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Music Education and Mathematical Ability- A Winning Duet

© By Colleen Madonna Flood Williams,Certified Elementary Teacher

When we speak of Discipline Based Art Education, we needn't limit ourselves to the Visual Arts. This article takes a look at the connection between Music and academic success.

Research confirms that Music Education leads to higher increased spatial intelligence. Psychologist Francis Rauscher and Neuroscientist Gordon Shaw reported that music lessons enhance the kind of cogitation demanded by multifaceted mathematical problems. Their study at the University of California at Irvine backed up an earlier study (by the same two researchers) that suggested that there was an irrefutable contributory link between Music Education and spatial perception and reasoning abilities.

How can parents learn more about this intriguing math/music connection? Call the National Coalition for Music Education's 1-800 hotline at 1-800-336-3768. Or you can surf on over to their website at http://members.tripod.com/wvmea/ncme.htm . Mention that you'd like to explore the benefits of Music Education for your child. Ask for any and all pertinent information that they can send you, as well as other contacts that will provide information on Music Education.

What can parents do at home to promote Music Education? Use children's picture books as gateways to musical adventures. Buy your preschooler or early elementary student some simple instruments such as metals, woods, scrapers and shakers, or small hand drums. Have your child use these instruments to accompany you as you read their favorite book. See which instruments work for the different sounds and characters in the book. Ask your child what he/she thinks and why.

Purchase the picture book Peter and the Wolf by Warren Chappell. Purchase a CD or cassette tape of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. Read the book to or with your child without any music in the background. Now, read it with the music in the background. Discuss the mood changes. Discuss the instruments that you hear. Talk about the sounds that the child connects to the wolf, Peter, and other characters.

Encourage your child to engage in body percussion. Explore the sounds that can be made by slapping thighs, stomping feet, clapping hands, and snapping fingers. Read a book that encourages rhythmic repetition and have your child create a body percussion accompaniment for it. Books such as Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, The Noisy Counting Book by Susan Schade and Jon Buller, and Klippity Klop by Ed Emberley work extremely well for this purpose.

Dr. Gottfried Schlaug of Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, a researcher who studies the brain shape and size of musically talented individuals, has indicated that early musical interaction is necessary for capitalizing on musical giftedness.

The copyright of the article Music Education and Mathematical Ability- A Winning Duet in Art Education is owned by Jo Murphy. Permission to republish Music Education and Mathematical Ability- A Winning Duet in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.