[This page is a work in progress; we are continually adding more studies here.]

How many research studies would you need to be convinced of the relationship between music participation and academic success? Below are a couple of dozen to get you started.

See also

• Singapore students are known the world over for excelling in subjects such as mathematics and science. But their schools are INCREASING, not decreasing, time spent on music, art, and physical education.

Music participation positively impacts academic success

• Southgate, D. E., & Roscigno, V. J. (2009). The impact of music on childhood and adolescent achievement. Social Science Quarterly, 90(1), 4-21. Study of 12,157 students from two national longitudinal data sets that controlled for prior achievement found that music involvement within school positively predicted reading achievement for both adolescent and small children. Math performance also was associated with music participation in school.
• Huber, J. J. (2009). Music instruction and the reading achievement of middle school students. (Doctoral dissertation, Liberty University). Study of 267 middle school students found the existence of a positive relationship between music participation and reading development. The relationship intensified through seventh grade and was generally sustained throughout eighth grade as students continued participating in musical activities. This was particularly evident with individuals who had formal training in learning to play brass and woodwind instruments while actively participating in band. Involvement in school choral ensembles also may have been beneficial to enhancing reading development.
• Piro, J.M. & Ortiz, C. (2009) The effect of piano lessons on the vocabulary and verbal sequencing skills of primary grade students, Psychology of Music, 37(3), 325-347. Controlled experiment with 93 elementary students found that children who received piano instruction for three consecutive years had significantly better vocabulary and verbal sequencing scores on the Structure of Intellect assessment than nonparticipants.
• Kinney, D. W. (2008). Selected demographic variables, school music participation, and achievement test scores of urban middle school students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 56(2), 145-161. Longitudinal study of 488 students that controlled for effects of socioeconomic status and home environment found that sixth-grade band students scored significantly higher than choir students and nonparticipants on state reading, math, science, and citizenship tests. Eighth-grade band students scored significantly hither than nonparticipants on every subtest of the McGraw-Hill Terra Nova CTBS Multiple Assessment test except Social Studies.
• Gouzouasis, P., Guhn, M., & Kishor, N. (2007). The predictive relationship between achievement and participation in music and achievement in core grade 12 academic subjects. Music Education Research, 9(1)81-92. Data from three consecutive British Columbia student cohorts (184,565 students) found that music participation was associated with generally higher academic achievement and that grade 11 music course scores predicted grade 12 academic achievement. Researchers noted that time dedicated to music participation does not impede, but rather goes hand in hand with or even fosters, academic excellence in other "core" subjects.
• Miksza, P. (2007). Music participation and socioeconomic status as correlates of change: A longitudinal analysis of academic achievement. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 172, 41-57. National longitudinal study of 5,335 students found that math, reading, science, and social studies test scores were significantly better for students who participated in music in middle and high school. Even after accounting for socioeconomic status, music students maintained their advantage over non-music students (with a slight reduction in their reading advantage over time).
• Harris, M. A. (2007). Differences in mathematics scores between students who receive traditional Montessori instruction and students who receive music enriched Montessori instruction. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 3(1). Retrieved March 20, 2010 from http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/07h5f866. A sample of 200 Montessori students aged 3-5 years-old were selected and randomly placed in one of two groups. The experimental treatment was an “in-house” music enriched Montessori program and children participated in 3 half-hour sessions weekly, for 6 months. Results showed that subjects who received music enriched Montessori instruction had significantly higher math scores on the Test of Early Mathematics Ability-3. 
• Johnson, C. M. (2006). Examination of relationships between participation in school music programs of differing quality and standardized test results. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(4), 293-307. Nationwide study of 4,739 students. Students in exemplary elementary music education programs scored higher on both English and mathematics standardized tests than their counterparts who did not have this high-quality instruction. Middle school students in both exceptional music programs and deficient instrumental programs scored better than those in no music classes or deficient choral programs.
• Schellenberg, E.G. (2006). Long-term positive associations between music lessons and IQ. Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol 98(2), 457-468. Study of 147 children found that number of months of music lessons had a positive association with the entire Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III as well as a standardized test of educational achievement and grades in school. Outcomes remained reliable when family income, parents’ education, and involvement in non-musical activities were held constant. Involvement in nonmusical out-of-school activities was not predictive of IQ or academic achievement. Additional study of 150 college undergraduates found that the association between years of playing music regularly and IQ was statistically reliable even after accounting for individual differences in family income and parents’ education. The real-world effects of musical training on intellectual abilities were (a) larger with longer periods of training, (b) long-lasting, (c) not attributable to obvious confounding variables, and (d) distinct from those of non-musical out-of-school activities.
• Schellenberg, E.G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological Science, 15, 511-514. Controlled experiment with randomly-assigned first-graders found that students who received 36 weeks of music lessons had larger increases in full-scale IQ, as measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III, than those that received drama lessons or no lessons.
• Babo, G. D. (2004). The relationship between instrumental music participation and standardized assessment achievement of middle school students. Research Studies in Music Education, 22(1), 14-27. Study of 178 eighth-grade students found that participation in a formal instrumental music instruction program had a 10% to 16% positive impact on reading and/or language arts achievement. Study controlled for the variables of Intelligence Quotient, socioeconomic status, and gender.
• Hetland, L. (2000). The relationship between music and spatial reasoning: A summary of two meta-analytic studies (pp. 55-70). In Beyond the soundbite: Arts education and academic outcomes (Winner, E., & Hetland, L., eds.). Los Angeles, CA: Getty Center. Meta-analysis of 15 studies found that active music instruction improves performance on spatial-temporal tasks in children ages 3 to 12.
• Morrison, S. J. (1994). Music students and academic growth. Music Educators Journal, 81(2), 33-36. Music participants are elected to class offices, receive academic honors, and achieve higher grades than do non-music participating students.

