Do you want to improve in mathematics? Play the piano
Do you wish your math skills were better? Or that your child had no trouble with basic arithmetic skills? Perhaps what you need (along with an expert tutor) is a piano. Or a guitar. Or maybe a clarinet and some drums. The key to understanding mathematics, it seems, depends on the ability to understand how numbers are related to each other, and nothing demonstrates this better than music.
For starters, the music maintains a rhythm. The rhythm depends on something called Time signature which designates how many beats there are per measure (in mathematics, this would be known as a unit) It also determines what type of note will be assigned a beat. And express this as a fraction. For example, a common time signature is 4/4 time. The top number indicates that there are four beats in a measure (a unit of music), and the bottom number, the other 4, tells you that the quarter note has a beat. From a fraction perspective, in 4/4 time the quarter note represents 1/4 of a measure. In other words, it takes four 1/4 notes, or four quarter notes, to make a full measure.
And then there are the notes themselves. Two quarter notes (two ¼) equal what is known as a half (1/2) note. In other words, 2/4 = 1/2. It also takes 4 quarter notes to equal a whole note… Or, put another way, 4/4=1.
This is just the beginning. The amount of mathematics in music is infinite. What makes it so conducive to improving your ability to do simple arithmetic or manipulate complicated math proofs is that when you play music, you’re actually doing math all the time. And it’s done in such a multi-sensory way that math isn’t just seen, felt, heard, and in many cases loved. It becomes apart from you. Music and mathematics are perpetual dance partners, performing dazzling feats together. While the musician’s fingers fly over the keyboard of a piano or pull the strings of a guitar creating magnificent melodies, mathematics, the conductor, orchestrates it silently and almost invisibly.
So how do we know that being musical makes you better at math? Logic would tell us that probably ought. However, the evidence that it does is supported by much more than simple logic. In a study conducted by San Francisco State University, it was found that students who participated in music-based math instruction “scored 50% higher on a fractions test, taken at the end of the study, compared to students in the regular math class. (San Francisco State News, 2012)
Researchers Joyce Cheek and Lyle Smith from Augusta State University went a step further. They compared the ITBS (which is the Iowa Test of Basic Skills) scores of students who had received group music instruction with those who had received private tutoring. They found that “students who received private lessons for two years or more performed significantly higher on the mathematics composite portion of the ITBS than students who did not receive private lessons.” (Cheek & Smith, 1998) And the instrument that outshone them all? The piano.
But is it necessary to play an instrument to reap the benefits of music? Apparently not. The ability to perform mathematical calculations can simply improve listening to music while you are doing them. That is, if it is music without words. This is commonly known as The Mozart effectand has inspired some teachers to use classical background music in the classroom on a regular basis.
As a tutor, I have learned through observation and experimentation that soft, unobtrusive music is a great help in helping students concentrate and focus. Perhaps this is achieved through the phenomenon known as mind exercise in which brain waves are synchronized with external energy patterns. Or maybe it’s just that relaxing music can dispel anxiety, the absolute kiss of death when it comes to staying focused.
Although how and why it works remains a mystery, the fact is that it works. Music is proving to be the magic item that helps students improve their grades in almost every subject, including the most intimidating math. For that reason you will always find a bit of Bach or Beethoven or Mozart floating in the air in my classroom at Avalon Learning Center. Personally, I find these legendary composers to be valued and valued partners in my mission to guide every student to success. So far, they’re doing a great job…and posthumously!
San Francisco State University. Special education. SF State News (University Communications). Getting into a Rhythm Helps Kids Understand Fractions Findings from a study. University Communications, December 22, 2012. Web. December 20, 2015, < http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/prsrelea/fy12/031.html >.
USA. Education deparment. Office of Research and Educational Improvement. Musical training and mathematics performance of ninth grade students. By Joyce M. Cheek and Lyle R. Smith. Columbus: Educational Resource Information Center, 1998. ERIC [EBSCO]. website. 20 Dec 2015,