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Ethan Moulden
Mrs. DeBock
English IV Honors
3 March 2016
Effects of Music on Students Brains
Music has always been a passion for many people, and for others it is just a hobby, a
pastime, or enjoyment for listening. It has been around since the beginning of time and has gone
through thousands of changes and transformations. Through all types of interaction with music
the brain is effected and expanded. Many researchers have set out to prove this point to be true,
and through many hours of research and testing, they have doubted and argued with one another.
They have all found different effects and endless benefits from music. Music will benefit the rate
of learning, language development, and children with disabilities.
Music has helped students not only branch out and expand their creativity, it also
develops their learning rates. Children were given voice and piano lessons in-between first and
second grade to determine if the exposure to music would benefit their average IQ. These
students that were given lessons and were tested scored an average 3 points higher than those
students who were not given lessons. This shows the increase in learning rates in students. The
increase is due to the type of learning and thinking that music requires. Students who learn and
study music use both sides of the brain, the left for comprehending the language of music and the
right side for the creativity and expression. The learning rate is benefited because they are
learning a new style and expression of language at a younger age and will increase the space for
knowledge in the brain because of the involvement from both sides (Brown). Music will also
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develop the spatial knowledge of students. This is because music does not only require skill
within oneself, but it requires skill as an ensemble. Students are required to listen to one another
and comprehend how the music is put together and what parts are needed to be heard. This
develops the spatial knowledge because it shows students how things are meshed together as a
whole and how different ideas can all come together to make one thing. This directly correlates
to students learning rates because it helps with application in school. Students can take ideas that
they learn in their core subjects and they will be able to piece them together more efficiently.
Students that are able to achieve these tasks through music will have higher learning rates and
will perform better in school overall (Phillips). Another benefit is the memorization skills that it
brings to students who partake in marching band. Students who are in marking band will be
challenged to memorize not only the music but the drill that they are required to march. This will
expand their brain capacity and teach them discipline. Students also learn the major benefits of
leadership through this particular band activity (Kerchner, Jody L., Carlos R. Abril.).
Language development is one of the major long term benefits from music. Students who
study music at a young age will grow up to have a better grasp on language and how it works.
This is a direct effect of music. Students will be expected to understand how the music is read
and interpreted. The Childrens Music workshop says, In music, a mistake is a mistake; the
instrument is in tune or not, the notes are well played or not, the entrance is made or not. It is
only by much hard work that a successful performance is possible. This helps the language
development because it shows that perfection is expected when playing music. The language is
developed through this process because students will learn to read and interpret the music time
and time again until it is perfect and until it is completely understood. They will then be able to
master these thoughts of rhythm and this will allow them to understand the thoughts completely.
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The English language can be interpreted and read in the same way. Students can read and
interpret tone, new words, and different sentence structures from a book the same way that
students will read and interpret styles, new rhythms, and different phrases and thoughts in music.
The spoken English language and the written musical language are both structured the same way
and this is what benefits the development at a young age.
The benefits of music do not just stop with normal kids. It continues on to those students
who struggle in school and have learning disabilities or other mental disabilities. These students
who have disabilities are shown to have increased learning when music is played because the
constant noise will keep their brain occupied while they are learning. This because the
disabilities will cause them to lose focus and their minds will lose track of what they are doing
because the disability causes them to have a short attention span, which can be corrected by
learning music and playing music while they are learning. They are also benefitted from the
development that it brings. It will help get them to the mental level that they need to be since
they are already behind. (11 Facts about Music Education). Music can also benefit other
diseases that are not obtained at birth. News in Health says, It turns out that the medial
prefrontal cortex is also one of the last brain regions to deteriorate in Alzheimers disease,
Janata says. This may help explain why many Alzheimers patients can remember and sing along
to tunes from their youth when other memories are lost. Music is directly involved with the
prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain that is affected the most by music. It will hold the
memories of music and generates the thoughts that deal with music. As one can see from the
passage, it is also the last to deteriorate from Alzheimers disease. This shows how music will
benefit mental illnesses because it will last with people that have memory diseases and if they
associate memories with music they will last longer.
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Music will benefit the rate of learning, language development, and children with
disabilities. Music will help those and give them something that will lengthen their memory and
prevent mental diseases. It will also help students develop their language and their brain capacity.
Finally, it will help them to achieve higher rates of learning and test scores. Music will benefit
the rate of learning, language development, and children with disabilities.

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Works Cited
"11 Facts sabout Music Education." Dosomething.org. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
Brown, Laura L. "The Benefits of Music Education." PBS Parents. 2003. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
Kerchner, Jody L., and Carlos R. Abril. Musical Experience in Our Lives: Things We Learn and
Meanings We Make. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2009. Print.
Kullmann, Dimitri M. "Brain." Oxford. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
"Music Matters for Body and Mind." News in Health. Jan. 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
Phillips, Carolyn. "12 Benefits of Music Education." Childrens Music Workshop. Web. 17 Feb.
2016.