The influence of two years of school music training in secondary school on visual and auditory memory

TLDR

Before music training, children with and without the extended music curriculum showed no differences in intelligence, socioeconomic status, or memory performance. The study examined whether a two‑year extended music curriculum improves visual and auditory memory in secondary‑school children. The authors assessed 10‑year‑old children at baseline and after two years, comparing those in the curriculum with controls while controlling for intelligence, socioeconomic status, extracurricular schooling, motivation, and musical aptitude. Children in the curriculum group showed significant gains in visual and auditory memory over two years, whereas controls did not, indicating that extended music training enhances these memory domains.

Abstract

The present study tested the effect of an extended music curriculum (EMC) for two years in secondary school, consisting of musical instrument, auditory perception, and music theory training, on children's visual and auditory memory. We tested 10-year-old children who had just started EMC and children without EMC (T0) in visual and auditory memory and retested the same children two years later (T1) to observe the effects of school music training. Confounding variables, like intelligence, socioeconomic status, extracurricular schooling, motivation to avoid work, and musical aptitude were controlled. Prior to the beginning of the music training no differences in the control variables and the memory variables between children with and without EMC were revealed. Children with EMC improved significantly from T0 to T1 in visual as well as in auditory memory. Such an improvement was not found for children without EMC. We conclude that extended school music training enhances children's visual and auditory memory.