The Science Behind Music in the Classroom

Before we discuss how to incorporate music into your classroom, we must first discuss the science behind it. Research has shown that music can have a profound impact on your brain. It can also act as a catalyst for mood changes. It can boost your energy when you’re tired, lift your spirits when you’re sad, and help you relax when things are stressful. It can also affect your memory. Understanding these benefits can help you create a more effective learning environment.

Benefits of Music in the Classroom

Music offers many benefits in the classroom, including enhancing memory, reducing stress, and improving concentration. Have you ever wondered why you can remember lyrics from a song you haven’t heard in years? This is because music stimulates the hippocampus, which helps with long-term memory, making background music a great tool for retaining information. Additionally, school can be stressful for students, but playing soft music in the classroom can help students relax and feel better, especially before a big test. Furthermore, music at a moderate tempo can improve students’ concentration making it beneficial for students when working independently.

Incorporating Music in the Classroom

Now that we understand the benefits of music in the classroom, let’s explore a few specific ways you can incorporate it into the classroom.

Morning and Afternoon Routine

Start the school day with a cheerful, upbeat song to welcome students and help them transition from arriving at school to focusing on learning. Then, end the day the same as you started the day to get students excited about going home. Encourage students to help you choose songs, making it a fun and collaborative way to start and end the school day.

As Background Music

Playing soft, instrumental or classical music in the background while students work independently is said to help improve concentration and make them feel more relaxed. Try to find a classical version of your students’ favorite songs to play in the background to keep them focused and on task while they work.

Using Songs for Learning

In recent years, music has been linked to memory and retention. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s easy to memorize lyrics to a song, that’s because research has shown that your brain looks for patterns to understand, recall, and process information. You can use this to your advantage by integrating songs into your lessons to help students remember information. For younger students, you can create a catchy tune to help students remember the alphabet, and for older students, you can use songs to teach historical events or scientific concepts.

During Transitions and Breaks

Music isn’t just used for welcoming students or helping them learn important concepts, you can also use it for signaling transitions between activities or when students need a brain break. Playing a specific tune can signal it’s time to switch tasks, which can help for a smooth transition between one activity and another. Additionally, music can be a great tool to help manage student behavior and keep the flow steady throughout the day. This can help keep the classroom atmosphere calm and help students stay focused and engaged.

Using Music for Stress Relief

Music can be an excellent tool to help manage stress levels. Research shows that music can boost the immune system and reduce stress. Notably, one study found music more effective than medication in easing anxiety. Consider calming music to help stressed students feel calm before a test. Research has also found that music can help your brain maintain attention. So, you can even play it in the background while they take the test as long as it’s not distracting for all students.

Music in Writing

It is well known that students who study music have a larger vocabulary. When children use their creative skills, they can better express their emotions, which can enhance their emotional well-being. Challenge students to incorporate music into their writing. For example, give students a photograph to inspire them to write a song or have them listen to a piece of music and write about the emotions it evokes when they hear the song. By integrating music into writing, you are tapping into your students’ feelings and emotions and allowing them to articulate their feelings more deeply.

Integrating Music into All Subjects

Music can be seamlessly integrated into all subjects to create an interdisciplinary learning experience for students. For example, you can help students understand mathematical concepts like fractions and patterns through music. Make history lessons more engaging by using music to teach or reinforce concepts or important dates and enhance students’ comprehension skills by analyzing song lyrics for language arts class. By integrating music into all subjects, you are deepening the students’ learning experience.

Incorporating music into the classroom can be a powerful tool to enhance learning, reduce stress, and create a positive learning environment for students. By understanding the science behind music’s impact on the brain and finding creative ways to interact with it throughout the day, you can create a dynamic learning atmosphere where your students thrive.

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Benefits of Music

The benefits of incorporating music into the classroom are endless. From an increase in reading skills and a higher IQ to scoring higher on standardized tests, music can have a significant impact on how well a child succeeds in the classroom. Research from the National Association of Music Merchants also list cognitive and social benefits for music education. Research shows children have improved memory, are more creative, stronger at attentiveness and listening skills, as well as are more actively engaged in the classroom. The social benefits of incorporating music show that students work better in teams have enhanced critical thinking skills and self-esteem. Children learn to accept and give constructive criticism as well as learn to share and compromise better. Overall, the arts help to motivate students to stay in school and give them a well-rounded education that will help them succeed not only in school but in life.

Ways to Incorporate Music

As you can see, the benefits of music education are astounding. However, for children to reap these benefits, you must know how to incorporate music into your classroom.

Use Music in Writing

It is well documented that children who study music have larger vocabularies and tend to be more creative. When children use their creative skills, it can help them to express their feelings, which can in turn help them enhance their emotional well-being. You can help provoke some of these unexplored feelings by having students incorporate music into their writing. Students can look at a photograph to help inspire them to write a song or turn a writing piece into a musical. Students can watch a composer and write about how the selection made them feel or even sit and listen to music and then write about their favorite artist. Music helps to bring out emotions, and having students listen and write can help them learn more about their feelings.

Create Opportunities for Students to Perform

Incorporating music doesn’t mean that you only have to have students listen to music to reap the benefits; you can also have them perform. Research has proven that putting information to music helps students retain information better, as well as develop their listening skills. Challenge students to write a song based on a concept that you want them to learn; then have them perform it in front of their peers. Allow students to choose their partners or group for this activity, so each student will feel comfortable enough to perform in front of others.

Use Music as Stress Relief

Music is a great was to manage stress levels. In fact, research has shown that music improves immune system function and reduces stress. One study even found that listening to music was more effective at reducing anxiety than prescription drugs. If you notice students are stressed before a test, put on some music. You can even have students listen as they are taking the test. Research has also found that music helps the brain to pay attention. The next time you have a test, try putting on music and see how well your students react.

Use Music to Help Students Master Concepts

Music has a way of embedding in your mind. Think about the last time you heard a commercial jingle on the television or a song on the radio that you couldn’t get it out of your head. Music can be used to help students retain information in any subject and on any topic. If you want students to recall math facts or vocabulary words, put it to music. If you want them to remember all fifty states, put them in a song. There are no limits to using music to help students recall information.

The beautiful thing about music is that it is universal and easily accessible. You can use it to help relieve test stress or to get your students energized and out of a slump. You can use it as a tool to help students express emotions through writing or to master essential concepts. Music’s benefits are endless, and it is definitely worth the time and effort it takes to incorporate it into the classroom.

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