You may not know, but as well as subscribing to updates direct from this website, you can also subscribe to a very occasional enews – a digest of recent posts published. If you’re already signed up: we’d love to hear your views on formats below (check your inbox to view the latest enews with fewer visuals). See the more visual one. See the less visual one. If you haven’t already signed up: you can subscribe here. Take Our Poll ..read more

Image from Pixabay, reproduced under Creative Commons CC0. A new report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) in England examines which students are accessing extra-curricular activities during secondary school and the long-term outcomes for them.   Extra-curricular activities are thought to provide benefits to young people through the development of soft skills, improved health, cognitive development, and establishing new friendships.   Using longitudinal data on young people in England, the study looked at data on young people who were aged 13-15 in 2013 and 2014, and then consid ..read more

Alt text: video featuring Dr David Greenberg talking about the research. A team of social neuroscientists from Bar-Ilan University and the University of Chicago developed a model of the brain that focuses on what happens when people make music together. They concluded that music making didn’t evolve as mere entertainment, but is a core feature of human existence with important social implications. This backs up studies that have explored pro-social behaviour in children making music together. The team included Dr. David Greenberg, a social neuroscientist, professional musician, and Zuckerman ..read more

[LATEST UPDATE: 10/3/2024] This post features links to the latest news about music education from around the world. Music education news & reports (latest update 4/3/2024) – Alba / Scotland Music education news & reports (latest update 4/12/2023) – Cymru / Wales Music education news & reports (latest update 21/2/2024) – England Music education news & reports (latest update 22/4/2023) – Northern Ireland Music education news & reports (latest update 10/3/2024) – International Music education news & reports (latest update 7/2/2024) – UK-wide ..read more

Image from Pixabay, reproduced under Creative Commons CC0. A new study by the University of Exeter has found a connection between brain health in old age and musicality. The research, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, shows that playing a musical instrument is associated with better working memory and executive function.   This study is based on an analysis of cognitive and musicality data (using the Edinburgh Lifetime Musical Experience Questionnaire) collected between March 2019 and March 2022 as part of the online PROTECT-UK study. PROTECT-UK aims to under ..read more

Photo by Ben Mullins on Unsplash A study published by the University of Southern California (USC) explored the impact of music education programmes on middle school students (ages 11-14), including a programme of extra-curricular online popular music education. The study used the five key areas of Positive Youth Development (PYD) to inform the study. The findings came at a time when California voters had approved Proposition 28, to increase funding for arts and music education in the state’s public schools. Many of the resulting headlines use bold claims such as ‘music education benefits yout ..read more

A study of 366 older adults who’d taken part in cognitive ability assessments at ages 11 and 70, indicates that people with more experience of playing a musical instrument were likely to show greater gains in cognitive ability. The adults had been part of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 research, and had reported their lifetime experience of playing a musical instrument at age 82. The researchers were Judith A. Ocelot, University of Edinburgh; Katie Overy, Edinburgh Napier University and Ian J. Deary, University of Edinburgh. Photo by Vlad Sargu on Unsplash SOURCES: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk ..read more

Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash A study published in Human Brain Mapping suggests that long-term vocal and piano training can improve white matter plasticity in emotion and language networks, and strengthen connections among emotion-related regions of the brain. Vocal training in particular reshaped the vocal motor control, sensory feedback, and language processing networks. The study was conducted by Li-Kai Cheng, Yu-Hsien Chiu, Ying-Chia Lin, Wei-Chi Li, Tzu-Yi Hong, Ching-Ju Yang, Chung-Heng Shih, Tzu-Chen Yeh, Wen-Yih Isaac Tseng, Hsin-Yen Y ..read more

Photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash A new publication by the University of Adelaide highlights the benefits of music education for child development and well-being, particularly following the impact of the pandemic. The research chapter by Dr. Emily Dollman, Head of Music Education and Pedagogy at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music, explores the importance of participatory music-making, including ensemble performance, and acknowledges neuro-musical research that points to the benefits of music on physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional child development. The land ..read more

The Data Drummer website has a research section that, summarises the wellbeing benefits of drumming: from improving general cognitive health, to helping control impulsive behaviour to reducing the symptoms of trauma. Visit the research section of the Data Drummer website. Photo by jauzax on Unsplash ..read more