Music Education: From Treble Clef to Tech Guru

Sarah H. Whitmore
Among all of the worlds most successful people, a strikingly large number of them share
one particular trait-they were all serious musicians. Multiple studies link musical achievement to
academic achievement. An article published in The New York Times titled, Is Music the Key to
Success? by Joanne Lipman, uncovers the previously little-known pasts of political leaders and
business tycoons, such as Condoleezza Rice, who trained to be a concert pianist, Alan
Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, who was a professional clarinet and
saxophone player, and billionaire Bruce Kovner, a pianist and past student at Juilliard.
Amid the authors research, many high achievers said that their musical experiences
improved critical thinking, collaboration, and the ability to listen, and a way of thinking that
weaves together disparate ideas [and] the power to focus on the present and future
simultaneously. The author also uncovered that musicians have positions at the top of almost
every industry. Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, Woody Allen, motion picture producer and
director, television broadcaster Paula Zahn, NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd,
NBCs Andrea Mitchell, venture capitalist Roger McNamee, Larry Page, co-founder of Google,
Steven Spielberg, the prolific film director, and former World Bank president James D.
Wolfensohn once were or still are serious musicians.
Paul Allen, who began playing violin when he was seven and switched to guitar as a
teenager, says music reinforces your confidence in the ability to create something is pushing
you to look beyond what currently exists and express yourself in a new way.
In my personal experience as a serious student musician, the strive for perfection in my
musical endeavors has expanded into my schoolwork. I rarely, if ever, turn in any assignments
or projects that Im not completely satisfied with; therefore, my grades have never been anything
below satisfactory. As Chuck Todd states in the article, Ensemble playing trains you, quite
literally, to play well with others, to know when to solo and when to follow.
As the other successful workers were asked about their take on music and its role in their
success, Chuck Todd stated that there is a connection between years of practice and competition
and the drive for perfection. Advertising executive Steve Hayden says that his experiences
as a cellist helped him conceive his most famous work, the Apple 1984 commercial. I was
thinking of Stravinsky when I came up with that idea. James D. Wolfensohn calls music a
hidden language one that enhances the ability to connect disparate or even contradictory
ideas[when playing music] you arent trying to win any races or be the leader of this or the
leader of that. Youre enjoying it because of the satisfaction and joy you get out of music, which
is totally unrelated to your professional status. Mr. Wolfensohn also mentioned that as he ran
the World Bank and traveled to over 100 countries, he attended local performances as often as
possible, which he says helped him understand the culture of the people, as distinct from their
balance sheet. Bruce Kovner, the hedge fund founder and chairman of the board of Juillard,
says that the similarities between his piano playing and investing strategy relate to pattern
recognition, and some people extend these paradigms across different senses.
Perhaps the most impressive and essential quality of musicians is simply the drive for
perfection and success. Paula Zahn remembers playing her cello up to four hours a day holed
up in cramped practice rooms trying to master a phrase. Todd says his success originates from
outperforming his competitors; Ive always believed the reason Ive gotten ahead is by
outworking other people playing that solo one more time, working on that one little section
one more time working on something over and over again, or double-checking or triple-
checking.
Although the author has given plenty examples of serious musicians that had become
successful in various fields, only statistics showing more elaborate and detailed data would
completely convince me that music has a definite effect in a persons overall success.
Undoubtedly, I have seen firsthand that music has multitudes of positive outcomes; I
wholeheartedly believe that my experiences as both a clarinet player and trumpet player in
concert, jazz, pep, and marching bands has taught me how to communicate professionally, both
verbally and in written word; a crucial skill needed for success in any field. Music has also
given me plenty of exciting, if not prestigious, opportunities that have supplied my college
applications with a multitude of awards and accomplishments in which students involved in
other activities dont get to take advantage of.
When looking into a more detailed, scientific side of music and its specific effects on the
brain, Vanderbilt University provided an article that summarizes the research of Crystal Gibson,
Bradley S. Folley, and Sohee Park, titled, Musicians use both sides of their brains more
frequently than average people. The research uncovers that professionally trained musicians
more effectively use a creative technique called divergent thinking, and also use both the left and
right sides of their frontal cortex more heavily than the average person. The study used 20
students from the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music, all with at least eight years of musical
experience on various instruments, and 20 nonmusicians who were taking an entry-level
psychology class at Vanderbilt. The participants were tested on both their creative thinking
processes, ability to identify additional uses for everyday objects, and execute basic control tasks
as their prefrontal lobes were being monitored. This evidence supporting increased brain activity
and creative thinking is likely scientific origin of the high achieving musicians found in so many
different fields of study.
Overall, the musician participants received better scores in the creative thinking tests,
thought of more unique ways to use the everyday objects, and had greater brain activity in both
sides of the frontal lobes while executing the control tasks, as opposed to the nonmusician
participants. The researchers also found that IQ scores were higher among the musicians, further
supporting other studies and Lipmans research that advanced training in music correlates with
an increased IQ.
Another scientific explanation as to why musicians seem to be found so often in
respected or prestigious job positions is the study and use of music therapy. Music therapy, the
clinical use of musical applications, either performing or listening, to accomplish a specific goal,
is quite often used to relieve lack of focus caused by ADD/ADHD. Derived from information
published by Jason Lewis on one of his ADD/ADHD Intense Relief music videos, customized
compositions with specific frequencies and compositional techniques that stimulate the brain in
such a way that activity on opposing sides become balanced. These techniques can quite easily
be used to help students who arent diagnosed with either ADD or ADHD, but rather a need to
become incredibly focused in order to get a tedious academic assignment finished, concentrate
well enough to complete that one last calculus question, etc. Increased focus undoubtedly
makes for increased learning and increased achievement. I found this information to be
incredibly interesting and even useful, making me wonder- if musicians have been found to have
improved creative thinking and better listening skills from the research of Gibson, Folley, Park,
and Lipman, are they able to make the most of these unique compositions and use them to their
advantage even more than the average person? At the very least, the considerably new science of
music therapy will do anything but damage the achievement of the worlds successful musicians;
this is something every student should look into as this field grows in the future.
Musics effects on both its listeners and performers have been shown to play such a
significant role in the world of increased cognitive focus, creative thinking, and most
importantly, overall long-term success. Its a shame that music education in schools across the
nation are being weeded out as standardized curriculum is gaining popularity and taking away
both time and money from arts programs. I sincerely hope that in the future, educational
committees and organizations will take a serious look into the benefits of not only music, but arts
in general and make a dependable education in music not only a practical option for students, but
a top priority.