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Benefits of Piano Study Recent research has shown evidence of improved brain development as a result of piano and music study. The following excerpts are from: Newsweek Magazine July 24, 2000, Edition: U.S. EDITION, Section: Science and Technology, Page: 50 "...several other lines of evidence suggest that the human brain is wired for music, and that some forms of intelligence are enhanced by music... The most controversial finding about the musical mind is that learning music can help children do better at math...After four months [of piano study] the piano kids scored 15 percent to 41 percent higher on a test of ratios and fractions than the other kids. This year, Shaw reported that music can help bridge a socioeconomic gap. He compared second graders in inner-city Los Angeles to fourth and fifth graders in more affluent Orange County, Calif. After a year of piano, the second graders who received twice-a-week piano training in school scored as well as the fourth graders, who did not; half of the second graders scored as well as fifth graders. When they compared the corpus callosum [a part of the human brain] in 30 nonmusicians with the corpus callosum in 30 professional string and piano players, researchers led by Dr. Gottfried Schlaug of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found striking differences. The front part of this thick cable of neurons is larger in musicians, especially if they began their training before the age of 7. The front of the corpus callosum connects the two sides of the prefrontal cortex, the site of planning and foresight. It also connects the two sides of the premotor cortex, where actions are mapped out before they’re executed. “These connections are critical for coordinating fast, bi-manual movements” such as those a pianist’s hands execute in an allegro movement, says Schlaug. The neural highway connecting the right and left brain may explain something else, too. The right brain is linked to emotion, the left to cognition. The greatest musicians, of course, are not only masters of technique but also adept at infusing their playing with emotion. Perhaps this is why. |