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Your Name

Research Paper

Mrs. Getz

English 1304

25 April 2007

Music Education: A Lasting Contribution

A student wakes up in the morning to the sound of his alarm clock radio. While he

showers in preparation for his day, the student hums a song that has been echoing in his head for

days. As he drives to school, the radio plays a string of nonstop hits that his friends and he will

later discuss. During his lunch break, a thin strain of music settles over the busy crowd. Even on

his way home, the student will encounter music. Something so integral to human life must be

understood, and utilized, as thoroughly as possible. The positive effects of instrumental and

aural training in young people from preschoolers to preadolescents have been widely acclaimed,

and therefore these assets to development should be continued through the levels of secondary

education in order to provide a well-rounded aesthetic appreciation that will benefit the student

during their present lives and into later adulthood.

In order to appreciate the value of specific musical training into the secondary levels of

education, the various benefits of this training in the lives of much younger children must first be

recognized. There is a clear dichotomy that must be established, however. Passive consumption

of music is not the same as active musical training. Passive consumption entails simply listening

to music without regard to the intricacies of it and without any attempt at recreating the musical

experience. Active musical training includes learning how to produce it. Passive consumption

does have its merits. Glenn Schellenberg, from the University of Toronto in Mississuaga,
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Ontario, Canada, conducted various experiments which measured the effects of passive

consumption by various groups of children. The results were based on standardized tests given

at the end of the research period. The research project was sparked by the debate over the

relevance of the “Mozart effect,” an idea published in an article which stated that participants

who listened to a recording of Mozart performed better than those who did not in a spatial

abilities test. Later studies showed that the music had provided higher levels of arousal.

Schellenberg, after exposing participants to different composers’ music, in different tempos and

modes, observed that what a listener individually associated with more provided the best levels

of cognitive performance (Schellenberg 1-2). Lili M. Levinowitz, in “The Importance of Music

in Early Childhood,” remarks upon the idea that “our culture has moved away from active music

making to more passive consumption” (Levinowitz 18). There is a need, from her perspective,

for music educators and parents, who “can do a great deal to provide music experiences and

stimulation that nurture a child’s music abilities,” to incorporate a more playful environment

“that encourage[s] play so that children can better teach themselves the music of their culture”

(Levinowitz 18). It is apparent that including music in a child’s surroundings at all is helpful to

their development, even if it is only by passive consumption.

If simply listening to music is enhances a child’s mind, then actually incorporating

musical training into a child’s curriculum must be even more helpful. Schellenberg, in a study

conducted later concerning the effect of music lessons on randomly selected children,

administered an IQ test to one-hundred and forty-four 6-year-olds before beginning first grade.

There were four particular groups, each given a different set of lessons and one being a control

group. The groups were given either keyboard lessons, voice lessons, or drama lessons. The

control group was given no lessons. The results of the second test, given during the transition
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from first to second grade, showed that “the increase in IQ was greater for the music groups than

for the control groups” (Schellenberg 3). Another test was given taking into account long-term

exposure to lessons as well as “confounding variables such as family income and parents’

education, which were held constant in the statistical analyses” (Schellenberg 3). This time, the

standardized test scores proved that “real-world effects of musical training on intellectual

abilities are larger with longer periods of training, long lasting, not attributable to obvious

confounding variables, and distinct from those nonmusical out-of-school activities”

(Schellenberg 3). Schellenberg attributes the connection between intellectual stimulation and

music to the school-like nature of music lessons, the range of abilities that music lessons work to

improve, such as memorization, fine-motor skills, and emotive expression, the abstract nature of

music, and the cognitive benefits similar to those in learning two or more languages. He affirms

that the benefits of music-learning extend to both short- and long-term periods (Schellenberg 3-

4). The nature of these benefits in young people, thus, could extend beyond the primary level of

education and into the secondary levels with continuation of these musical educational materials.

Another study conducted by Joyce Eastlund Gromko and Allison Smith Poorman from Bowling

Green State University, “The Effect of Music Training on Preschoolers’ Spatial-Temporal Task

Performance,” also showed similar results in increased abilities of young preschoolers. 30 3- and

4-year-olds were divided into two equal groups, one of them receiving musical training and the

other group serving as the control group. A preliminary Performance IQ test was administered.

