The importance of integrating songs into all of our learning has been researched and documented all over the world. Music is a superpower which has long been known to have profound effects on the brain. Studies show that listening to music can benefit overall well-being, help regulate emotions, and create happiness and relaxation in everyday life.

Listening to the right tunes can provide mood-altering effects, and can even create a better quality of life in many ways. A growing pool of academic research shows music’s effects on the brain go even deeper than mood, as it has been proven to increase cognitive abilities.

Music can also help retain learned information, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US. The esteemed university has proven that incorporating music into a classroom environment creates a positive learning experience and improves memory while increasing attention, for all ages.

“In active learning experiences [in which music is played while studying or learning a new concept] music creates a soundtrack for a learning activity,” Chris Boyd Brewer explained in his book Music and Learning, an excerpt of which is published on the university’s website. “The soundtrack increases interest and activates the information mentally, physically or emotionally. Music can also create a highly focused learning state in which vocabulary and reading material is absorbed at a great rate. When information is put to rhythm and rhyme, these musical elements will provide a hook for recall.”

Incorporating music even further into the learning experience helps focus and retention. Any former elementary school student can likely recall the various chants and hymns used to remember things like the ABCs. Songs like “The Wheels on the Bus” allow students to work on memory retention in the classroom, while unique raps or melodies can provide a way to remember information learned in a new, exciting way.

Children who have early musical training better develop the areas of the brain related to language and reasoning. The left side of the brain is better developed with music, and songs can help imprint information on young minds. Kids who have the benefit of active participation in music early in life have definite advantages in learning language. Our innate ability to remember music is also a fabulously effective teaching tool.

There are many therapeutic benefits to using music in rehabilitation settings, as well. A damaged brain can be retrained, strengthening other areas of the brain using music, and many people who have lost the ability to speak can sing songs fluently. Music and movement can help Parkinson’s patients regain control of their bodies. Research also shows that that listening to or singing songs can provide emotional and behavioral benefits for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Musical memories are often preserved in Alzheimer’s disease because key brain areas linked to musical memory are relatively undamaged by the disease.

It is well-documented that anyone benefits from listening to music of any kind to put people into the right frame of mind to perform. Music calms us, improves mood, reduces stress, eases pain and improves our understanding of our world.

As brain research continues to support the importance of learning through music, we must carry on using this essential gift to make significant differences in ourselves and with our children. 

Further research on how music promotes learning