PART I
It comes as no surprise to us that exposure to music has its benefits. In recent history, the field of Music Cognition has been able to objectively study, test and document these benefits. Although learning about music is obviously rewarding in its own right, research has shown that Music Education has value beyond music as well. Dr. Glenn Schellenberg of the University of Toronto has dedicated years of research on the link between music education and intelligence. Although, long gone are the days when researchers believed that “listening to Mozart makes you smarter”, there is solid evidence suggesting that active music education contributes to intellectual development. In one of his papers titled “Music Lessons, Intellectual Abilities, and Social Skills: Conclusions and Confusions”, Dr. Schellenberg provides convincing evidence for the extra musical benefits of music education on measures of intelligence as well as school performance. Critically, Dr. Schellenberg has carefully designed his studies so as to be sure that the benefits are not actually due to socioeconomic status or parents’ education. Side Note: Cognitive research has shown that intelligence and academic achievement are not one and the same. Intelligence comes in many forms. For more information look up: “Multiple Intelligence Theory”. Dr. Schellenberg also suggests that music lessons are not associated with social skills or emotional intelligence. This last point is somewhat controversial. There is some compelling new research from Michael Tomasello and colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig showing that children are more likely to exhibit pro-social behaviour such as sharing following participation in group music-making activity. In another recent paper by Schellenberg entitled “Music Lessons, pitch processing and g” (g stands for general intelligence), he shows that although musically trained individuals performed better on pitch processing speed and relative pitch, they did not differ from untrained individuals with respect to general intelligence. Other researchers believe that the benefits of music training on pitch processing extend to language development. This of course is only a sampling of the many potential benefits of music education that have been considered in scientific research. Follow up on future columns to learn more about the positive values of music lessons, particularly for those in populations with special needs/abilities.
Cognitive Benefits of
Music Education Written by: Sina Fallah – Centre for Music Education & Cognition Dr. Frank Russo – Ryerson University May 2011
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Side Note: Cognitive research has shown that intelligence and academic achievement are not one and the same. Intelligence comes in many forms. For more information look up: “Multiple Intelligence Theory”.
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2011 ماه می، ژورنال پزشکی شفـا36