The trained group received, for seven months, a new song every week in which they sang, added

simple percussive choreography, played the song on hand chimes or songbells, illustrated the

song with stickers, and traced the song on a tactile chart. At the end of the seven months, the

Performance IQ was again administered, this time with a definite difference in results between
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the trained group and the control group. “The treatment group made significantly more gain in

raw scores than the control group” (Gromko 177). Furthermore, Gromko and Poorman stated in

conclusion to the study:

We believe that early music training with an emphasis on sensory motor activity, visual

and aural perception of space and sound, and the improvement of memory for space and

sound nurtures a young child’s intrinsic love of learning, helps them move expressively

and perceptively within their environments, and sustains and encourages their intellectual

growth up to the point that they enter school. (Gromko 178)

The evidence of this wide range of enhanced abilities further supports the need for continued

music education into the secondary school educational institutions. If such qualities as a child’s

self-esteem and adaptability to environmental changes are improved through something as

enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing as musical training, one can only imagine the benefits music

provide to an adolescent undergoing the stress of social, physical, and emotional pressure.

It is arguable, according to Eugenia Costa-Giomi, from McGill University, in her report

“The Effects of Three Years of Piano Instruction on Children’s Cognitive Development,” that the

cognitive improvements of music are only short-term in nature. Costa-Giomi conducted a three-

year study in which she selected a group of sixty-seven children to be part of an experimental

group and fifty to be in a control group. All the children in the study came from families with

incomes of $40,000 per year or less (Canadian dollars). The children in the experimental group

received, for three years, a piano in their homes and 3 years of instruction, lasting from thirty to

forty-five minutes, teaching repertoire from contemporary and classical resources. At the

beginning of the study, and at regular intervals at the end of each year of the study, the children

were administered the Developing Cognitive Abilities Test. Each week, the piano instructors
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would fill out progress reports based on the child’s participation and attendance of lessons. After

much examination of the final data, results showed that the children in the experimental group

had more improved test scores than the control group during the first two years of the study, but

by the third year of the study, there was no significant difference between the abilities of the

experimental or the control group. Costa-Giomi examined the progress reports and discovered

that the reason behind the difference in the trend was that many students in the experimental

group were losing interest and either were not attending lessons or not giving full attention and

participation during the lessons. Costa-Giomi concluded that although musical training could

improve short-term cognitive abilities, long-term improvement is reliant upon the enthusiasm

and dedication of the student involved in the musical training (Costa-Giomi 201-210). This

study, however, does not invalidate the necessity of musical education in upper-level education.

For one, the group was composed solely of lower-income families, which means that a sampling

of all income levels would be necessary to see a more accurate trend in cognitive development

with musical training. Secondly, as discussed earlier with the Schellenberg experiment, a

listener’s mental abilities are increased based on the level of arousal, dependent upon music that

the listener actually enjoys. This would lead to the conclusion that perhaps the music selected

for the children to learn in the piano lessons of Costa-Giomi’s study were not exposed to music

that they necessarily enjoyed. These factors add to the instability of this study’s argument that

short-term cognitive development is the only sure advantage of musical training.

The enjoyable nature of music is completely exploitable, if music educators of the

secondary level are willing to pull away from traditional, conservative practices and see the merit

in different forms of music which will capture and maintain the attention of junior high and high

school students. Robert Woody, Associate Professor of Music Education in the University of
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Nebraska, Lincoln, argues for the validity of popular music as an educational tool: “. . . Popular

music . . . can be thought of merely as a subculture within American music . . . Popular music

often represents the “native” culture of students. In a very real way, respecting the music is

respecting students” (Woody 2). Woody also advocates not only the analyzing of the cultural

context of popular music, but putting the vernacular into practice in order to reinforce its

authenticity to students. “Active engagement is far more educationally effective than passive

consumption” (Woody 3). The development of popular musicians holds much validity in

Woody’s opinion. Students will learn to collaborate productively in “jam sessions,” learn

technical skills in context of popular songs rather than isolating the skill alone, and unite

listening with actual musical production. These factors add to the general drive of motivation as

to why popular music would benefit educational programs in secondary schools. Motivation, as

noted earlier, would be fundamental to the continued cognitive growth and mental stimulation of

a student. Woody explains the benefits of musicianship as related to popular music. It leads to

practical aural skills, improvisational technique affluence, and it fosters musical creativity. The

skills achieved in popular musical education lead to lifelong skills that will enhance participation

in social and religious life as adults (Woody 5-7). Edward Trimis, Department Chair of Music at

Huntington Park High School in California, affirms a different aspect of the importance of

having a thorough music training program in high school. Students interested in majoring in

music in college, with a rigorous musical program, will be much more prepared than many

students with a less-focused musical background. As for the reaction to the additions to the

curriculum, Trimis remarks, “All of the students—those in the music department and the general

student body—ended up profiting from the extra classes” (Trimis 23). Obviously, there are long-

lasting educational and social effects of a music education program that cater to the vernacular
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tastes of the student. Appreciation of this type of music will facilitate learning more classical

repertoire and techniques.

