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How Music Primes the Brain for Learning

To reap the benefits of music on learning, kids need consistent and abundant musical practice, according to the latest cognitive research.

Ten years ago, musician Angélica Durrell began teaching a small group of Connecticut high school students how to play different percussion instruments, including the charango and toyos —musical instruments native to Central and South America, where many of the students had recently immigrated from. They learned to play Pachelbel’s Canon and then moved on to master “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” the sixties doo-wop hit by The Shirelles, singing the lyrics in both English and Spanish.

Within a few years, the after-school music program—aimed at Latino students, many of whom were struggling academically—became renowned in the school district, recast from a “nice-to-have” extracurricular into a strategic tool for addressing some of the district’s persistent challenges. Durrell’s students, teachers and school leaders noticed, were attending school more consistently, their English was improving, and they seemed increasingly comfortable making friends.

Today, Durrell’s non-profit program Intempo serves more than 3,000 students each year in Stamford and Norwalk schools, underscoring music’s profound impact on learning from both a cognitive and a social and emotional learning (SEL) vantage point. “We went from approaching it from a music perspective,” Durrell says, “to approaching it from an immigrant inclusion, language acquisition, and grade-level reading-acquisition perspective.”

Consistent exposure to music, like learning to play a musical instrument, or taking voice lessons, strengthens a particular set of academic and social-emotional skills that are essential to learning. In ways that are unmatched by other pursuits, like athletics for instance, learning music powerfully reinforces language skills, builds and improves reading ability, and strengthens memory and attention, according to the latest research on the cognitive neuroscience of music.

Experts are hoping this body of evidence might alter the current state of music education in schools—which is extremely uneven and, in some places, downright nonexistent. In a 2014 survey from Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit advocacy organization, teachers reported that 1.3 million elementary students didn’t have music classes in their schools, and nearly 4 million didn’t have a visual arts class. More recently, data from the 2016 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed improvements in some areas, though arts participation and access varied greatly by region . For example, while 68 percent of eighth-graders had music class in 2016, students in the Northeast were twice as likely to attend music class compared with students in the South and the West, where only one-third of students had access to music classes.

Now, following months of pandemic-related learning disruptions, organizations that track arts education like the federally-funded Arts Education Partnership say it’s difficult to even get a handle on who’s learning music at school.

The Cognitive Benefits of Music

The key to understanding music’s advantages, researchers say, lies in how the brain processes sound, the raw material of music, language, and—perhaps counterintuitively—learning to read. The sounds that come in through our ears travel along an anatomically complex “auditory pathway” that’s deeply connected to parts of the brain that determine how humans move, how we think and speak, what we know, and what we pay attention to. “The hearing brain is vast,” explains neuroscientist Nina Kraus, author of the new book Of Sound Mind , in an interview with Edutopia . “People think of the hearing brain as being a silo within the brain. In fact, our hearing engages our cognitive, sensory, motor, and reward systems. That’s huge. From an evolutionary perspective, being able to make sense of sound is ancient and has engaged all these different perspectives.”

What makes music learning so powerful is how it engages all those different systems in a single activity. To play the violin, for example, a student needs to coordinate their motor, cognitive, and sensory systems to be able to put their fingers on the correct strings and move the bow at the right time; to read musical notes on a sheet of music and know what sounds they represent; and to hear if the pitches and rhythms are correct and coordinating with other players at the right time. Then there’s how the sound of music makes the student feel, which lights up the brain’s reward system. Engaging all these different systems makes learning how to play music one of the richest and deepest brain activities that humans perform. “Teachers resoundingly tell me that children who play music also do better in school,” Kraus writes. Young musicians also tend to have stronger language and reading skills than non-musicians because their brains have spent more time actively “engaging with sound.”

The type of instrument doesn’t matter: flute, violin, accordion, piano, voice—even abundant exposure to music can make an impact. “What is important is that engaging with sound changes and strengthens how the brain responds to sound,” Kraus says.

Music as Academic Strength Training

At Durban Avenue School in Sussex County, New Jersey, music teacher Shawna Longo calls out a particular rhythm, and then her kindergarteners play it on their Boomwhackers , tuned percussion tubes that come in different sizes and colors to symbolize different pitches. “Now only the red ones! Do ‘I like pepperoni pizza,’” she calls out, and the children play ta-ta-tee-tee-tee-tee-ta-ta. “They can only play when I hold up their color,” she says. “They have to learn when to wait, and when to play.”

The ability to keep a steady beat and anticipate the next beat, research has shown , are reliable indicators that a child is ready to learn to read. But keeping rhythm isn’t the only musical skill that paves the way for language development and reading, notes education researcher Anita Collins in her new book, The Music Advantage .

