When children have a heavy academic burden, auxiliary courses such as music are often squeezed out by main courses.

However, a large-scale longitudinal study in the Netherlands found that taking more music courses can significantly improve students' cognitive abilities, including reasoning, short-term memory, planning, and self-control, thereby enhancing academic performance.

Conducted by researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the study tracked 147 children from different schools. According to the structured music teaching method developed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science, and the guidance of the Center for Arts Education Experts, these schools supplemented their regular main courses with music and visual arts courses.

During these courses, students learned both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. The tracking study lasted for two and a half years, after which researchers assessed students' academic performance and various cognitive abilities such as planning, self-control, and memory.

The results showed that children who took supplementary music and visual arts courses performed better academically and showed significant improvement in cognitive abilities compared to those who only attended regular courses.

Dr. Arthur Jasjeck, the leader of the study, stated, "We believe that taking more music courses can indeed improve children's academic performance, and they will also handle things in a smarter way."

The importance of music throughout one's life

The first thing that cannot be ignored in the implementation of quality education is music education for students.

Music education not only plays a promoting role in cultivating students' moral and cultural knowledge but also assists in refining students' sentiments.

Looking at the history of human education development, whether in the West or the East, music and even art education occupy a significant place.

In ancient Greece, the study of grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music, known as the "seven arts," was particularly emphasized in Athens education, dedicated to cultivating individuals with harmonious development. Boys entered grammar schools and music schools (The Music School, also known as the String School) for learning from the age of seven. Music education was a crucial component of their harmonious and refined education.

In medieval European knight education, the focus was on cultivating the "seven knightly skills," including poetry, music, chess, horseback riding, swimming, fencing, and wrestling. Ancient Chinese education emphasized the "six arts" such as rites, music, archery, charioteering, writing, and arithmetic.

Up to modern times, the implementation of liberal arts education has become a consensus worldwide, aiming to cultivate individuals with comprehensive and harmonious development as the ultimate goal of education.

Looking at the evolution of music education, musical arts stand as a crystallization of human wisdom, a significant spiritual wealth, and an important category in human culture.

Over thousands of years of historical development, a complete system of knowledge, skills, and tools for transmission has been established, making it an indispensable part of modern education and a vital nourishment for children's growth.

Music education plays an irreplaceable role in the formation of sensory perception, aesthetics, thinking, understanding, and expressive abilities in young children. It contributes significantly to the overall and harmonious development of individuals.

Therefore, schools have a responsibility and obligation to carry out effective music education, emphasizing the importance of music education, recognizing its value and significance. Music education should be clearly positioned as a cultivation of cultural literacy and general knowledge, rather than professional or specialized education.

Efforts should be directed towards improving music teaching, focusing on "enhancing students' aesthetic and humanistic qualities." Emphasis should be placed on allowing students to express themselves, guiding them through participation, performance, and collaboration to gain pleasurable aesthetic experiences, ultimately promoting wholesome character development.