- 70% of those who were involved in music say that it was at least somewhat influential in contributing to their current level of personal fulfillment.
Harris Interactive Inc. (2008). MENC Executive Omnibus Results Summary.
- Costa-Giomi (2004) investigated the effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s self-esteem. Children in the study were divided into two groups: piano instruction weekly for three years, and no music instruction. Both groups had similar levels of self-esteem at the beginning of the study. The researcher found that the children who completed three years of piano instruction had a significant increase in self-esteem while the children who did not participate in piano instruction or dropped out of piano instruction did not.
Costa-Giomi, E. (2004). Effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s academic achievement, school performance and self-esteem. Psychology of Music, 32(2), 139-152.
- Chorus America found that choral singers are far more likely to be involved in charity work, as volunteers and as donors (76 %), than the average person (44% according to a 2001 report by Independent Sector). Choral singers are also more than twice as likely as non-participants to be aware of current events and involved in the political process. They are also twice as likely as the general public to be major consumers of other arts – and not just music.
America’s Performing Art: A Study of Choruses, Choral Singers, and their Impact (Chorus Impact Study, 2003).
- Students who participate in music groups score significantly higher than their peers on measures of social capital including talking more with parents and teachers.
Broh, B. A. (2002). Linking extracurricular programming to academic achievement: Who benefits and why? Sociology of Education, 75(1), 69-95.
- Jenlink (1993) conducted a qualitative study of a school’s attempts to raise the self-esteem of its at-risk students by emphasizing the school’s music program. The author concluded that the music program lessened students’ feelings of alienation, promoted individual growth, and provided a common bond between the home and the school. Further, participation in the select musical performing group promoted goal attainment, teamwork, leadership, academic achievement, feelings of success, and cultural exposure.
Jenlink, C. L. (1993). The relational aspects of a school, a music program, and at-risk student self-esteem: a qualitative study. (Doctoral dissertation, Oklahoma State University, 1993). Dissertation Abstracts International, 55(2A), 0214.