West Music Staff Blogs

The following is a summary of research by Susan Hallam, Institute of Education, University of London.

Recent advances in the study of the brain have enhanced our understanding of the way that active engagement with music may influence other activities.

• Eight year old children with just 8 weeks of musical training showed improvement in perceptual cognition compared with controls.
• Eight year old children with musical training outperformed controls on tests of music and language.
• Musically trained participants remembered 17% more verbal information that those without musical training.
• Children experiencing difficulties with reading comprehension have benefitted from training in rhythmical performance.

Intellectual development

• A study contrasting the impact of music lessons (standard keyboard, Kodaly voice) with drama or no lessons found that the music groups had reliably larger increases in IQ.

General attainment and creativity

• Two nationally representative data sources in the USA with data from over 45,000 children found that associations between music and achievement persisted even when prior attainment was taken into account.

Physical development, health and wellbeing

• Rhythmic accompaniment to physical education enhances the development of physical skills. 
• Learning to play an instrument enhances fine motor co-ordination.

There may be particular health benefits for singing in relation to the immune system, breathing, adopting good posture, improved mood, and stress reduction. The research has been carried out with adults but these benefits could equally apply to children.