by Audrey Howitt

Created on: February 13, 2011

School budgets are an embattled subject, with hard academics often winning out against the arts.  So why, in this difficult economy should we pump scare dollars into a performing art in our schools. 

If you want children to attain academically, you will strive to provide them with a musical education. If you want children to thrive socially and psychologically, you will provide them with a musical education.  If you want children to enjoy the beauty of life, you will strive to provide them with a musical education.

For those concerned with the necessity of justifying the expense in the academic arena, the statistics clearly show that a musical education results in higher math and reading scores on standardized tests at the elementary school level.  This has been the outcome of numerous studies. Of note, a 2003 study examining the relationship between higher test scores and general academic achievement, found that inner city schools whose populace could not afford to pay for music lessons benefited academically by the inclusion of formal musical training in the school curriculum. [1] Those that can least afford it may actually benefit the most.

Other studies cited in this treatise reiterated the importance of musical education to academic achievement. High school seniors  who  had  participated in instrumental music programs  from  sixth through  12th grades scored  significantly  higher  on  standardized  tests  of  language  arts  and  math  than  their counterparts  who  had  participated  in  non-music  extra-curricular  activities  or  who  had  not participated  in  extra-curricular  activities. [2]

In particular, the relationship between reading and music can be profound at the elementary school level. A study showed that first grade students who received one or two years of Kodaly musical training had higher reading scores than students in control groups who did not. The positive correlation between reading and music continued in a study focusing on students between ages six and eight categorized as slow learners who received music instruction and who had significantly higher reading readiness scores than students who received no music instruction.[3]

Reading and writing are fundamental skills.  Words are full of rhythmic integrity in their structural use of phonemes,

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