93% Of This Program’s Participants Went To College Despite 50% High School drop out rate.

It has been proven by countless studies that playing an instrument does wonders for developing brains. We know that it gives children's minds the ability to think in ways that significantly improve literacy leading to better academic success in many other areas. This is called neurophysiological distinction, and the fastest way to develop it, is by learning an instrument. One of the first things that most parents do when they learn about the many benefits of playing a musical instrument, is plop their child in the hands of the first music teacher they can find. Though yes, they will be learning music, this does not guarantee musical literacy. Engagement is an uphill battle across all areas of education. There is a very big difference between being sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher talk AT you and not participating in any of the activities, and being actively engaged in the lesson. It is hard to keep children's attention spans, especially when it comes to things like music theory and notation. But the majority of positive benefits coming from a music education don't come into play unless your child fully engaged. Think about watching a fitness workout routine without ever getting up from the couch to do the exercises. You will see no change in your health from just sitting there, watching, and not actively participating. A new study from Northwestern University revealed that in order to fully reap the cognitive benefits of a music class, kids can’t just sit there and let the sound of music wash over them. They have to be actively engaged in the music and participate in the class. “Even in a group of highly motivated students, small variations in music engagement — attendance and class participation — predicted the strength of neural processing after music training,” said Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, in an email to TIME. She co-authored the study with Jane Hornickel, Dana L. Strait, Jessica Slater and Elaine Thompson of Northwestern University. "Only through the active generation and manipulation of sound that music can rewire the brain.” - Kraus. Kraus, whose research appeared today in Frontiers in Psychology, continued: “Our results support the importance of active experience and meaningful engagement with sound to stimulate changes in the brain.” Active participation and meaningful engagement translate into children being highly involved in their musical training–these are the kids who had good attendance, who paid close attention in class, “and were the most on-task during their lesson,” said Kraus. Via time.com These claims backed up by hard evidence, not whimsical speculation. Kraus and his team from Northwestern partnered up with The Harmony Project. This is a community music program providing low-income children with music education in Los Angeles. This program has experienced a shocking amount of success that is making waves in the education industry. According to The Harmony Project’s website, since 2008, 93 percent of Harmony Project seniors have gone on to college, despite a dropout rate of 50 percent or more in their neighbourhoods. It’s [...]

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