT and SAT test score. A study was conducted concerning students who took the Scholastic Aptitude Test, otherwise known as the SAT. The study showed that students with a background in music scored 59 points higher in the verbal portion and 44 points higher in the Mathematics portion of the same test (Martin). Other studies were conducted to show a correlation between music education and the American College Testing, as well as numerous other tests. Researchers discovered that students who participated in a formal music class of some kind attained higher academic scores than those students who did not participate in music (Hodges), as well as high scores in English, reading, and science portions of the ACT (Johnso...

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...rograms, academic achievement”. KU News. Kansas: Kansas University, 2007. Web. 21 May 2013.
Martin, Roy P. “Does Music Education Enhance the Developing Brain and Academic Achievement”. College of Education at the University of Georgia. 17 November 2011. Web. 22 May 2013.
Nathan, Linda. “All students are artists”. Educational Leadership, Vol. 69 Issue 5, 2012. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 May 2013.
Southgate, Darby E. and Vincent J. Roscigno. “The Impact of Music on Childhood and Adolescent Achievement”. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 90, March 2009. Ohio State University. Web. 22 May 2013.
Standley, Jayne M. “Does Music Instruction Help Children Learn to Read? Evidence of a Meta Analysis”. Applications of Research in Music Education, Vol. 27 Issue 1, p17-32. 2008. EBSCOhost. MAGNOLIA. Web. 21 May 2013.
Young, Craig. Personal Interview. 7 August 2013.

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