Music: A Fundamental Component to a Liberal Arts Education
In 1996, the College Entrance Exam Board Service conducted a study on all students taking their SAT exams. Students who sang or played a musical instrument scored 51 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and an average of 39 points higher on math.((John Seel, Study Smart, 65)).
There have been numerous studies conducted before and after the study mentioned above that confirm its results, each of them suggesting a variety of possible reasons why certain baroque pieces, for example, foster better results in students’ study habits. In general, classical music is shown to reduce stress, improve communication skills, and increase efficiency.
But this isn’t a novel discovery, the ancients and the medievals both understood music as harmony (number in time) and they included it as a foundational part of every person’s education.
