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Hannah Overly
Professor Cassel
English 1201
29 May 2015
Musical Inclination and Academic Success: A Statistic of Coincidence or Circumstance?
Approximately 20,160 hours of my life, up until this point, have been spent in an
educational facility, including both grade school and college. Over the years I have
spent these hours studying, socializing, and participating in various extra-curricular
activities. For so long I was trapped in this self-inflicted nightmare of monotony, only to
be rewarded with a mediocre intellect. Then I found music. At a verily young age, I
began to pursue music through my schools band program. After playing the trumpet for
several years I found that my school work came easier and my imagination grew; and
while my non-musical peers seemed to struggle, my fellow bandmates and I flourished.
Towards the end of my high school career my peers and I were challenged as our music
program was threatened. As we fought to justify the priceless importance of a musical
education, along with other creative outlets, we found that the connection between our
musicality and our academic success was impossible to deny. But was our improved
academic success a statistic of coincidence or circumstance?
After several years of practice and instrumental emersion I feel as though my
personal intellect and character have been positively shaped by the power of music.
This universal language has provided multiple opportunities for individuals all around
the world. Some of the adventures that music has provided me include allowing me to
travel all over the United States, march and perform in the Disney World parade, and

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play under the direction of movie music legends. I feel as though the avenues of
opportunity that music provides, alone, can allow the mind of a musician to reach into
realms that would otherwise be a dream.
Currently, prior to research, I feel as though music education and other creative
outlets are irreplaceable in standard education. I think that when creativity is made an
outlet for students, other, more traditional aspects of education, such as mathematics,
reading, and writing, become much clearer. By continuing to encourage students to
pursue other areas of their brains, I think, they will lead a more, well-rounded life. With
this balance will come a better chance of success.
I believe that those with musically active minds are generally more daring and
open-minded. By stimulating this area of the mind individuals are opening up the doors
to endless possibilities cognitively. I trust that if school systems across the globe choose
to neglect this creative outlet for its students, statistics will show a decline in overall
academic success. However, by utilizing musical education, I believe, scholastic
facilities will see a steep increase in test scores, social interaction, and overall mental
development.
Being a musical student myself, I have witnessed first-hand the positivity that can
follow a life filled with song. In my high school alone, nearly 90 percent of honor
students had been involved in the high school band or choir. In addition, considering the
past decade, 70 percent of Valedictorians produced by my high school were at some
point heavily involved in music.

This small statistic shows that there is, in fact, a

correlation between an individuals musical inclination and their academic successes.

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In order to productively convey the importance of musical education I will ask the
following questions: What is the connection between the musical education and
inclination of an individual and their academic success?; How are school budget-cuts in
the areas of creative arts damaging the long term success of students, if at all?; What is
the connection between pursuing multiple venues of music, such as vocal and
instrumentation, and the level of success a person achieves academically? To find the
answers to these questions I will study scholarly research concerning the relationship
between music and cognitive development. Also, I will consider the effect of musical
training on everyday brain activity. Following extensive research I plan to, not only
convince others of this correlation, but find irrefutable, non-coincidental evidence that
explains why music really makes the world go round.