It has been a long standing belief that music improves the overall academic performance of a child. But, is it true?
A study conducted in Canada’s McMaster University observed two groups of six children between age 4 and 6. The first group had music lessons while the second had not music lessons. The study determined that the children who took music lessons rated higher than their peers in literacy, mathematics, and memory skills.
According to Brigid Finucane, Chicago’s Merit School of Music’s Early Childhood Music Instructor, "Formal music instruction requires focus, discipline and determination — excellent qualities which are often transferred into other areas of the student's life. Beat and rhythms are key components in music. Children who can maintain a steady beat have a greater fluency in their reading. The music we sing provides vocabulary enrichment, teaches tenses and plurals, uses poetic language, allows visualization, and encourages good pronunciation. Through music we learn about ourselves, our culture and that of others, science and math, creativity, jobs, the environment, celebration and emotions."
