Researchers say that even a small amount of music training when we are young can dramatically effect the way our brains develop.

It is well known that professional musicians are better at processing foreign languages because they can hear the differences in pitch more closely, but  what about a few years of band class?

The study of 45 adults with varying degrees of musical background reveals that “music training had a profound impact on the way the study subjects’ brains responded to sounds. The people who had studied music, even if only for a few years, had more robust neural processing of the different test sounds. Most importantly, though, the adults with music training were more effective at pulling out the fundamental frequency, or lowest frequency sound, of the test noises.”

Children that study music in school have stronger reading skills, increased math abilities, and higher general intelligence scores. Music  also improves sociability as people believe music helps them be better team players and have higher self-esteem.

Music can even awaken the brain into a more conscious, active state.  Watch this video about a very old man whose brain is awoken from a nearly unresponsive state into lucidity.

Intellectuals from every walk of life have expressed the joy and depth of music.  One of my favorite quotes:

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.”

-Aldous Huxley