Mike Blakeslee, associate executive director of the National Association for Music Education in Reston, Va., concurred with that statement during a telephone interview. We're not necessarily trying to turn out a whole bunch of professional musicians. Still, he said, there is no denying the benefits of early exposure to music. Your intellectual and your physical development go hand in hand.
Music is one area where intellectual and physical development really go together.
While a wealth of anecdotal evidence has built up over time to bear that out, Blakeslee said in recent years researchers have begun to come up with supporting concrete evidence. I can't think of anybody who's ever interacted with a child who wouldn't say first of all, the kids enjoyed it, and second of all, they've gotten something from it. What's new is in the past couple of years we've developed significant scientific data to back up this belief. These scientists, who in some cases use measuring tools such as garden-variety standardized tests, are finding that intelligence is improved when children are given appropriate music instruction, he said. And unlike music proponents, researchers have no personal stake in the results.