Learning to read music—decoding musical notation and connecting it to sounds—activates the same “phonological loop” in the brain as when kids learn to read words, deepening sound-word connections. Collins describes the process in her book:

• The eye sees a symbol on the page, whether it’s an eighth note D or a letter t at the start of a word

• The brain hears the sound, pulling it from the memory of music and speech sounds all brains possess

• The brain instructs the body to make that sound, whether it’s hands playing an instrument or the mouth shaped to make the t sound

• The brain listens to be sure the correct sound was made, and then makes adjustments

(From page 54 of The Music Advantage )

Processing sound strengthens the same areas of the brain that are responsible for learning language and learning to read—and while neuroscientists are still teasing out the how and the why, Collins writes that the latest research indicates that “music and reading may well be complementary learning activities,” with music functioning as a robust tool to improve language learning.

The Sound of Social Cohesion

When Covid-19 lockdowns first spread across the globe in March 2020, multiple videos showed people in Italy singing together from their balconies. At a time of extreme stress and isolation, Italians turned to music to connect with their neighbors.

Music and song are among the most basic ways humans have connected with one another for thousands of years. “Music lives in the oldest part of our brain,” Collins tells Edutopia . “Music and song are at least as old as language and the spoken word.”

In a landmark 2018 study , researchers from the University of Toronto found that an adult singing and moving to a musical beat with a one-year-old child in tow increased social cohesion: the child was more likely to help when the adult later “accidentally” dropped an item. The study has been replicated many times, Collins writes, and shows how music taps into a primal bond that may encourage prosocial behavior like empathy and helping—the very behaviors that adults want children to develop as they grow, and behaviors schools strive to teach using the tenets of social and emotional learning.

When students belt out the school song at basketball games, or sing the clean-up song in kindergarten, it’s a potent practice for strengthening basic human social bonds. “Singing is a very powerful tool to make children feel in community,” says Kelly Green, vice president of education at Kindermusik, which creates research-based music curriculum for early childhood learners. “It’s deep SEL.”

Like Italy’s balcony singers during lockdown, social singing and music-making might be especially helpful to students now, when loneliness, anxiety, and depression are skyrocketing among young people. But Green says that kids in school sing a lot less than they used to. We tend to think “that learning music is only to develop as a musician,” Collins remarks. “People don’t feel confident to sing anymore. The fear that sits under ‘I can’t sing, I’m not musical’ is incredibly deep. When I start singing with students, they often realize singing is just a practiced skill. All these things start happening. They feel this sense of euphoria.”

Kids Benefit From Deep and Consistent Engagement

Facing limited budgets, increased academic expectations and testing , and a music teacher shortage , some schools and districts are increasingly looking to nonprofit organizations and community partners for help. Groups like Save the Music Foundation provide grants for schools to purchase student instruments and provide teacher training. The Harmony Project brings intensive music training and support to underserved students in the Los Angeles area. The Soulsville Charter School, a music-influenced middle and high school in Memphis, Tennessee, taps into the birthplace of American soul music and legendary Stax Records with the support of the Soulsville Foundation .

“You have to be willing to say, ‘We can’t do this alone,’” says Tamu Lucero, superintendent of Stamford Public Schools, where Durrell’s Intempo program is now a critical component of the district’s new-arrivals program. Even though Stamford schools already offered regular music programming, Lucero says, “we were willing to be open to the idea of how we could use an outside partner to enrich the learning environment for students.”

Researchers will continue to untangle some of the reasons behind why music learning is so beneficial to students—but know enough to conclude that listening to music or writing a song for a class project only begins to scratch the surface. To get maximal brain benefits, students should actively engage with music by learning to play an instrument or studying voice, preferably in a group setting. The evidence is strong enough to recommend music education as a discrete class for all kids—and across the grade levels—as a critically important investment.

Or as Nina Kraus states, “Music should be a part of every child’s education. Period.”

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> Journals
> British Journal of Music Education
> Volume 39 Issue 2
> Time for change? Recurrent barriers to music education

Article contents

Introduction, time for change recurrent barriers to music education.

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 May 2022

This article reports findings from a study that sought to identify barriers to music and music education in the UK. Emerging from empirical research involving n = 723 participants and clarified by an evidence base of over 10,000 research participants, the key findings presented in this paper relate to pupil and participant voice and involvement , location as a sub-theme of diversity and inclusion , collaboration and transition points . The research is contextualised by twenty years of policy initiatives seeking to address barriers to music learning. The article provides an overview of the research study before presenting the rich data that emerged within each theme reported. Research participant voice is used as much as possible to enable the reader to consider, reflect and interpret the data in a way that is meaningful for their own context. The paper concludes by asking why after 20 years of policy initiatives, research and evaluation the same barriers still exist and, as we emerge from the pandemic, suggests that this research provides a compelling case that now is the time for change.

