Music, Education, and Children, whats the connection?

[Fire-Starter]

I was talking to my Daughters Teacher today, she is in Kindergarden, and she is getting and outstanding in music, and her teacher says that Kids who are involved in Music have a tendacy to do better in Math, and school in general. I have heard this several times before, but....what is the relationship between the two..Music and Math? other than quarter notes, sixteeth notes, etc....how does Music influence Kids to do better in Math? or School in general.

Is any of this true with Past Greats in Classical or any other style of music?

[Otso]

Music makes you concentrate and think.

[TrooperFarva]

I've heard that early on, music can stimulate the development of the brain. Whether thats true or not, I couldn't tell you, but I have heard that from quite a few sources.

[Alan U]

Is it about disciplining the mind?
Organized thinking.
Maths and music are both about organization.

Why not buy your daughter a Ukulele?
Ideal for small hands and easy to hold.

[IanStephenson]

Don't know why, but there's definatly something in it...

When I was at college I was in the advanced maths class - there were only 5 in the class, and three of us had grade 8 music performance exams. The two non-musicians strugged in the class, and one of them eventually dropped out.

Ian

[BassChuck]

It might just be that people who are good at music are generally good at math also. There may not be a direct relationship.

[Jazzdogg]

When I started playing music in elementary school, music ignited a passion that I didn't even know existed. No matter what I learned, there was always more to master, creating a kind of perpetual quest that, despite many solitary hours in the woodshed, has always been a sources of satisfaction and pleasure.

Among the middle-school students I teach, what I've observed is that their passion for music provides a tangible incentive for them to invoke self-discipline (and other self management skills), especially when, in an odd mix of cooperation and competition, those who work hardest and achieve the most start to creep ahead of those who don't.

I suspect that part of the reason there seems to be an overlap between music and math skills is that, in both disciplines the learner must internalize overlapping schema, which serve as foundational elements for everything else that follows. But, that's just my uninformed gut hunch.