“Music Produces Scholars”
by
Roger Maxwell
For the past 12 years (April 25, 1999 - May 1, 2011) I followed THE DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER’s special edition listing Iowa’s ACADEMIC ALL – STATERS. Each year, 50 students, (10 each from five geographical areas throughout the state) are selected. An additional 10 students, two from each area, were added in 2011. (Note: The Des Moines Sunday Register did not compile this information for the year 2009.)
The focus of my research centered on the role which music may have played in the educational experiences of these academic scholars. Based upon the above information, 610 ACADEMIC ALL – STATE students were selected from a pool of approximately 4020 academic scholars statewide during the twelve year review period. The 4020 students who were nominated by their high school principal were either the valedictorian, salutatorian or among those who ranked in the upper 5% of their class.
This writer in reviewing the files of THE DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER wanted to determine 1) the number of students who participated in music from the overall total of 610 students and 2) the number of students who participated in a stand-alone music activity such as band, choir or orchestra, or a combination thereof. (Each student was counted only once regardless of he or she participated in more than one music activity.) From the research we were able to conclude that:
380 (62.3%) of the 610 ACADEMIC ALL –STATE students participated in music.
Of the 380 students:
174 (45.8%) participated in band 73 (19.2%) participated in band & choir
77 (20.2%) participated in choir 18 (5.0%) participated in band & orchestra
29 (7.6%) participated in orchestra 9 (2.3%) participated in band, choir & orchestra
We were interested as to the role which 1) ancestry, 2) the number of 4-year higher education institutions in a given geographical area, or 3) populations of large and small Iowa communities may have played in determining the number of ACADEMIC ALL- STATERS who participated in music (See Table 1, page 4.) We concluded that neither ancestry nor the number of four year higher education institutions in a given geographical area had any bearing on the number of ACADEMIC ALL –STATE students being involved in music. The data does suggest that music students from geographical areas having fewer cities with 5,000 + population were more likely to become ACADEMIC ALL – STATERS than areas having larger populations the exception being SE Iowa where tradition for outstanding music programs prevailed.
The above information led me to further examine whether there may exist a correlation or association of cognitive skills between music, mathematics, reading, spatial concepts but particularly math. I read the works of “This is Your Brain on Music” by Daniel J. Levitin, “Moon Walking with Einstein” by Joshua Foer and “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell in addition to references from other researchers whose works were noted in the aforementioned publications. Moreover, I had the opportunity to have conversations and exchange of emails between three neurologist/neurobiologists. I learned that:
- The human brain is comprised of between 90-100 billion neurons and 135 trillion synapses. (a synapse is where nerve impulses pass information from one cell or neuron to another.)
- The information (example: fingerings on a clarinet or a violin) is then transmitted by neurotransmitters (endogenous chemicals or cells developing within a cell) from one neuron to a targeted cell via synapses. The information eventually becomes stored in long term memory within the brain.
- Fusion occurs simultaneously between seeing the notes on paper, using the appropriate fingering(s) while recognizing the rhythmic figure (example: four sixteenth notes) to be played. This information becomes subject to immediate recall. Keeping in mind that this is happening instantaneously or within the blinking of an eye.
- Repetition/consistency through focused, dedicated, and concentrated practice allows information to become embedded into long term memory in the brain.
This writer believes that a strong correlation exists between music and various forms of mathematics including algebra, geometry, chemistry, trigonometry, physics and calculus. Both music and math depend upon numbers and letters. Throughout history, the elements which make up music and mathematics remain unchanged. Music uses the elements found in math such as time signatures – (2/4,3/4,6/8), notes and their values – (half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes) and spatial differences through intervals – (3rds, 4ths, 6ths and 7ths.) In music, numbers are used in numerous ways including time signatures and note values. Math employs numbers in formulas and equations. Both use letters as music identifies notes on staffs while in math letters are used in formulas such as defining CO2 as carbon dioxide. There is, without question, an interrelationship between music and math.
At this juncture, I wish to comment on research conducted in 1972-73 involving 18 Iowa high school bands. (See Table II, page 5.) The data supports the fact, as mentioned above, that repetition/consistency through focused, dedicated, and concentrated practice allows information to become embedded into long term memory. These band represented large and small communities in the state. The bands were equally divided into two groups, nine RAM bands and nine ARM bands. The eighteen bands used a prepublication edition of “Fourteen Weeks to a Better Band.”
The format found in “14 Weeks” allowed students to concentrate their learning to one specific rhythmic figure per week. (A rhythmic figure can be defined as either two eighth notes or a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth, triplets, four sixteenths etc.) The 18 bands in reading Alfred Reed’s “A Jubilant Overture” and Jared Spear’s “Third Set for Band” recorded the works on three separate occasions. They did not rehearse the works prior to sight reading and tape recording. The bands did practice the Exercise and Related Study for the given week from the “14 Weeks” book during each band rehearsal.
Table II indicates that the RAM bands averaged 36 reading errors during their first reading of “A Jubilant Overture.” When the music was exchanged half way through the study, the ARM bands in their first reading of “A Jubilant Overture” averaged 16 reading errors, a reduction of 55%. The study found the same reduction percentage (55%) of bands reading “Third Set for Band” during their initial readings. It is important to note that the error reduction percentage (55%) was the same regardless of the difficulty of each composition.
Again, the study proves without question that hundreds and hundreds of Iowa band students were able to sight read music, with a minimum of errors, by following the format found in "14 Weeks to a Better Band." From the day students first began learning notes, fingerings and rhythm values etc., this information was again placed into long term memory through repetition, focused, and concentrated practice.
Conclusion: Discussions continue nationwide as to whether a correlation exists between learning (particularly reading/language arts and mathematics) and the arts. What this writer has discovered is that researchers want to place the arts (music, visual arts, dance and drama) under one umbrella. This is a mistake. This approach denies the development of information which would support the correlation of cognitive and academic skills with music. From this writers perspective, music stands alone. The intricacies involved in learning to play instruments (piano, strings, woodwind and brass instruments) can only be learned by intensive and focused practice over long periods of time in order that the material can be embedded into long term memory in the brain.
The reader’s attention is called to further studies which support this thesis. The majority of these studies are supported by both the medical and higher education communities. Click the PDF below for Additional Research Information:
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Additional Research Information |
I acknowledge that there is no absolute certainty that music produces scholars. In closing I would ask the question as to whether obesity causes juvenile diabetes. In all probability it does. Does smoking cause lung cancer? In all probability it does. Can excessive drinking of alcohol cause cirrhosis of the liver? In all probability it does. Does music produce scholars? In all probability, it does.
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