Twenty years ago, in 2002, the first Wider Opportunities programmes were piloted in England. Designed to address inequalities in provision and barriers to music learning, these programmes sought to:

‘provide significant music activities, incorporating instrumental tuition for pupils through whole-class teaching

target ‘first timers’

foster and develop collaboration between the formal and informal music education sectors in and beyond schools

offer musical choices to pupils

embrace a broad range of diverse cultures

provide appropriate training for music leaders and teachers

encourage family involvement

link to the National Curriculum

ensure rigorous monitoring and evaluation to inform future practice’ (Davies & Stephens, Reference DAVIES and STEPHENS 2004 )

Shortly before the global pandemic struck, a special issue of the British Journal for Music Education took stock of whole-class instrumental tuition (WCET) to reflect on WCET as a pedagogical approach and the learnings that can be taken forward into other forms of music teaching. Hallam ( Reference HALLAM 2019 ) provided an analysis of the contributing factors that make WCET successful, and the research was contextualised by the policy and evaluation trajectory of the original pilot programmes. Hallam tells us that the evaluations carried out between 2004 and 2010 were positive, demonstrating that there had been progress against the aims of the programme. However, she points out that, despite these positive evaluation reports, 10 years after their inception, Ofsted reported that progression beyond these initial programmes was limited (Ofsted, 2012 ).

The challenges of transition between stages of learning were well known in 2012. If fact, the 2001 white paper that prompted the development of WCET programmes was an attempt to address issues with progression in the transition between Primary and Secondary school (Department for Education and Skills, 2001 ). This was also not a new issue for music education. Kokotsaki ( Reference KOKOTSAKI 2017 ) demonstrates that the challenges of moving from Primary to Secondary school have been discussed widely since the early 1980s and Wright ( Reference WRIGHT 2002 ) shows how the introduction of GCSE qualifications in England, with the first exams being taken in 1988, was a policy attempt to enable more young people to engage in music learning, amongst other subjects, beyond the age of 14. However, what the Ofsted report of 2012 showed is that the advent of WCET programmes brought a new challenge in transition: that from initial whole-class instrumental learning to the next stages of learning.

The creation of Music Education Hubs in 2012, 10 years after the introduction of WCET and in response to the National Plan for Music Education (DfE, 2011 ), was a policy initiative to (in part) actively address issues of transition and progression through collaborative working and the geographical inequities of music education provision. Notably, the aims of the initial wider opportunities pilot programmes – as stated above – run through the 2011 National Plan for Music Education, implying that despite the positive outcomes reported in evaluations, the aims of the initiative were still live challenges for music education.

The 10 years following the National Plan for Music Education tell a similar story (Fautley & Daubney, Reference FAUTLEY and DAUBNEY 2019 ). In 2014, a report outlined how progression routes in music education were not clearly defined (ABRSM, 2014 ). In 2015, a report showed that progression beyond WCET programmes was still limited (Sharp, Reference SHARP 2015 ). The year 2017 saw the publication of a report showing that, as Fautley and Daubney ( Reference FAUTLEY and DAUBNEY 2019 ) highlight, although evaluation reports had been widely disseminated, the insights from those reports had not been well embedded (Zeserson & Welch, Reference ZESERSON, WELCH, Schmidt and Colwell 2017 ). By the time the pandemic hit in 2020, there were still considerable challenges and inequalities in music learning (ABRSM, 2021 ).

Needless to say, the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on music in UK schools has been devastating (Underhill, Reference UNDERHILL 2020 ), and the fragility of music-making and music learning is very clear (Fautley, Reference FAUTLEY 2020 ). The pandemic has brought into sharp focus issues of equality (Daubney & Fautley, Reference DAUBNEY and FAUTLEY 2020 ) and as music education rebuilds, now is the time to ask serious questions about how far we wish to return to the pre-pandemic status quo.

This article presents new empirical research, carried out prior to the pandemic that underpins the fact that after 20 years of policy initiatives aiming to address inequalities, the barriers to music education that young people experience have not altered. As we emerge from the pandemic with new hope and new ways of working (Daubney & Fautley, Reference DAUBNEY and FAUTLEY 2020 ), it is time to take a deep look at these experiences, acknowledge the recurrence of the barriers and consider whether we need to do something different.

