Okay, we’ve been here before. Nevertheless, a new study has been published in the journal Psychology of Music: The Effect of Piano Study on the Vocabularly and Verbal Sequencing of Primary Grade Students by Joseph M. Piro and Camilo Ortiz. (You can only view the abstract without a subscription.)
Using a quasi-experimental research model, the study chose two schools in the same geographic area, with similar demographics, and all the students were part of the same ELA program (Balanced Literacy). Students in the treatment school studied piano for three straight years; those in the control group had no musical training whatsoever.
The students were assessed at the beginning of the study and again at end of the school year.
The research showed that the students who studied piano had significantly better vocabulary and verbal sequencing than did the students in the control group. The researchers posit that this is evidence to support the approach of “educators incorporating a variety of approaches, including music, in their teaching practice…to improve reading achievement in children.”
The authors see a link between music and language: “because neural response to music is a widely distributed system
within the brain…. it would not be unreasonable to expect that some processing
networks for music and language behaviors, namely reading, located in both
hemispheres of the brain would overlap.”
There are some other interesting tidbits concerning the baseline data raising questions of whether or not certain skills from music decline over the summer when students may not be studying piano. It’s not an unusual issue in education: teachers often speak about certain skills and knowledge fading during summer vacation.
Of course, questions will be raised about the duration of the study, size of the study groups, etc. Some will circulate it as the silver bullet; others will take the piece to task.
Interestingly enough, the piece was forwarded to me by the staff of a key elected official in New York City, with the note: “…more research always helps.”
The fact that I got this piece from the office of an government official before someone in the arts education field gives me more hope than the study itself…