By: Ronan C. Relova

Whenever you are lying down on a lazy Sunday afternoon while listening to the radio, do you notice how nostalgic you feel with the songs being played on the airwaves? Or how lively your heart is whenever you hear a fast-beat record? Or how sensitive and teary-eyed you get when you come across a love song? This is because music has an emotional effect to the people listening to it. And for the longest time, music affects learning in ways we seldom take for granted.

Music and education have always been working side-by-side as both give positive impact to each other in terms of growth, development and learning.

In the early years of a child’s education, music plays a vital role in terms of memorization and recall. Notice how children are able to unconsciously repeat verses of songs because of their melody. This is because, as stated in the study of Elyse M. George, musically-inclined people are more receptive and oftentimes outperform individuals who are not into music in terms of auditory, visual and memory tests. This is why there are days when you feel like you have a song stuck in your head for days. “LSS” or Last Song Syndrome, so to speak.

Another study by Caroline Cohrdez, Lorenz Grolig and Sascha Schroeder shows the importance of music in the educational development of a child in the enhancement of vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. There are emerging evidences that show the relevance and unity of the area of the brain which controls both the musical and comprehension ability of a person. This supports the obvious idea that children who like music are more equipped in the ability to learn new words, speak them correctly and process them faster than those who dislike songs.

Do you notice how children who play instrument show enhanced dexterity and hand-eye coordination? This is because of the given fact that instrumentalists are equipped with motor skills that need synchronization and deeper understanding. Not only does this skill make a talented child, but it also enriches his confidence and ability to deal with people when he performs.

In a psychological article written by Dr. William R. Klemm, he stated that music is good for the brain as it helps in heightening mental processing and problem-solving. People with musical training have been found to have higher levels of grey matter volume in their brains, which are directly connected to the auditory sense and comprehension. In this sense, it develops an individual’s aptitude to be more people-connected as the basic foundation of forming relationships is the ability to listen to others when they speak. This gives them the edge of sensing deeper emotion and react to the people they are talking to more critically and empathetically.

Lastly, the spirit of camaraderie is also developed in someone who enjoys music as it fosters the ability to work with other people. Take the case of a choir. All the members work together to be able to bring a solid and unified performance that would leave the audience in awe. This ability can also be associated in a school group project that requires solidarity among members in order to come up with a worthwhile plan and output.

As a whole, music plays a vital role in the holistic development of an individual as it fosters his/her inner desires in learning new things while enjoying a note or two. After all, this galvanizes the wise words of the famous philosopher, Plato, who believed that “Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue”.