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Thesis: Musical training leads to success by reinforcing one’s confidence in the ability to create,
2. It is creative thinking and the ability to listen that are strengthened through
B. Being able to study, understand and perform music is a skill set that is bound to
1. Music expands and strengthens the cognitive functions of the brain and
this, in turn, can translate into providing the tools for success in the real
world.
2. Music has the ability to make human life more beautiful and enriching,
and when these abilities are actualized, humanity feels fulfilled and alive.
A. More and more studies are linking musical training with improved brain function
brain power.
for the pressure that children feel to do well on standardized testing as part
1. Musical training improves brain power across the board and also nurtures
well-connected. The ability to use right brain creativity and left brain logic
genius.
A. Skills learned during musical training further develop the areas of the brain
B. Playing an instrument changes how the brain interprets and integrates a wide
range of sensory information, especially for those who start before age 7.
music and listen to the tones they produce, the researchers predicted that
was correct.
2. "Musicians are able to ignore the auditory stimuli and only report what
they are feeling," Roy said, adding "that this is solid evidence of an
improved ability to process information from more than one sense at the
same time."
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Katlyne Woods
AP English IV
Mr. Cullen
04/27/18
Einstein once said, “Life without playing music is inconceivable to me. I live my
daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music...I get most of my joy in life out of music.”
A 2013 study conducted by Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk,
revealed that the left and right hemispheres of Albert Einstein’s brain were unusually well
connected to each other and may have contributed to his brilliance. The study, “The Corpus
Callosum of Albert Einstein’s Brain: Another Clue to His High Intelligence,” was published in
the journal “Brain”. Lead author Weiwei Men of East China Normal University’s Department of
Physics developed a new technique to conduct the study. Men’s technique measures and
color-codes the varying thicknesses of subdivisions of the corpus callosum along its length,
where nerves cross from one side of the brain to the other. These thicknesses indicate the number
of nerves that cross and therefore how “connected” the two sides of the brain are in particular
regions, which facilitate different functions depending on where the fibers cross along the length.
This new technique permitted registration and comparison of Einstein’s measurements with
those of two samples — one of 15 elderly men and one of 52 men Einstein’s age in 1905. The
research team’s findings show that Einstein had more extensive connections between certain
parts of his cerebral hemispheres compared to both younger and older control
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ability to create, improving brain function, and improving sensory and motor function.
the Federal Reserve, was a professional clarinet and saxophone player. The hedge fund
billionaire Bruce Kovner is a pianist who took classes at Juilliard. Multiple studies link music
study to academic achievement. But what is it about serious music training that seems to
correlate with outsize success in other fields? Almost all made a connection between their music
training and their professional achievements. The phenomenon extends beyond the math-music
association. Strikingly, many high achievers have said that music opened up the pathways to
creative thinking. And their experiences suggest that music training sharpens other qualities:
Collaboration. The ability to listen. A way of thinking that weaves together disparate ideas. The
power to focus on the present and the future simultaneously. Musicians can be found at the top
of almost any industry. Woody Allen performs weekly with a jazz band. The television
broadcaster Paula Zahn (cello) and the NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd
(French horn) attended college on music scholarships; NBC’s Andrea Mitchell trained to become
a professional violinist. Both Microsoft’s Mr. Allen and the venture capitalist Roger McNamee
have rock bands. Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, played saxophone in high school. Steven
Spielberg is a clarinetist and son of a pianist. The former World Bank president James D.
Wolfensohn has played cello at Carnegie Hall. “It is not a coincidence,” says Mr. Greenspan,
who gave up jazz clarinet but still dabbles at the baby grand in his living room. “I can tell you as
a statistician, the probability that that is mere chance is extremely small.” The cautious former
Fed chief adds, “That is all that you can judge about the facts. The crucial question is: why does
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that connection exist?” Paul Allen offers an answer. He says music “reinforces your confidence
People can certainly be successful without a musical background, but success in the real
world and musical study go hand in hand. Music is a creative impulse meant to express emotion.
Musicians push themselves to look beyond what already exists to discover something new, this
opens up the mind to conceive of numerous possibilities in the real world, which leads to a
strong creative intelligence. It is creative thinking and the ability to listen that are strengthened
through the discipline of intense musical study, which gives musicians greater capacity for
thought processing and more imaginative minds. New ways of thinking, communicating and
problem solving are cultivated by musical minds. Music has the ability to make human life more
beautiful and enriching, and when these abilities are actualized, humanity feels fulfilled and alive
(Kettinger).
