DOES MUSIC IMPROVE

MATHS SKILLS?

HOW DO MATHS AND MUSIC LINK?Music education is said to grow, hone and permanently improve certain neural networks.

Children who have an ongoing musical education have significantly higher levels of cognitive capacity, and therefore their numerical problem solving skills are improved.

Since learning a music instrument involves appreciating the length of notes in proportion to others, a child will exercise the part of the brain associated to proportional thinking. This is directly linked to mathematical skills, such as fractions, which are a fundamental part of the subject.

IS THERE ANY PROOF? A 10 year study involving 25,000 students showed that music-

making improves scores in standardised tests, as well as in reading proficiency exams (Source: James Catterall, UCLA, 1997).

Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, found that certain regions of the brain, such as the corpus callosum and the right motor cortex, were larger in musicians who started their musical training before the age of 7.

Dr. Frances Rauscher, of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, said: ‘young children provided with instrumental instruction score significantly higher on tasks measuring spatial-temporal cognition, hand-eye coordination and arithmetic.’

The IQ’s of young students who had nine months of weekly training in piano or voice rose nearly three points more than their untrained peers (Study by E. Glenn Schellenberg, of the University of Toronto at Mississauga, 2004.)

IS EVERY MUSICIAN A GREAT MATHEMATICIAN?It’s important to remember most musicians play for their love of music without being aware that maths is involved.

Introducing children to musical training gives them a competitive advantage over their peers as they are challenging their attention of decoding notes and finding patterns without even realising.

Let’s start brain training today!

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Find out more about Kimichi School on our website: http://www.kimichischool.co.uk/