No negative impact of pull-out music programs on academic success

• Wallick, M. D. (1998). A comparison study of the Ohio Proficiency Test results between fourth-grade string pullout students and those of matched ability. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 239-247. Study of 296 fourth-grade students found no negative impact of classroom pull-out strings instruction on student achievement on the Ohio Proficiency Test. Students were originally ability-matched according to their performance on the verbal section of the Cognitive Abilities Test.
• Corral, S. J. (1998). A comparison study of the California Test of Basic Skills between fourth and fifth grade instrumental music pullout students and students not involved in the instrumental music program. (Report No. TM02976). MD. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED430013). Study of 223 upper elementary students found no negative impact of classroom pull-out music instruction on student achievement on the California Test of Basic Skills.
• Holmes, D. M. (1997). An examination of fifth-grade instrumental music programs and their relationships with music and academic achievement (Doctoral dissertation, University of Washington, 1997). Dissertations Abstracts International, 58, 2126. (UMI No. AAT 9736294). Study of nine elementary buildings in three districts over three years found no negative impact of classroom pull-out music instruction on fifth-graders' achievement on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills.
• Dryden, S. (1992). The impact of instrumental music on the academic achievement of fifth grade students. Unpublished master’s thesis, Fort Hayes State University, Kansas. Study of 270 fifth-graders found no negative impact of classroom pull-out music instruction on student achievement on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills.
• Circle, D. (1989). Hard data. Unpublished manuscript, Shawnee Mission School District 512. Study of 1,608 sixth-graders found no negative impact of classroom pull-out music instruction on students' reading and math test scores.
• Kvet, E. J. (1985). Excusing elementary school students from regular classroom activities for the study of instrumental music: The effect on sixth-grade reading, language, and mathematics achievement. Journal of Research in Music Education, 32, 45-54. Study of four metropolitan school districts found no negative impact of classroom pull-out music instruction on students' academic achievement.
• Robitaille, J. P., & O’Neal, S. (1981). Why instrumental music in elementary schools? Phi Delta Kappan, 63, 21. Study of 5,154 fifth-graders found no negative impact of classroom pull-out music instruction on student achievement on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills. A follow-up study and a later replication study both confirmed the original results.
• Groff, F. H. (1963). Effect on academic achievement of excusing elementary school pupils from classes to study instrumental music. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut). Dissertations Abstracts International, 25(9), 5014. (UMI No. AAI6403536). Study of 460 sixth-graders in 15 elementary schools found no negative impact of classroom pull-out music instruction on student achievement on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Students were matched on the basis of gender, intelligence quotient, and teacher ratings of student characteristics.

Music participation positively impacts self-esteem

• Costa-Giomi, E. (2004). Effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s academic achievement, school performance and self-esteem. Psychology of Music, 32(2), 139-152. Study of 117 fourth-graders found that three years of weekly piano instruction at school positively impacted students' self-esteem.
• Phillips, R. E. (1969). Student activities and self-concept. Journal of Negro Education, 38(1), 32-37. Study found that high school music participation is positively related to higher self-esteem in both girls and boys.

Cutting music programs disproportionately impacts low-income students

• Fitzpatrick, K. R. (2006). The effect of instrumental music participation and socioeconomic status on Ohio fourth-, sixth-, and ninth-grade proficiency test performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(1), 73-84. Study of 15,431 students found that lower-socioeconomic instrumental students steadily increased their academic achievement, surpassing the academic achievement of their higher-SES noninstrumental classmates in all subjects by ninth grade.
• Dumais, S. A. (2006). Elementary school students' extracurricular activities: The effects of participation on achievement and teachers' evaluations. Sociological Spectrum, 26(2), 117-147. National-level longitudinal study of 5,696 early elementary students found that lower-SES students who took music lessons had larger gains in their reading test scores than higher-SES students who took music lessons. However, lower-SES students were significantly more likely to take lessons in art, dance, or performining arts - or participate in clubs or athletics - than take music lessons.
• Dumais, S. (1998, August). Participation in high culture and educational success. Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA. Study found that low-socioeconomic-status eighth graders participate in fewer cultural activities than their high-socioeconomic-status counterparts, and that both groups benefit academically when they participate in such activities, particularly in sustained lessons. College aspirations are also affected positively by cultural participation.

Music participation reshapes the anatomy and function of the brain

• Musacchia, G. A. (2008). Musical training enhances brainstem and cortical representation of speech and music. (Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University). UMI No. 3303654. The protracted training that is required to become a musician has been shown to bestow perceptual advantages and shape the anatomy and function of the cerebral cortex. This study found that musical training also shapes subcortical responses. Data indicated that representation of sight and sound in the human brainstem, which is the neural gateway to higher level function, can be shaped by musical training.
• Gaser, C., & Schlaug, G. (2003). Brain structures differ between musicians and non-musicians. Journal of Neuroscience, 23(27), 9240-9245. Neurological study of 80 adult musicians and non-musicians found significant volumetric structural differences in the brain between the two groups. Study echoed earlier findings of differences in several anatomically-distinct brain regions between musicians and non-musicians.
• Schlaug, G., Jäncke, L., Huang, Y., Staiger, J. F., & Steinmetz, H. (1995). Increased corpus callosum size in musicians. Neuropsychologia, 33(8), 1047-1055. Neurological study of 60 adult musicians and non-musicians found significant differences in the size of the midsagittal area (anterior half) of the corpus callosum for adult musicians who had begun musical training before the age of 7.

Still not persuaded? Check out the National Association of Music Education's "Make Your Case" database or the League of American Orchestras web site on the benefits of strings education. The evidence is pretty overwhelming!