The music commission

The Music Commission Footnote 1 was launched in 2017 to explore how progress in music making and learning can be sustained. Conducted over 18 months, the inquiry brought together a panel of experts, including performers, academics and educators, to interrogate research, evidence and insights from across the musical landscape. A Research Reference Group comprising leading academics in the fields of music education, creativity and general education supported the commission, providing both a steer and a peer review mechanism for the research programme that informed the commission’s work. The research programme was supervised by the first author (Henley) and carried out by a team of researchers, including the second author (Barton). The aim of the research programme was to support the Music Commission panel’s discussions and underpin recommendations, thoroughly grounding the Music Commission Report in the most pertinent recent research.

The research included a study exploring barriers to music and music education, implemented over a 6-month period, including the design phase, ethical approval process, piloting, data collection and analysis. This study involved three strands:

Field notes : From the point of launching the Music Commission, informal conversations were recorded and collated to explore the field, identify stakeholders and steer the direction of the research programme and development of research questions. Twelve months’ worth of field notes were analysed and themes drawn out to identify the parameters of the study. Leading to;

Empirical work: New empirical data were collected via a survey and targeted focus groups, producing collaborative statements. The total number of useable survey responses was n = 513, including 36 responses from young people and 110 responses from parents, and the total number of participants in the collaborative statements is a minimum of n = 203 collected via 29 focus groups. Ten of these focus groups involved young people, with four involving primary aged children. The cross-over potential between the two data sets in the empirical work was acknowledged, and a breakdown of roles of research participants to show the spread across the sector was provided. The purpose of the empirical work was to provide a snapshot from the field as to current ideas surrounding progression in relation to mechanisms for progression, as identified in the field notes. These were People, Places, Pathways and Points in time. Research participants were asked to reflect on the opportunities and barriers available to them or their learner in relation to the four identified mechanisms for progression.

Rapid evidence review: ‘A Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) aims to provide an informed conclusion on the volume and characteristics of an evidence base together with a synthesis of what that evidence indicates following a critical appraisal of that evidence’ (Collins et al., Reference COLLINS, MILLER, COUGHLIN and KIRK 2015 ). The scope of the rapid evidence review is important to note. The total number of participants in the research studies reviewed is a minimum of n = 10,104. This number is a minimum as many studies did not specify the exact number of participants. The purpose of this strand of research was to explore recent literature (published within the 5 years prior to the study), draw out issues related to progression and to cross reference the empirical work with a larger sample of research studies.

The three research strands were cross-referenced and analysed. First, the field notes were used to design the survey, focus groups and to provide the parameters for the rapid evidence review. Once closed, the survey was analysed at a surface level via word frequency queries. Then, an inductive analysis of the survey was carried out and themes were cross-referenced with the collaborative statements produced by the focus groups. Participant codes were assigned to the data: P1-P531 for survey participants and FG1-FG29 for focus groups. The rapid evidence review was carried out in parallel to the inductive analysis. Once the inductive analysis and rapid evidence review were completed, a deductive analysis was carried out to apply the themes that emerged from the empirical work to the larger body of evidence. We found that the empirical work and rapid evidence review were in agreement with each other in relation to the emerging themes, thus the themes emerging from the smaller empirical sample reflected the larger evidence base.

One key theme stood out as having significant implications for progression in music learning:

Pupil and participant voice and involvement

Six further key themes were identified:

Diversity and inclusion

Teacher education and CPD

Collaboration

Transition points

Resourcing (time/staffing etc.)

Finally, one theme ran throughout all above themes: Funding

All of these themes are interlinked, and natural cross-over occurred in the data. The key findings reported in this article are pupil and participant voice and involvement , location as a sub-theme of diversity and inclusion, collaboration and transition points . Further articles are being prepared to report findings across the other themes.

It became clear from the analysis of the data that there is a need for greater pupil and participant involvement in decision and policy-making at all levels of music education. As one young participant said, ‘You need to start listening to young people – and stop decisions being made by adults who think they know best’ (FG12). This is reflected in other previous research which also found that there was a need for young people to be consulted and involved in the decision-making process (Wired4Music, 2015 ).

Others felt that policy was generally formulated on a top-down basis, and that those who ultimately participate in the opportunities available have the least voice in the decision-making process. For example, P19 wrote that ‘politicians and those making national music education decisions need to think from the ground up, i.e. from the perspective of the children, not imposing commercial, political priorities’.

Overall, there was a sense that the children and young people themselves needed to be afforded a ‘voice’ at all levels. For example, P12, believes ‘it’s essential for…[students’] voices to be heard about what type of music making they want to explore’. Similarly, P250 writes that ‘Youth Voice will be key across all of this to understand motivations and preferred ways of learning and progressing’. Likewise, P489 responded, saying:

‘Young people need to be listened to much more. They must be given much more agency to set their own musical goals and make their own musical choices, with input from a diverse range of individuals and organisations across music’.

