It all started with an offering of free music lessons for low-income students. Margaret Martin, founder of the Harmony Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to help kids in gang-ridden communities through music, was surprised to see these kids graduate high school with flying colors and being accepted at big universities like UCLA and Tulane.
Northwestern University researchers believe that the students' music training had a lot to do with their scholarly achievements. After all, a significant observation by Martin was that 90% of the kids from Harmony Project graduated high school, while 50% of the kids from the very same neighborhoods did not.
Results of a two-year long study published in The Journal of Neuroscience show that the kids' musical training created changes in the brain that have allowed them to process sound more effectively. According to the researchers, this increased ability has directly created an impact on improved skills, particularly in subjects such as speech and reading. This was observed in the 44 kids who agreed to be the subjects for the longitudinal study.
Meanwhile, it was clarified that listening to music alone does not create the outcome observed. The effects are a result of actually playing a musical instrument. According to Nina Kraus, the leading researcher, "You're not going to get physically fit by just watching sports". The same is true with the effects of music. Playing a musical instrument, according to her, is a multisensory experience. Music also assists in improving concentration, focus, and memory.
In line with this, the duration of learning and playing music was also vital in improving the kids' brain cpacities, said the researchers. It took two years for the changes to surface. According to Kraus, this reflects how the nervous system interacts with the environment and changes its abilities.
Supporters of music programs are hopeful that music will now be given more focus in the curricula of schools. They say that music is often the first program erased from the curriculum, especially for school boards that are driven to save money for the school.