Informative Speech Outline

Specific Goal: My audience will learn about the benefits of playing a musical instrument.

Application: The audience may use this information to take advantage of the benefits that come along with
playing a musical instrument.
Ethos: Primary Ethos: Ive been playing piano for over 10 years now and I enjoy reading studies done about
playing/listening to music.
Secondary Ethos: I will cite 4 references out loud in my speech.
Pathos: Hearing the benefits there is to music will hopefully move my audience to listen and play more music
like the way it did to me.
Logos: Benefits of playing a musical instrument: Increases memory capacity, refines time management and
organizational skills, boosts team skills, teaches perseverance, enhances coordination, better mathematical
skills, improves reading and comprehension skills, increases responsibility, exposes to cultural history,
sharpens concentration, fosters self-expression and reliefs stress, creates sense of achievement, promotes
social skills, boosts listening skills, teaches discipline, elevates performance skills and reduces stage fright,
enhances respiratory system, promotes happiness in life and those around you
-Data: studies found saying it makes you smarter
Audience Assessment: They might know the several types of instruments, what instruments sounds like,
how they look like,
Adaptation to Audience: I will use a power point to show the several types of studies found and facts.
Pattern of Organization: I will use cause and effect as well as chronological, start from an early age to old
and tell the cause and effect of the choices you make during those years.

Introduction

I. Hook: Aristotle, who was a philosopher and studied music said, Music has the power of
producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul, and if it has the power to do this, it
is clear that the young must be directed to music and must be educated in it.

II. Thesis: Playing a musical instrument comes with a lot of benefits, these benefits include good
health and wellbeing, by the way the brain develops, and overall having the benefit of being
smarter.
Preview:
A. Health benefits
B. Brain development
C. Being smarter

Transition: As Aristotle once said, music has the power to produce an effect on the soul, in this case
a positive effect.

Body
III. 1st main point and sub points
I. One of the first benefits that come along with playing a musical instrument, comes in
the form of good health and wellbeing.
A. Some people that benefit from playing a musical instrument is asthmatic people.
a. Asthmatic people struggle with doing everyday things because its difficult to
breathe.
b. A study done by Lucia, says that people who play a wind instrument has been
seen with reduced bronchocon-strictive (asthma) symptoms, mood changes,
and fatigue
c. This suggests that wind instruments can be a long-term therapeutic agent for
asthmatic people.
B. Playing a musical instrument also improves mood and increases white blood cells.
 a. This is because white blood cells are vital for an effective immune system
response.
b. This happens due to the regulation of breathing while playing an instrument.
c. Thus, making an individual happier and more relaxed.

Transition: These health benefits not only help the body and the way one feels, but it also
makes physical changes in the brain.

IV. 2nd main point and sub points

II. Positive changes occur in the brain when playing a musical instrument.
A. A physical change in the brain can happen at any age or time.
a. Childrens brains begin to hear and process sounds they couldnt otherwise hear
after learning how to play a musical instrument
b. This leads to an improvement in academic results in children.
B. Berglands study shows that music stimulates the brain and increases memory.
a. He supports this by saying that children from age 3-4 given keyboard
lessons weekly improved their spatial temporal skills 34% more than
those who didnt.
C. Playing a musical instrument changes the shape and the way the brain works.
a. Children who play a musical instrument have a brain that
organizes and functions differently than children who dont play
an instrument.
b. This change is positive, meaning that playing a musical
instrument is beneficial to individuals, especially children.

Transition: These brain developments lead up to one conclusion, it makes you smarter.

V. 3rd main point and sub points

III. Playing a musical instrument makes an individual smarter because the effects music
has on the brain is positive.
A. Executive functioning is a strong indicator of an individuals educational implications.
a. Locker says that Individuals who play an instrument have an enhanced ability
to retrieve sensory information from hear, touch, and sight.
b. We see this when there is training before age seven that shows the
beginnings effects of the brain anatomy as adults.
c. Brain circuits are shaped by systematic training, leading to less reliance on
working memory and more on extensive connectivity in the brain.
B. music training shows enhanced activation of specific areas during a test which
helped students make a switch between mental tasks.
a. The brain areas included were: the supplementary motor area, the pre-
supplementary area, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
b. These areas have been linked with executive functioning.
c. The insula and cerebellum were also activated although they are not
traditionally directed to executive functioning, but rather balance and
coordination.
Transition: The way these points work together shows that music does influence the mind and
thus has many benefits.
Conclusion

A. We can conclude that, playing a musical instrument increases the health and wellbeing of a
person.
B. Playing a musical instrument has shown physical changes in the brain.
C. Thus, playing a musical instrument makes one smarter.

Think about the way the world would be without music, now think of the way the world would be if we
were to educate with music. Which world would you want to live in?
References

Anonymous. Aristotle retrieved April 08,2017, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/

Bell, A. How can playing an instrument improve my life. Retrieved April 08,2017, from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3y3hv4

Bergland, C. (2014, June 25). Does Playing a Musical Instrument Make You Smarter? Retrieved April 08,
2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201406/does-playing-musical-instrument-
make-you-smarter

Locker, M. (2014, December 16). This is how Music Can Change your Brain. Retrieved April 08, 2017, From
http://time.com/3634995/study-kids-engaged-music-class-for-benefits-northwestern/

Lucia, R. (2009, July 02). Effect of Playing a Musical Wind Instrument in Asthmatic Teenagers. Retrieved April
08, 2017, from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/02770909409061317

Matthews, M. (2011, August 28). 18 Benefits of Playing a Musical Instrument. Retrieved April 08, 2017, from
http://www.effectivemusicteaching.com/articles/directors/18-benefits-of-playing-a-musical-instrument/