It was recognised wholeheartedly, that given opportunity to have a greater input, children and young people had much of significant value to contribute. As P216 says, there is a need to:

‘Start a national discussion about the benefits of a musical education…The parents and schools need to understand what it has to offer. That it’s not elite. The kids get it. The adults don’t’.

It was also felt that the opportunities provided to children and young people, whether they be through schools or outside of schools, needed to cater to their specific interests and meet individual needs. In some cases, this referred to the teaching itself. For example, P140 suggests that ‘Children get switched off quickly if the teaching doesn’t meet their needs, interests or preferences’. Similarly, on a more general note, P250 indicates that there is a lack of music-making opportunities which ‘appeal to the interests of children and young people’. It was recognised that conflict can often arise due to differing musical tastes. P129 states ‘there is often a conflict between the styles in which teachers are comfortable and those potential learners are interested in, resulting in inauthentic teaching, and unenthusiastic learning’. Indeed, previous research suggests that valuing children and young people’s musical preferences, even if not liking them, was fundamental in encouraging a more open approach to both music teaching and learning (McQueen, Hallam, & Creech, Reference MCQUEEN, HALLAM and CREECH 2018 ).

Other respondents felt that music educators needed to adopt a ‘learner-centred’ approach, P140 saying ‘find out about your learner – what do they like, who are they, what else are they involved in? Allow them to be involved in dialogue in the education process so that it is co-constructed’. Carter ( Reference CARTER 2016 ) argues that progression needs to be tailored to individual needs, and similarly, it has been noted that there is a need for Music Education Hubs to meet the needs of all of the young people within their local area (Hallam, Reference HALLAM 2018 ). It has been suggested elsewhere that activities which are largely teacher-directed make it hard for children and young people to engage in music-making post-compulsory education (Pitts & Robinson, Reference PITTS and ROBINSON 2016 ), and that increased pupil independence can lead to more effective learning (Andrews, Reference ANDREWS 2013 ). However, although understandings of the need for children and young people to be agents in their own learning are widely accepted, implementing this requires a fundamental shift in thinking and educational practice (Barton, Reference BARTON 2020 ).

It was suggested that a dialogue between stakeholders had the potential to enrich a participant’s experience of any opportunity available, P391 saying that a situation was needed ‘where the student’s aims and aspirations are reached by mutual agreement with the teacher’. That said, others recognised the need for children and young people to be exposed to musical opportunities which they, themselves, may not have considered.

Overall, it’s clear from those responses received directly from the children and young people themselves that they have much of value to contribute to the ongoing debate. They feel that top-down decision-making negatively impacts their opportunities to progress. There is a sense that whilst the children and young people value many of the opportunities that they’ve been given, such opportunities, whilst well-meaning, are often misplaced. There was a strong sense that a greater dialogue with children and young people themselves, in other words, those who will ultimately participate, would be hugely beneficial to the music education sector at all levels. Ultimately, many felt that in order for children and young people to progress in music, their voices needed to be heard and valued. As Sandbrook ( Reference SANDBROOK 2014 , 3) writes:

‘what’s often missing is having the right attitudes and behaviours to enable young musicians to progress: believing in their potential, finding out what they can do to support themselves and each other, letting them work out their own musical identities and destinations’.

A significant number of responses highlighted the huge variation in the availability of opportunities based on location. To begin with, it was generally felt that there were considerable opportunities available to those living in London. For example, P2 states there is a ‘Wealth of amateur music making in London’ and P42 says ‘There are also many courses and masterclasses available for amateur musicians (in Greater London)’. Similarly, P131 writes there is ‘Tons in London. Everywhere’, and P151 said:

‘On the more amateur end, in London, there are certainly a huge range of amateur orchestras and choirs for people to perform in – with the opportunity to choose a group that is your level or a bit higher and which expands you musically and builds a good social group’.

It was also recognised that there was a greater availability of opportunities through which children and young people could progress in music, for example, P130 writes:

‘As a parent in London, I can see there are lots of opportunities for my children e.g. through Lewisham Music hub, Kinetika Bloco, Blackheath Halls community opera, peripatetic lessons at school, Junior Trinity, invitations to perform at Blackheath Conservatoire family concerts, NYJC, Ronnie Scott’s big band in a day…’

Likewise, FG27 reported similarly, although recognised that these opportunities were not always sustained:

‘I feel there are several opportunities in London, to progress if you’re just starting out, but barely any opportunities to develop as a more advanced music maker without having to pay high fees’.

It was, however, recognised that the availability of opportunities in London was variable depending on location. P355 reports:

‘It’s the outer areas of London in more need of support than the inner London areas. Poorer families have been shifted out here … I don’t think the schemes have caught up with these changes in demographics yet’.

