The Importance of Music in Classrooms

By Anabella V.

A commonly noticed struggle for students is the ability to focus in classrooms. Educators find it difficult to maintain an environment where active learning is constant and distractions are limited. The question is, how? What can be changed in schools so that students are able to succeed? Well, the answer, (controversial, however) is music. Music has been proven to affect one’s brain chemistry so deeply, that sparks light up in those suffering from severe dementia. Years of lost memories come back just from the drumbeat and bass line of one song. Music is powerful, and just as powerful in a classroom full of burnt out students.

Ellyana B. MRHS 10th grader explains: “Music helps me focus in pretty much every classroom environment. It can get really hard to focus in super quiet classrooms. Having something to listen to and focus on really puts me in the zone and gets me really productive.” Although contradictory, true distractions for students don’t always have to be loud and talkative classrooms, but dead silent classes with nothing to focus on but the sound of clacking keyboards and chewing gum. 

The argument goes back and forth, educators deciphering whether or not allowing students to have headphones in a classroom is beneficial and supportive. One concern revolves around the contradiction of a student not being able to focus in class, but music playing in their ears during class time, and how it somehow solves those struggles, as if that isn’t a whole other distraction. However, a Stanford study has proven otherwise: “The research team showed that music engages the areas of the brain involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating the event in memory. Peak brain activity occurred during a short period of silence between musical movements - when seemingly nothing was happening.” (Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory) Music is commonly used as a strategy to focus, as well as creating comfortable environments that create connection. 

The idea of music in classrooms isn’t new, to be in fact. Music in classrooms has been implemented since pre-school years. If you truly think about it, how do you remember your ABC’s? Is there a certain song that’s been nailed down in our brains for years? Or the memorization of U.S states? Or chemical elements? Music is a tactic for memorization purposes and changes how you can think and learn cognitively, “...music doesn’t just help us retrieve stored memories, it also helps us lay down new ones.” A tune connected to an event or information forms a kind of soundtrack, which, when replayed, can spark a recollection.” (Levine Music) Listening to music at a certain time or moment can create specific memories that your brain holds onto. It can be as simple as solving a test question because you listened to a specific song that you can go back to remember, or you made your own song correlating to the answer. Music can also create emotional connections to memories you may have made in the past. Some songs hold deeper meanings and feelings just because of memories tied to them. 

A handful of educators argue against the implementation of music in classrooms, whether it be playing in the background, or through headphones during quiet work time. The main argument focuses on the idea that music cannot actually help students focus, and distracts them instead: “According to research, multitasking alone (i.e., switching back and forth between two or more tasks) can decrease IQ by ten points. Add lyrics, which further impairs cognitive ability, and you have a powerful one-two punch.” (Michael Linsin) The issue is, some people cannot grasp the idea that every person is different. Those who also live with neurodivergent traits and habits are also those who depend on support like music. Some people cannot focus in complete silence or without a pen or toy to fidget with. However, some people do strive in silence and minimal distractions in a work place. The latter is accepted, why not the former? 

Mr. Fritz, MRHS science teacher, a classroom music player, responds to those who may be against music in classrooms, explaining that, “People focus in different ways, but allowing them access to what they need for support is important. Music creates balance especially in a room that gets pretty quiet which can get awkward at times.” He continues, mentioning the benefit music brings for students, “It affects how students show up and the sense of comfortability it brings to a classroom. It can create a sense of connection.”

At the end of the day, music in classrooms is up to teachers and how they implement their own rules. But happy students make a happy classroom, and music, whether that be played by the teacher or through headphones, would be a great contributing factor.