Focus on Education

Does studying music help with progress in academic work? The results of a very large study in Canada which can be found on the American Psychological Association website here (over one hundred and ten thousand students) published this month seem to suggest that it does. They found that students who were highly engaged in school music at secondary level were, on average, academically over one year ahead of peers who did not. These positive relationships were independent of students’ previous academic achievement, sex, cultural background and neighbourhood socioeconomic status. One of the study’s authors, Dr Gouzouasis, suggested that “[when studying music] a student has to learn to read music notation; develop eye-hand-mind coordination; develop keen listening skills; develop team skills and develop discipline to practise. All those learning experiences play a role in enhancing children’s cognitive capacities and their self-efficacy.” Please click here to read a short article about this study on the i news website.