The only way to correctly assess the effects of music training on child development is to study children before they start any music training and to follow them systematically thereafter.
Category: Social, personal, life skills
The liberating, intoxicating, power of the arts for children and young people
‘Show me a great school and I’ll show you a rich pulsing culture of the arts at its core’, says Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.
Music education needs to be fought for – let’s not allow it to slip away
According to a former director of music at a south London school, the combination of sustained cuts to school budgets and a burgeoning teacher recruitment crisis threatens to be calamitous for music education.
Big Noise Torry helps disadvantaged children in Aberdeen
According to a recent research report, Sistema Scotland’s social change programme in Aberdeen – Big Noise Torry – has enhanced participants’ ability to learn in school, improved academic and behavioural skills, boosted school attendance rates, and improved their emotional wellbeing.
Eddie Van Halen on the importance of music education
CNN interviewed rock star Eddie Van Halen recently, about his work with Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a group that helps get instruments to economically-disadvantaged young people. In 2012, Eddie Van Halen donated 75 guitars from his personal collection to students in low-income schools.
Musicians respond faster to sensory stimuli
New research from the School of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology at the Université de Montréal in Canada, shows that musicians respond faster to sensory stimuli than non-musicians.
Music work with vulnerable young people in Suffolk shows significant impact on wellbeing
A year-long impact study finds that Noise Solution’s fusing of informal music outreach and digital narrative work is “Statistically significant” in impacting on the wellbeing of participants in challenging circumstances.
U2-funded Music Generation says music education needs diverse approaches
According to new research by Music Generation – Ireland’s national music education programme which aims to ensure that children and young people, regardless of their background, have access to music education – young people don’t have to be the next Mozart to gain benefits from music education.
Music lessons may regulate children’s aggressive behaviour
Enrolling children in music lessons may help them to control the tendency to become aggressive, according to a new study.
Music in Mind evaluation report published
Music in Mind is Rhythmix’s innovative music making programme which aims to enhance the life chances of young people aged 11-to-18 years with mental health needs.
The power of music-making
“Music is universal, it is magical, and it is omnipresent. Why would we be okay with our schools not having music?” asks Suzanne D’Addario Brouder in her blog on The Violin Channel.
Stop treating music in schools as background noise
Too many schools and educators are still treating music as background noise, says the executive director of a US music charity. Many don’t realise that even in the smallest doses, the impact of music is vast.