Overall, it was certainly recognised that whilst there were often opportunities in urban areas, much more was available in big cities.

‘I grew up in a modest sized urban environment which had a reasonable number of opportunities. Having later moved to a very large city, there are many more options here. Relatives who live in a rural area find it much [harder] to access music making opportunities’. (P49)

Similarly, P65 writes there is ‘Not enough investment in local initiatives [you] need access to bigger cities to progress’.

It is, perhaps, no surprise that by comparison, many respondents lamented the lack of opportunities available in rural areas. P125 writes that such opportunities are ‘Very limited in a not very wealthy rural area’. Overall, the distances needed to be travelled beyond rural areas to access opportunities was often prohibitive. For example, P108 writes:

‘I live in Snowdonia and am learning the sax. Unfortunately, there are few opportunities as there are few teachers in the area that teach sax. In a rural area it is quite difficult. The closest opportunity for me is a 50-mile round trip to a local music school where I am taking lessons’.

They go on to say:

‘For me it is the distance I have to travel and no ensemble for woodwind or bands to join in the area, which would help me progress in music making. Slow internet speed is also a barrier as I am unable to take [online] lessons as we do not have super-fast fibre broadband and my broadband is too slow and drops out’.

Similarly, FG7 also cited similar difficulties with location and travelling distances, saying that a:

‘Limited pool of music leaders due to geographical remoteness/peninsula – leads to geographical or instrumental cold spots, lack of capacity for First Access, succession planning – need to attract new talent’

P70 highlights the lack of opportunities for progression in rural areas compared to those offered elsewhere, saying:

‘We used to live in a rural area, my daughter showed a talent for music, but this wasn’t supported locally because of her age. The nearest orchestra that could cater for her age was a 4 hour round trip which we did each month. This was the only music opportunity for her…In the urban area she could attend 4 suitable orchestras every week which she did on several instruments, and she auditioned and was accepted to a music school 3 years after moving to an area which provided her with more opportunity’.

One of the most significant factors in restricting people’s access to musical opportunities was transport, and this was not necessarily restricted to rural areas. In some cases, the lack of public transport was a problem, for example, P105 writes ‘if potential musicians have no encouragement from home, it can be difficult to even get to the venue especially if you do not have access to any public transport’.

It was recognised that it was often the case that opportunities had been centralised, for example, at county level, and that this in itself proved a barrier when it came to transport. For example, P141 found that because ensembles took place at county level it ‘makes it unattainable for many even just in terms of transport’. Similarly, P462 writes:

‘Unfortunately, transport can be a major barrier. Many of the students from the rural areas would have to travel 20 miles or more to access the music centres and no transport is supplied. This relies on parents to take them’.

Likewise, P20 writes:

‘In rural areas access to musical activities (e.g. county orchestras, bands, choirs etc) is impossible because these activities are confined to centralized music hubs. For example, in East Yorkshire – a very large county – any such participation depends upon being able to get to Beverley. This is impossible unless parents have the means (and the time) to provide transport’.

It was noted that due to cutbacks, some music centres which had previously laid on transport, were no longer able to do so, P276 saying:

‘The music centres used to provide transport, but after local council cutbacks, it was not possible to continue to offer this, so a child’s ability to take part in these important activities is therefore reliant on a parent’s access to a car’.

As FG24 found, when it came to transport difficulties:

‘these constantly get forgotten about, but are a huge problem for schools and Hubs working in areas with poor travel links, rural communities or other things which make travelling to school or other venues difficult unless the opportunity takes place in school during school hours or transport costs and logistics are covered’.

The problems relating to geographical barriers have previously been identified, and it is felt that the national strategy for music education has not necessarily been effective in overcoming these (Derbyshire, Reference DERBYSHIRE 2015 ).

There was a feeling, especially from the respondents to the survey, that effective collaboration, whether that might be between individuals and/or organisations, could aid progression in music education, and it was something valued by those across the sector. For example, P99 writes, ‘I really value collaborative working & would love to be able to work more holistically with other music professionals’. That said, whilst many saw the benefits of such collaborations, these were not always as effective as they might be. It was also suggested that it’s not always easy to know where to go in order to facilitate such collaborations, for example, the FG13 state:

‘There is an opinion that the DfE do not know who to talk to about music education, and there needs to be a central point of contact for those seeking music education information, e.g. a Think Tank or Task Force. Music Mark represents Hubs, but there is no central body representing in and out of school provision, including curriculum offers’.

