THERE’S MORE TO MUSIC THAN MEETS THE EAR
The soaring music that’s at the heart of Salisbury Cathedral School is much more valuable to its pupils’ overall development than is often appreciated
In essence, music makes your brain grow. Neuroscientists around the world have proven this across many research papers investigating di erent age groups, and the overarching conclusion is that continued exposure to music improves cognitive abilities. While the positive e ect of musical education is occasionally hyped – the so-called Mozart e ect – it’s equally physically proven by neurological measurements, such as MRI (magnetic-resonance imaging) or EEG (electroencephalography).
Starting with the youngest children, aged between three and six, research has shown that taking early music classes leads to an increase in vocabulary, pre-reading skills and singing ability beyond what could be attributed to normal development. Furthermore, a correlation between singing ability and language skills has also been highlighted. All great news for the enthusiastic participants of Salisbury Cathedral School’s Bright Beginnings musical toddler group.
Studies with slightly older children, of primary school age, bear similar conclusions. For example, e University of Amsterdam conducted a longitudinal study of 147 primary aged children over two and a half years. e goal was to examine whether structured music lessons can a ect executive subfunctions of the brain that may underlie academic achievement.
e results positively proved the children who received music lessons had signi cant cognitive improvements compared to all other children in the study.
“Here at SCS a lot of our children participate in music – singing or instrumental lessons – before school meaning their brains are red up and very receptive to learning,” explains Susie Lamb, Director of Music. “Every pupil has at least one timetabled class music lesson each week, around 90 per cent learn an instrument (or two), all regularly sing within other subject lessons, like French and science, as well as in chapel and our two weekly assemblies. It’s fair to say we breathe music in this school with all the bene ts that delivers.” salisburycathedralschool.com