UCI researchers have found that taking piano lessons and solving math puzzles on a computer significantly improves specific math skills of elementary school children - the latest in a series of findings that link musical training to the development of higher brain functions. So says Gordon Shaw, physics professor emeritus, who led the study involving 135 second-grade students. Children given piano keyboard training, as well as time playing with newly designed computer software, scored 27 percent higher on proportional math and fractions tests than those who did not receive both the music and computer training.
Music involves ratios, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and time.
Piano instruction is thought to enhance the brain's ability to visualize and transform objects in space and time, Shaw said. The researchers will expand the study to demonstrate its effectiveness in a variety of settings, and are preparing materials to integrate piano training and the STAR software into the standard second-grade math curriculum.