P12 recognised the positive benefits of music education hubs working with external organisations and individuals, saying:

‘Where music hubs are working closely (as many do) with their hub partners, the opportunities for non-formal experiences are magnified both numerically & also in breadth of the musical ‘diet’.

Likewise, FG2 recognised similar benefits, suggesting that ‘Strong hub links with a diverse range of partners broaden and deepen the range of provision’. Despite the obvious benefits of collaborations and partnerships between hubs and other individuals and organisations, these were not always effective, and this was a potential barrier to progress in music education.

FG13 found that ‘Engagement from Music Services … has been variable. This is caused by a range of factors including Music Services being overstretched and having a lack of resources’. P19 felt that engaging effectively with hubs in their area was problematic as the hubs did ‘not have appropriate pedagogical classroom practice expertise, nor offer appropriate CPD’. It has also been suggested that whilst individuals and organisations have attempted to engage with and collaborate with hubs and music services, this is not always effective. For example, P213 says they ‘tried to set up a Birmingham Youth Folk Band but without support from the music service this was not fruitful’. P232 states that there should be a situation of ‘all education bodies working together to provide a well-balanced music education’.

This includes Higher Education. Varvarigou, Creech, and Hallam ( Reference VARVARIGOU, CREECH and HALLAM 2014 , 94–95) found that in primary schools:

‘purposeful engagement in active music-making and opportunities for performances with professional musicians, as well as with their teachers and the conservatoire students, contributed to raising aspirations, greater enthusiasm for music and increased confidence in music’.

A number of survey respondents also highlighted the benefits of and need for greater partnership and collaboration between schools and higher education. P278 writes that:

‘The Music Conservatoires do a very good job of musical outreach. They send their superb students into schools and often give good quality workshops for a small amount or even free. Many of the children in the schools where I work have been inspired to take up a musical instrument based on these workshops’.

P92 suggests that universities should ‘Make music students at college go into junior schools to promote music as part of their degree’. P435 suggests similar, saying:

‘It may also be a good idea to get Music students from universities and colleges into schools to lead choirs, bands and orchestras. They could be paid for this and develop teaching skills; school students could benefit from their knowledge. There are plenty of people with the skills to teach music and plenty of children with the desire to learn. The two groups just need to be matched up better’.

A number of survey respondents highlighted the opportunities found through collaboration and partnership with professional musicians and ensembles, for example, FG25 highlights Ex Cathedra’s ‘Singing Playgrounds’ outreach project. Pitts ( Reference PITTS 2014 ) found that such outreach projects involving professional musicians and ensembles can improve teacher confidence and show children that music-making is for everyone. As with the teachers in Pitts’ study, Henley ( Reference HENLEY 2021 ) found that there were emotional, social and creative benefits to such engagement.

It was clear that greater opportunities for collaboration between professionals and other individuals and agencies involved in delivering music education could be not only beneficial to pupils’ progress but also, as found by Clennon and Boehm ( Reference CLENNON and BOEHM 2014 ), to the wider community. P11 said ‘Why not develop a scheme of visiting musicians in schools to show students how wonderful music making is?’, whilst P186 suggested we should ‘Encourage all professional musicians and music making organisations to mentor and offer shadowing opportunities to developing musicians’.

Transition and progression points

Respondents to the survey, and members of the focus groups identified a number of points in time where transitions occurred for those progressing in music. The general feeling was that these transition points almost universally present learners with barriers to progressing further.

The transition point that was highlighted the most, both in the survey and the focus groups, was the progression from whole class instrumental tuition to either group or individual lessons. There were opposing views about the effectiveness of such programmes, P133 saying:

‘Wider Opps/First Access programmes also seem to have been demotivational – progression rates (anecdotally) seem to be very low after participation in such programmes, which in personal experience, have not been run very well, although very well-meaning. Such programmes (again, in my experience), have not provided a very engaging introduction to music making for primary-aged children, so most children think it is not for them’.

That said, it was also recognised that such programmes could provide a good starting point for learning music, P390 saying:

‘Through our whole class instrumental lessons in years 3 and 4 We can identify those students who might show particular skills and can direct them towards our peripatetic staff. We are working with our local university to find ways of opening up access to these lessons to those from difficult economic backgrounds in order to allow all children to benefit from musical tuition’.

Indeed, Garnett ( Reference GARNETT 2013 ) highlights the advantages of fostering musicianship from early childhood. However, the biggest area of concern was that of affordability and funding of tuition, whether that was in groups or individually once pupils had completed the programme. For example, P227 responded, saying that the:

‘Primary barrier to progress remains socio-economic; no matter how successfully the Whole-Class Ensemble Tuition (WCET) programme is [delivered] by music hubs, the inevitable barrier is the second term – when someone has to pay. These pupils know from the start they will not be able to continue’.

