Keep Music in Mind

Music’s ability to enhance the mind was clear long before Jules Combarieu, a 19th century French historian, observed that “music is the art of thinking with sounds.”

Only in the last year, however, have scientists discovered direct evidence of the link between music and intelligence. One recent study found that spatial and temporal reasoning skills jumped 80% in 3-year-olds who received weekly piano lessons. And papers presented at a Los Angeles neuroscience convention this week show how music may one day help physicians retune damaged minds.

The new science has inspired one state, Florida, to legislate Beethoven over Barney: As of this year, all of its state-funded child care facilities are required to play classical music every day. California may not want to impose a mandate, but officials should at least study the failures and successes of music education identified in a recent report by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Given the new science, there’s no doubt that California, which currently has the nation’s second-worst ratio of music teachers to students, should change its tune.