Part III. Creative Learning: Educators and Researchers Illuminate the Effects of Arts Engagement on the Developing Brain

Humans Are Musical Creatures: The Case for Music Education by Indre Viskontas – Professor of Psychology, University of San Francisco and The San Francisco Conservatory of Music

• Our brains tune into music, even before we are born. It kick-starts fundamental human skills like language, empathy, and attachment. It enhances executive functioning skills like paying attention and meeting goals. Musical kids have higher GPAs, are less distracted, and have fewer discipline and attendance problems.
• Time spent in music class is time well spent. It benefits performance in the core curriculum rather than impeding it. Kids also like the social aspect of performing together. It fosters a sense of belonging and teaches them the value of cooperation. It’s hard to control for advantages that come with higher social class where music is more affordable, but there is research that controls for this and it all shows that music has many positive attributes.

State of the Art: National Statistics on Music in America’s Schools by Kenneth Elpus, Professor of Music Education, University of Maryland

• While 94% of elementary schools offer some music classes, they may be only 20 minutes a week and taught by uncertified teachers. Schools without music are likely to serve poorer students. Only 24% of high school students have at least one year of chorus, band or orchestra. Choir students are 70% female while band and orchestra students tend to be white, not poor, and have better prior academic achievement. There is also a possibility that some students avoid music as they are not interested in the kind of music studied in schools.

Rhythm & Rhyme: Supporting Young Children an Families with Musical Play by Sara Beck, Professor of Psychology, Randolph College and Miriam Lense, Professor of Otolaryngology, Vanderbilt University

• When adults talk to infants they use variable pitch, rhythmicity and repetition, elongated vowels, and greater emphasis on word boundaries. (Doug: I think of this as baby talk.) This infant-directed speech supports early social engagement along with language and communicative development. The authors do research in this field called music cognition.
• Infants prefer music and rhythm before they are born. Adults all over the world use music to regulate their mood and the moods of their children. Infants move to music with a beat without any instruction. Music therapy can be a big help for kids with neurodevelopment disorders such at autism. Music therapy helps connect the auditory and motor regions of your brain. Any activity can be made into a song and kids can easily make up their own songs or parodies. The chapter ends with a list of activities you can try at home.

Belonging Through Music: Investing in Our Children’s Future by Francisco Núñez, Founder and Artistic Director, Young People’s Chorus of New York City

• Francisco’s mother was an immigrant who occasionally cleaned houses to pay for her son’s piano lessons. As a child musician he mixed with children who were very different from himself. After graduating from NYU with a major in piano he started The Young People’s Chorus (YPC) of New York City. Each year it serves 2,000 students ages eight to eighteen.
• He finds that students on stage actively support each other and that care and affirmation can replace bullying. The YPC also cares for children beyond performances. 100% of the students graduate and go on to higher education. They have performed all around Europe and are truly an American Choir. They are intentionally diverse in terms of religion, class, race, and cultural background. The magic they create uses music as a medium.

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