In 1998, the governor of Georgia tried to fund a program that would send every baby Georgian a cassette tape or CD of classical music.

In the ’90s, the so-called “Mozart Effect” led to a marketing wave pushing gullible parents to play the Austrian composer’s music for their children, even though the study that inspired the term wasn’t even about children. In hindsight, this is obviously bonkers, right? And yet the idea that listening to classical music makes you smarter remains weirdly persistent to this day. 

Neuroscience has demonstrated that listening to or playing music has a real effect on brain waves and patterns. This is most directly applicable to music therapy, but what about music education?

Current research implies — implies, not concludes — that studying music can help children develop spatial reasoning and listening skills and improve their concentration, but more study is needed to fully understand this relationship.

In Pittsburgh, thousands of young people study music privately, in school and in extracurricular organizations. So what are the real, tangible effects of keeping music education in public schools? How is Pittsburgh’s school system faring amid tight budgets?

Research notes

“Music education and arts education has so many different benefits for our students,” said Kymberly Cruz, senior program officer of arts education at Pittsburgh Public Schools.

 “It helps students become problem solvers….  We recommend people study an instrument to help learn to concentrate. It helps students’ critical thinking, allows students to think outside the box when we engage them in the arts.”

There is a documented correlation between music education and some of these developmental benefits, but the actual research, while extensive, is not conclusive. A 2017 critical review of dozens of music education studies published in Frontiers in Psychology concluded that most areas of development thought to benefit directly from music education need further investigation.

Studies about music education’s effect on a student’s social and emotional development, language skills, cognitive processing, academic performance, reading and problem solving generally received a “precise conclusions cannot be reached on the basis of reviewed studies” or “insufficient information” grade from the review.

“In conclusion, although the underlying mechanisms are not always clear, evidence of reviewed studies seems suggestive of some beneficial effects,” the study says.

Still, research continues. In 2018, a 2½-year-long longitudinal study published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience concluded that there is a “possible far transfer effect from a structured music education program to academic achievement,” though further study is needed to understand this. 

Other recent articles confirm correlations between music education and child development, but causation is hard to pinpoint. Anecdotal evidence, however, is overwhelming.

“For those that need a place to belong, it can save your life,” said Lindsey Nova, executive director of the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras, an extracurricular youth music organization.

“I’ve seen it. I would love for every kid to play music, but I’d really love for every kid to find something they really love to do. Every kid should find their tribe, and a lot of them do that through music.”

School concerts

Pittsburgh Public Schools provides music instruction in grades K-12, though music becomes an optional elective in high school.

“I’m very proud of the work we do here, especially as an outsider,” said Ms. Cruz, an Atlanta native who also serves on the Americans for the Arts advisory board. “It’s unfortunate that people have such a negative perception. We’re doing OK, better than a lot of school districts around the country. But we could always do more.”

Pittsburgh Public Schools employs about 59 music teachers, including roving instrumental specialists who rotate through different schools. This figure doesn’t include adjunct faculty at CAPA, the Downtown performing arts magnet, and has dropped slightly since 2011 due to budget cuts. The figure also doesn’t take into account guest appearances by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra or Pittsburgh Opera.

Ms. Cruz is seeking funding to hire more roving specialists, whose number has doubled from four to eight since she arrived four years ago.

Ms. Cruz has been tracking data to make her case to district officials and Superintendent Anthony Hamlet. She said the teachers work with around 1,800 students in grades 4-8 alone and each teacher works with an average of 250 students.

There are enrollment guidelines that determine whether a school has a part- or full-time music instructor. She said schools aim to spend about $400 per 40 students on instruments, textbooks and other supplies.

“Music education is a priority,” she said. “You hear all the time about districts losing programs and funding. Pittsburgh Public Schools is not in jeopardy, but are we where we should be? No. I’d like to see a dedicated band program in middle schools someday like some schools around the state have.” 

Unisound

Public school music education may be the backbone of the education ecosystem, but there are other options ranging from private instructors to youth orchestras to choirs, bands and musical theater. Most programs offer scholarship opportunities, but it’s not easy to learn about outside offerings.

“Almost everybody I tell that there are five youth orchestra programs in Pittsburgh is shocked,” said Ms. Nova of the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras. “You have to have a PhD in Googling to figure out what the opportunities are.”

Ms. Nova has been working with other organizations on a new initiative called UniSound (unisound.us), a service organization that lists all opportunities on a single website.

“UniSound is a coalition of organizations that are providing kids opportunities to create music out of school time,” Ms. Nova said. “The reason the need is there is a lot of us don’t have resources. We can strengthen each other by working together.”

The UniSound website’s directory lists more than 30 youth music organizations by type and location and links to their websites. According to data gathered by UniSound members, each organization serves an average of 160 students or together over 5,000 kids annually.

“We all do a lot of the same thing but it’s not documented well,” said Ms. Cruz, who is on the board of the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras.

Ms. Nova said that the site, which launched earlier this year, is still developing and may include listings for private music teachers in the future. Currently, private teachers are listed on several members’ sites, but there is not a comprehensive list for the city.

“I’ve heard from families for years that it’s difficult to find opportunities,” Ms. Nova said. “I keep hearing, ‘If I only I had known about this program earlier.’ There are so many opportunities here in our region, and now we’re making it easier to find them.”

Via