Music lessons ‘make children smarter’, study finds

IT may seem hopeless to those hearing their child practise their screeching violin or tuneless tin whistle scales badly for the hundredth time.

But those music lessons are not a waste of time, no matter how tone-deaf the child, as their memory and vocabulary will improve from playing an instrument.

A study of almost 150 primary school children has found that those learning music benefit from a boost in brainpower.

Regardless of ability, they do better in language and memory tests and are better at planning and controlling their behaviour than classmates who do not have music lessons. A child learning to read music is believed to use parts of their brain involved in memory and attention, which ‘trains’ them in other life skills.

Dr Artur Jaschke, lead author of the study from VU University Amsterdam and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts at Zwolle in the Netherlands, said: ‘Even though not everybody is a professional musician in the beginning, practising an instrument and the discipline it takes can increase brain function.

‘Practising music overlaps brain regions, which are also involved in planning, memory, inhibition and attention – the so-called executive functions.’

In the Dutch study, 147 children with an average age of six were split into four groups. One was given school music lessons, another school and private music lessons, a third had no music lessons and a fourth attended art lessons only.

The children given music lessons, regardless of whether they had private tuition or of their level of ability, showed brain improvements.

Children were tested on memory by remembering dots in a grid on a screen, and on vocabulary by naming the similarity between a cat and dog – for example, both are animals. Those having music lessons did better than children without musical training, and were also better at controlling their behaviour.

Dr Jaschke said: ‘Children who received music lessons showed improved languagebased reasoning and the ability to plan, organise and complete tasks, as well as improved academic achievement.

‘This suggests that the cognitive skills developed during music lessons can influence children’s cognitive abilities in completely unrelated subjects, leading to overall improved academic performance.’

The study, published in the journal Frontiers In Neuroscience, also found art lessons significantly improved children’s visual and spatial memory.