I recently received a circular from Sydney Symphony, featuring an article from Richard Gill. Richard Gill is Artistic Director with Sydney Symphony's education program. He is also a conductor, but mostly he is one of the most knowledgeable and passionate musicians I have encountered. (You can view Richard Gill speaking at this year's TEDx Sydney elsewhere in this blog.)
I would like to quote some of what he wrote. It is confronting when we understand the implications for our children.
"In Australia, some children are still being denied an opportunity to have a complete education. Children who are not receiving a well-planned and properly taught music program... are being denied educational opportunities and are being disadvantaged when compared with the small number of Australian children who do receive a good music education.
We teach music to children because it is good and because of its immeasurable capacity and potency to act on the heart, mind, spirit and soul of humanity.
We teach music to children because in doing so we acknowledge that there is almost no civilisation on earth without music somewhere at the heart of its existence.
We teach music because through it we can learn many skills associated with social inclusion and social interaction.
We teach children music because it is unique and has its own integrity as a subject or discipline."
There is a wealth of information you can find yourselves on the internet about tests and studies which have shown just how vital music is for the individual's education and ultimately for society. Tests have shown benefits in 4 major areas:
* Success in society
* Success in school
* Success in developing intelligence
* Success in life
You can read more extensively about this on http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/benefits.html
A recent survey in the USA showed that an average of 20% of high school students are enrolled in an instrumental music program. The survey also revealed that 80% of the academic awards are consistently gained by this 20% group of music students.
Although there is some difference of opinion about WHY it is that studying music, especially learning an instrument, can increase IQ scores, there seems to be no question that it just does. And not just in one area. This increase in ability spans many areas of thinking and learning outcomes.
"Formal education is promoted not only for gaining literacy and numeracy skills, as well as specific knowledge in various domains, but also for developing the
capacity for reasoning and critical thinking. Extracurricular experiences such as music lessons appear to play a role in this process." (Schellenberg, E Glenn: "Research Report - Music Lessons" University of Toronto at Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)
I speak often about Music from the Cradle to the Grave, and so it is not just in schools where music has demonstrated its benefits.
Research has shown that babies respond with more engagement to rhythm and beat than to speech! (University of York. "Babies are born to dance, new research shows." ScienceDaily, 16 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Jun. 2011.) That should have HUGE implications for how we interact with our children from the earliest of days! (if YOU don't feel confident about having music like this, you should come along to our Jungle Music classes and be immersed in beat and rhythm activities)
Then more research demonstrates that "..music lessons taken in or out of school and parents attending concerts with their children, has a positive effect on reading and mathematic achievement in early childhood and adolescence." (ScienceDaily Feb 11, 2009)
Right up to our older age, it has been shown that active participation in music has some effect on delaying the onset of dementia, not to mention the therapeutic benefits music engenders in day to day life.
It is clear that Music has benefits for intellectual ability - it improves concentration, listening ability (both internal and external), reading and comprehension ability, mathematical perception, coordination, spatial reasoning, memorisation.
Music benefits our ability to maintain a relaxed focus; and has health benefits in a variety of ways at all ages.
Music is a unifying force in society and is a universal language.
How can we NOT make sure that our children - and ourselves - are participating actively in music education and music activities?