Musical training improves brain function by laying down neural scaffolding that
improves the brain’s ability to hardwire connections between various brain regions. Practicing a
musical instrument engages all four hemispheres of the brain at an electrical, chemical and
architectural level which optimizes brain power. Neuroscientists are discovering multiple ways
that musical training improves the function and connectivity of different brain regions
and music therapy at the University of Kansas, revealed that students in elementary schools with
superior music education programs scored around 22 percent higher in English and 20 percent
higher in math scores on standardized tests, compared to schools with low-quality music
programs, regardless of socioeconomic disparities among the schools or school districts. Johnson
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compares the concentration that music training requires to the focus needed to perform well on a
According to the Children’s Music Workshop, the effect of music education on language
development can be seen in the brain. “Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical
training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with
processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar
songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds,” the group claims.
This relationship between music and language development is also socially advantageous to
young children. “The development of language over time tends to enhance parts of the brain that
help process music,” says Dr. Kyle Pruett, clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale School
The ability to use small, acute muscle movements to write, use a computer, and perform
other physical activities essential for classroom learning are enhanced through music education.
The parts of the brain associated with sensory and motor function are developed through music
instruction, and musically trained children have better motor function than non-musically trained
children. Thinking skills such as abstract reasoning are integral to students’ ability to apply
knowledge and visualize solutions. Studies have shown that young children who take keyboard
lessons have greater abstract reasoning abilities than their peers, and these abilities improve over
time with sustained training in music. Students who study music surpass non-music students in
assessments of writing, using information resources, reading and responding, and proofreading.
Music education benefits show that gains in achievement of music students increase over time as
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compared to non-music students. something new. This opens up the mind to conceive of
numerous possibilities in the real world, which leads to a strong creative intelligence. Skills
learned during musical training further develop the areas of the brain responsible for independent
motor movements and auditory differentiation. The brains of well-trained musicians have their
motor and multisensory systems cooperate together on a higher level than those of
non-musicians. The ability to use small, acute muscle movements to write, use a computer, and
perform other physical activities essential for classroom learning are enhanced through music
education. Playing an instrument changes how the brain interprets and integrates a wide range of
sensory information, especially for those who start before age 7. Since musicians have to
simultaneously work their instrument, read sheet music and listen to the tones they produce, the
researchers predicted that they would be better at differentiating sound from touch. Their
hypothesis was correct. "Musicians are able to ignore the auditory stimuli and only report what
they are feeling," Roy said, adding "that this is solid evidence of an improved ability to process
information from more than one sense at the same time" (ArtsBridge.com).
recognition and memory. These skills make cognitive demands that breach across several
sensory systems in the mind, which can give scientists a great opportunity to study
brain-behavior and change over time. Recent neuroimaging has shown that the brains of highly
notably in the form of increased gray matter volume. The skills also learned during musical
training further develop the areas in the brain responsible for independent motor movements and
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auditory differentiation. The brains of well-trained musicians have their motor and multisensory
The No Child Left Behind law is uniformly blamed for stripping curriculum
opportunities, including art, music, physical education and more, and imposing a brutal testing
regime that has forced educators to focus their time and energy on preparing for tests in a narrow
range of subjects: namely, English/language arts and math (Walker). Some may argue that
musical training is a waste of money and shifts the focus from the “more important” subjects in
school. This, however, is not true. Research has found that learning music facilitates learning
other subjects and enhances skills that children inevitably use in other areas. “A music-rich
experience for children of singing, listening and moving is really bringing a very serious benefit
to children as they progress into more formal learning,” says Mary Luehrisen, executive director
association that promotes the benefits of making music. Making music involves more than the
voice or fingers playing an instrument; a child learning about music has to tap into multiple skill
sets, often simultaneously. For instance, people use their ears and eyes, as well as large and small
muscles, says Kenneth Guilmartin, cofounder of Music Together, an early childhood music
development program for infants through kindergarteners that involves parents or caregivers in
the classes. “Music learning supports all learning. Not that Mozart makes you smarter, but it is a
Musical study and training cultivates the mind and can help someone be successful in the
world. Being able to study, understand and perform music is a skill set that is bound to benefit
anyone who is willing to engage with it and be persistent. Music expands and strengthens the
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cognitive functions of the brain and this, in turn, can translate into providing the tools for success
in the real world. Music has the ability to make human life more beautiful and enriching, and
when these abilities are actualized, humanity feels fulfilled and alive (Kettinger).
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Works Cited
Bergland, Christopher. "10 Ways Musical Training Boosts Brain Power." Psychology Today.
Bergland, Christopher. "Musical Training Optimizes Brain Function." Psychology Today. Sussex
Brown, Laura Lewis. "The Benefits of Music Education." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 25
"How Musical Training Trains The Brain For Success." ArtsBridge. N.p., 30 May 2014. Web. 07
Apr. 2017.
Kettinger, Charles. "Is There A Link Between Musical Training and Success?" Odyssey.
Lipman, Joanne. "Is Music the Key to Success?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 12
Walker, Tim. "The Testing Obsession and the Disappearing Curriculum." NEA Today. N.p., 02