There are psychological effects of music as well that must be accounted for along with

the educational benefits. These benefits must be considered in the establishment of rigorous

musical education and training into upper-level education. Jacqueline Roberts, from the

Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre in the U.K., discusses the benefits of musical therapy

for sexually abused children. One particular child, named “Sally,” showed characteristics of

posttraumatic stress disorder. Through years of musical therapy, Sally developed a sense of

herself through musical instruments and was able to communicate her distress and trauma

through the musical sessions. She also learned to regulate her emotional outbursts and deal with

her environment in a more controlled way (Robarts 258-263). Robarts remarks about the

psychological and therapeutic aspects of music:

In music there is a two-way channel, to and fro, between the sensory realm from which

meaning . . . emerges to the more fully fledged symbolic realm of imagination and play . .

. Because music can both reach and regulate the core of our beings, for the traumatized

child it can work to support and transform the distorted and disrupted foundations of the

bodily emotional self. (Robarts, 265)

If music is able to accomplish this in emotionally turbulent children, then the quality of music

which transcends all ages and walks of life allows it to communicate to anyone. The healing

properties of music are a huge asset in the continuing of music as an educational program

through the junior high and high school level. Suvi Saarikallio and Jaakko Erkkilä, of the

University of Jyväskylä, Finland, comment in “The Role of Music in Adolescents’ Mood

Regulation” on the mood-regulating nature of music. The regulatory strategies they list include
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entertainment, revival, diversion, discharge, mental work, and solace. Their studies show that

music is related to creating a positive mood and that the pleasantness of a musical experience

enhances the state of a person’s well-being. Also, “the study succeeded in demonstrating the

impressive capability of music for promoting emotional self-regulation” (Saarikallio 104-5).

Especially during the turbulent years of adolescence, the school system, which is such an integral

part of a young person’s life, should constantly provide some sort of therapeutic experience for

the students they are trying to prepare for life as adults.

Music has proven to be a useful tool in developing young people’s minds, both in short

and long terms benefits. It has also been shown to provide skills necessary for life, regardless of

whether or not one is entering life as a musician due to the social skills it fosters. On an

emotional and psychological level, music is able to heal and soothe, which are important

qualities of something that human beings surround themselves with so much with every day.

Music surrounds each of us. It is a cultural entity which defines how we experience life. To

integrate something so vital to the human experience into the school system is a wise choice. It

ensures well-being for the student on levels that reach far beyond education.
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Works Cited

Schellenberg, E. Glenn. “Music and Cognitive Abilities.” Current Directions in Psychological

Science. 14.6 (Dec. 2005): 317-20.

Lili M. Levinowitz. “The Importance of Music in Early Childhood.” Music Educator’s Journal.

86.1, 1999: 17-18.

Gromko, Joyce Eastlund and Poorman, Allison Smith. “The Effect of Music Training on

Prechoolers’ Spatial-Temporal Task Performance.” Journal of Research in Music

Education. 46.2 (Summer 1998): 173-81.

Eugenia Costa-Giomi. “The Effects of Three Years Piano Instruction on Children’s Cognitive

Development.” Journal of Research in Music Education. Autumn, 1999: 198-212.

Woody, Robert H. “Popular Music in School: Remixing the Issues.” Music Educators Journal.

93.4 (Mar. 2007): 32-7.

Trimis, Edward. “Building a High School Music Major Program.” Music Educators Journal.

84.5 (Mar., 1998): 19-23.

Robarts, Jacqueline. “Music Therapy with Sexualy Abused Children.” Clinical Child

Psychology and Psychiatry. 11.2 (2006): 249-269.

Saarikallio, Suvi and Erkkila, Jaakko. “The role of music in adolescents’ mood regulation.”

Psychology of Music. 35.1 (2007): 88-109.