The Relationship Between Music Education and Mathematical Conceptual Achievement

TULSA, Okla. - April 13, 2015 - PRLog -- Want your child to do better in school?  Sign them up for choir! Music helps you concentrate and helps your child learn mathematical concepts.  As Leon Harkleroad points out in his book, "The Math Behind the Music," mathematics has been used for centuries to describe, analyze and create music.

Trudi Hammel Garland demonstrates in her book, "Math and Music: Harmonious Connections," that proportion, patterns, Fibonacci numbers, geometric transformations and trigonometry are found in music.

Music also promotes concentration, learning to focus and discipline. In a 2004 study, E. Glenn Schellenberg of the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada reported that students who take music lessons have slightly higher IQs than students who do not.

Children who participate in choir are developing regular practice habits which, in turn, reinforces study routines that reward the time put into learning a new skill.

Schellenberg notes that children who take music lessons in the first place may already be those that are interested in learning, and therefore their IQs would be naturally higher despite the music education. There are also questions about whether the music itself causes a greater aptitude for learning or if the result is caused by activities outside the classroom in general. Students in other extra-curricular activities were also tested and the intellectual results were similar to those involved in music. The message, Schellenberg concluded, is that outside activities (including music) help a person become well rounded and aid in the development of critical thinking.

Yiftach Levy of San Diego State University points out in his article "The Effects of Background Music on Learning: A Review of Recent Literature" that outside music helps a person become well rounded and aids in the development of critical thinking.

If you find yourself curious about the accuracy of this research, come and attend a rehearsal or two and observe how well your child behaves, how respectful he or she is to Miss Elmore (our Artistic Director) and to the other members of the choir. Some of that may be attributed to Ashlee Elmore’s excellent teaching skills. The rest is due to the power of music.

by Debbra Gottschalk, Tulsa Children's Chorus Board of Trustees