For years, I have never understood the unbalanced devotion some people have to a sport for their children which can completely unravel the family schedule with daily practices, weekly games, out of town travel and splitting up the family when more than one child is committed to a team. I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on uniforms, equipment and travel. Some families even withdraw their children from school in order to participate in some athletic ventures. yet when looking at the stats of how these sports will impact the future of their children, some parents seem to focus on the short term benefits and, at times, ignore the long term consequences of such a demanding lifestyle.
Although different, piano/music training and sports share many common goals. Learning to play the piano teaches many of the same disciplines children gain from a sport. However, excluding sports, numerous studies have been done that show the dramatic increase in early brain development and improvement in a piano student’s overall academic performance.
Enhances Higher Brain Function
Piano lessons have been shown to improve a child’s performance in school. A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reports that music training-specifically piano instruction-is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills which are necessary for learning math and science. This experiment included three groups of preschoolers:
- One group received private piano/KB lessons and singing lessons
- A second group received private computer lessons
- A third group received no training.
– From Neurological Research, Feb 28, 1997; Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Improves Reading and Math Performance
A research team studying first graders from two Rhode Island elementary schools found that students who participated in an “enriched, sequential, skill building music program” dramatically increased their reading and math performance.
– From Nature May 23, 1996; Gardiner, Fox, Jeffery and Knowles
Raises IQ scores
Mozart’s Piano Sonata K448 was found to significantly increase spatial scores of college students on IQ tests when the Sonata was listened to for 10 minutes, dubbed the “Mozart Effect”.
– From Nature, ©1993, Drs. Rauscher and Shaw, University of California, Irvine
Provides Important Experiences
– From Nature, ©1993, Drs. Rauscher and Shaw, University of California, Irvine
Increased SAT scores
– Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the American Music Conference (1998)
There is a direct correlation between improved SAT scores and the length of time spent studying the piano. Those who studied the piano four or more years scored 60 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math portions of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts for a combined total of 101 points higher.
–Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the American Music Conference (1997)
Did you know?
The estimated probability of competing in athletics beyond high school interscholastic level is:
- Basketball: 3.3% men and 3.7% women
- Football: 6.5%
- Baseball: 6. 8%
- Hockey: 11.3%
- Soccer 5.7%
NCAA Research Last updated: September 2013
College Athletes Greatly Overestimate Their Chances of Playing
Going Pro: Division 1 Perceptions and Reality
- Men’s Basketball: Perception =76% Reality= 1.2%
- Women’s Basketball: Perception= 44% Reality =1.9%
- Football: Perception= 52% Reality= 1.9%
- Baseball: Perception= 60% Reality=9.4%
- Men’s Ice Hockey: Perception=63% Reality=0.8%
- Men’s Soccer: Perception= 46% Reality= 1.9%
2008 NCAA Research; insidehighered.com
