musicadvocacy

1. In a recent study, music students were compared to non-music students on a verbal memory test. The music students outperformed the non-music students by 16%. MUSICIANS are better listeners!

2. In another study, in comparing MRIs of musicians' and non-musicians' brains, the left planum temporale region is significantly larger than non-musicians. This difference in brain structure is believed to account for the improved verbal memory.

3. Slightly more than 80% of the Osborne band earned GPAs above 3.0 last year. Several students are in the top 10% of their class. Band members earned athletic letters from 9 different sports, and serve as leaders for 11 clubs and organizations on campus. The very best students at Osborne are in the band.

4. The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians.

5. Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. 44% of biochemistry majors were admitted.

6. A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science.

7. The U.S Dept. of Labor issued a report in 1991 urging schools to teach for the future workplace. The skills they recommend (working in teams, communication, self-esteem, creative thinking, imagination, and invention) are exactly those learned in school music programs.

8. Researcher's have also found that musicians have a thicker corpus callosum (the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two halves of the brain) than those of non-musicians, especially for those who had begun their training before the age of seven.

9. Nations who consistently outscore the U.S. in tests assessing science achievement are the countries where music is a primary focus of the curriculum.

10. The College Board identifies the arts (including music) as one of the six basic academic subject areas students shoudl study in order to succeed in college. "Preparation in the arts will be valuable to colelge entrants whatever their intended field of study."

11. Admissions officer at 70% of the nation's major universities have stated that high school credit and achievement in the arts are significant considerations for admission to their institutions.

12. There is a high correlation between positive self-perception, high cognitive competence scores, healthy self-esteem, total interest and school involvement, and the study of music.

13. Research suggests that music training can siginifcantly increase spatial-temporal reasoning skills, the skills necessary for greater success in math and science.

14. MRI shows that certain areas of the brain are larger in musicians than in non-musicians and even more exaggerated for those musicians who started musical training before age seven.

All Sources for above citations can be found at www.menc.org and the WhyMusic mail-list, to join email, [email protected].