Most schools, under constant pressure to make budget cuts, often drop music programs from their
curriculum. Now an extensive study by researchers from the University of British Columbia(UBC) in
Canada, shows that students who took music lessons in high school performed better in subjects such as
Math, Science and English.
The researchers collected data from over 100,000 students studying in public high schools across the
province of British Columbia. The study covered all the students who graduated between 2012 and
2015. They found that more than 15,000 of them were taking music lessons during their time in high
school.
When compared, the test score of students who took music lessons with those who didn’t, the
musicians got higher grades in a range of different school subjects.
Some other studies on these lines have been done before but this study was done on a much larger
scale and took into account other factors that may have affected the results.
For example, perhaps students who took music lessons were encouraged to do so because they already had good grades. Again, perhaps students were more or less inclined to study music depending on their socio-economic background, which could also affect academic scores. Such factors were covered in the data analysis by the research team and they still found a clear effect of music lessons on academic performance.
One paper that is often mentioned in the context of the link between practicing music and academic
success is a 2008 article showing that Nobel Laureates in the sciences were more likely to have a
musical hobby than other people ( including other scientists). But the data was collected from a range of
different sources that were very difficult to compare and of course, the group of Nobel Laureates was
small.
The UBC study, on the other hand, includes data from comparable groups – students of the same age, in
the same schools and in the same geographical region.
How Music Lessons Help Students Perform Better…
The research paper does mention a few possible explanations. Several studies link music practice with neurological changes that improve certain brain functions. This could explain how studying music affects memory or planning skills. And finally, the non-competitive team aspect of making music together could strengthen students’ social development, which also helps them in other areas.
The research also shows that not only did students studying music perform better than non-musicians but students who played a musical instrument, did better than those who sang.
This could be related to the level of involvement with music. “ Learning to play a musical instrument and playing in an ensemble, is very demanding,” says Martin Guhn, one of the researchers involved with the study.
“A student has to learn to read music notation, develop eye-hand-mind coordination, develop keen
listening skills, develop team skills for playing in an ensemble and develop the discipline to practice,” he
added.
“Whatever the reason may be, it seems like a good idea to continue to provide music education in high
schools”, says Eva Amsen, a freelance science writer who focused on stories behind this research.