Smart Ways & Benefits of Incorporating Music in Classroom

Music's soothing impact extends to several areas of our lives.

For students, it has many first-hand advantages. Stakeholders have been utilizing these benefits for ages across all age groups. At present, students battle with several challenges including career preparation, skill building, academic stress, standardized tests etc. As a result, the need to incorporate music in classroom holds greater importance than ever.

Many teachers already know about the basic use of calm music in the classroom. But today, we will take up some undiscovered truths and help you with some innovative ways of using the power of music for your students/kids.

Before discussing more about music in education, let’s take you through some expert opinions in this regard.

Research-Backed Facts

Research (conducted in the U.S.A.) proved some astonishing benefits of music for kids. It stated that 95% of the parents confirmed the educational benefits of their child’s participation in a music band (musical group). These parents also mentioned that these benefits were over and above any other classroom activity.

A child’s participation in a musical group helps him/her in the following ways:

• Promotes self-discipline
• Develops social skills
• Helps them to be friends with like-minded people
• Supports skills like teamwork, networking, responsibility, commitment, bonding, concentration, confidence etc.

Do you know that the ability to play musical instruments also enhances a child’s recalling power?

Yes!

This research also proves that children who can play a musical instrument can remember 17%  more verbal information in comparison with the ones without any musical training. This happens because when we learn to play a musical instrument, the left cranial temporal regions of our brain get enlarged.

Hope you can now connect the dots and understand why teachers use morning music in the classroom.

After this piece of information, let’s move on to more aspects of incorporating music in a physical/online school. Read on.

What Are The Benefits of Using Music in the Classroom?

Happiness and Bliss

We have already discussed that our students face problems related to the school environment, peer and academic pressure etc. With all this and much more, music in education is a reliable yet cost-effective stress buster!

All in all, it brings joy in many ways.

Creative Cognition

The findings of an interesting study prove that music boosts the human brain's power to find creative solutions. A large group of 155 participants was divided into small groups and they were made to listen to various types of music. They were asked to provide creative solutions and perform cognitive tasks. The ones who listened to happy music came up with the best solutions—and presented examples of divergent creative thinking. This proves the power of music in classrooms in varied educational settings for new-age skill-building (like problem solving).

So isn't this a comprehensive situation to develop the 4C’s of the 21^st-century?

Social and Emotional Development across Disciplines

SEL or social and emotional learning helps a child develop the ability to identify, label, and manage various emotions. It is an extremely essential aspect of education in the 21st century. It teaches students the practical ways of managing stress and also makes them capable of developing empathy.

The power of calm music in the classroom is the perfect trajectory to nurture social and emotional development.

If you wish to know how an online school nurtures social and emotional learning, read this interesting article "Nurturing Social And Emotional Learning In A Virtual Classroom".

Essential Skills

Music and its universal language shape essential language skills and develop communication abilities. The best example of music in the classroom is the innovative use of rhymes, beats and songs to boost student’s performance through brain breaks in an online school.

Know about International Schooling’s world-class curriculum and its impeccable elements through our experts. 

As per the National Library of Medicine, the psychological resources of language processing and music overlap with each other. This means that there is a direct connection between one’s musical aptitude and the acquisition of linguistic skills. Not just linguistic skills, music in education serves many more purposes. Similarly, music also boosts skills like collaboration, vocabulary building, teamwork, comprehension abilities etc.

How Can Music Be Used in the Classroom?

A Thread to Lesson

Let’s take an example of an elementary classroom. Imagine introducing the concept of shapes through the legendary track, ‘We are shapes’!

Isn’t this perfect to create the right ambiance?

And also to get kids excited about the new topic, shapes?

Similarly, teachers and stakeholders can make use of calm music for the classroom to make transitions between lessons, topics etc.

Stress Busters

Various songs and in general morning music for classroom help in releasing dopamine, a hormone that is linked with the feeling of reward. Some study in the past shows that dopamine level can shoot up by 9% by listening to music that one likes. 

This ultimate stress buster reduces anxiety, pain and depression and the positive benefits of music are also associated with better sleep quality. Student stress is a real problem. Here’s a look at the top 5 reasons for stress for students as per the American Psychological Association.

Issue	%
Depression	49%
Stress	45%
Family issues	31%
Academic performance	28%
Relationship problems	27%

Fun Elements to Beat Monotony

You can transform your classroom by adding fun elements through some peppy numbers and beats. Use music in classroom to add fun elements. And make mundane or repetitive topics fun for your students. A resourceful teacher can make use of several resources and platforms (such as YouTube, Spotify and Pandora etc.)

Below is the table with the weightage of the top online music services in the United States-

Platform	%
Spotify	37%
YouTube Music	21%
Pandora	14%
Apple Music	11%
Amazon Music	7%

Music in Education as a Tool for an Inclusive Classroom

Studies have also proved some striking benefits of music in education to help students with different needs. Music is a useful tool to help treat various behavioral and emotional disorders. It is also a perfect tool to help such students with hands-on experiences that in turn develop their abilities to think, reason, evaluate, analyze and solve problems.   

Best Tips for Using Calm Music in Classroom

• Make use of music as a meditation tool with simple breathing exercises.
• Encourage group singing with music and tunes to promote collaboration.
• Have a playlist handy for specific activities/occasions throughout the academic year.
• Associate music with concepts to help students master difficult topics easily.           
• Always keep in mind the student’s liking.
• Try to incorporate music to help students associate facts.
• Ensure that you avoid the use of sad music (unless necessary)

Final Thoughts

The advantages of using music in classroom transform a lifeless classroom into a vibrant learning space. Go ahead and create yours with these tricks. Very soon you will relish the magic of music- THE FOOD FOR SOUL!

Thanks for Reading!

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why music be used in classroom?
  There are many uses of music in classroom. It uplifts the mood of students and helps students to focus better. Music raises dopamine levels as well. The power of music also extends to better learning and promotes skill building.  
• What are some tips for using Calm music in classroom?
  In general, calm music for the classroom must be used with a minimum sound to create a pleasant ambiance. Morning music for classroom also boosts the student’s mood. And makes the learning environment positive for teachers and students. You can also make use of this type of music to familiarize students with some tones and sounds. All this will help them to connect with specific sounds during the transition between topics or special instructions.  

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