Similarly, P152 highlights the effectiveness of such programmes in identifying those children who may wish to progress further; however, they go on to say:

‘My second area of concern is for children who demonstrably do not [fulfil] their potential in music because of the structural lack of ambition. For example, I teach Y2 whole class recorder lessons. After two terms of weekly lessons, I can identify talented and hard-working children who would benefit from [group or individual] lessons on an instrument, but this is only available to children whose parents will pay’.

Likewise, P466 highlights the lack of funding beyond such programmes as a barrier to progress, saying that a:

‘Barrier exists from the ‘free’ whole class offering to parents having to pay for lessons and purchase/hire of instrument. Many parents are seeing the whole class tuition as their children accessing instrumental music but then do not want to continue with it, preferring to use family money for their children to try out other experiences’

Similarly, P301 calls for:

‘Support and funding to be put in place to allow the vast numbers of students who engage with music in the WCET/First Access model at primary schools the opportunities to be able to continue with their music making’.

As highlighted by P204, ‘progression beyond free whole class instrumental tuition at primary school isn’t affordable for a lot of families’. Previous research found that whilst the majority of children initially learn an instrument in schools, those who progress further, were more likely to learn privately or at specialist music schools (Shepperd, Reference SHEPPERD 2014 ).

Alongside the concerns over funding and affordability post-engagement in such programmes, concern was also expressed about the quality and effectiveness of these schemes, for example, P334 states that ‘Personally I am not a fan of whole class lessons – forcing children to learn an instrument not of their choosing at the same pace’. P410 highlights the potential problems which arise further down the line for children who’ve started learning an instrument through such whole-class programmes, and concern was expressed as to whether such programmes offer a good starting point for children to engage with music, for example, in their collaborative statement, FG24 stated that:

‘A poor experience of first access in WCET coupled with an expectation that few pupils will continue is leading to low continuation rates. Insufficient planning and funding is going into the continuation routes available to interested pupils’.

Overall, concern was expressed about a ‘lack of consistency in [schools] offering coherent musical progression post-WCET’ (FG2) and similarly, a lack of ‘follow up opportunities for them to progress into consistently [supported] music learning is very patchy’ (FG22). Previous research has highlighted the need for the opportunities offered through such First Access programmes to be sustained, and through doing this, music at Key Stage 2, age 7–11 years, and then Key Stage 3, age 11–14 years, and beyond, can be more effective (Hallam, Creech, & McQueen, Reference HALLAM, CREECH and MCQUEEN 2018 ).

It was recognised that the progression from primary to secondary school, i.e. Key Stage 2 (KS2) to Key Stage 3 (KS3), or Year 6 to Year 7, often created a barrier to progression in music, for example, learners are required to hand back their instruments at the end of primary school (Creech, Saunders, & Welch, Reference CREECH, SAUNDERS and WELCH 2016 ). That said, the potential reasons cited for such barriers were mixed. P335 stated that ‘There is a lot of focus on music in KS2 in primary schools but this is pointless [if] there is nothing offered in the secondary sector’, yet P252 states the opposite, saying that ‘Not enough time or effort is put into high quality provision at primary school. By secondary most kids have decided they’d rather do something else’. This highlights the very differing picture of provision across schools at all levels, although previous research has found that the degree to which children enjoyed music at primary school, compared to secondary school, declined (Kokotsaki, Reference KOKOTSAKI 2017 ).

FG24 highlighted the potential problems encountered at this transition point, saying:

‘Primary music teachers have little to no confidence that pupils’ music will be encouraged or continued when they move to secondary school. Cuts to arts budgets in secondary schools means it isn’t a priority to focus on music. Or, the secondary teacher will start from scratch and not value the expertise they may arrive at the secondary school with. This picture is getting worse, with many stories of even talented musicians arriving at secondary school and stopping their involvement in music. Secondary schools are failing to cater for or support the talented and motivated pupils’.

P373 also picks up on the final couple of points, saying that in their experience:

‘It is difficult to get our children who move to secondary school to continue their playing as the Academy is not very open to working with us or our local music service. Their music stays in house and our children who have moved there with fantastic skills give up their playing very early in Year 7’.

P12 suggests that the quality of the provision at Key Stage 3 is crucial if schools are to encourage pupils to study music further down the line:

‘In the secondary sector there needs to be a sense of moving forward… if we want students to pursue music into KS4/5 we need to work towards that from KS3, building on prior learning from the primary sector – making sure the provision is suitable & captivating for every student, not just those who fit a certain profile’.

This point was similarly highlighted by Garnett ( Reference GARNETT 2013 ) who identified a fault line between music at Key Stage 3 (11 to 14-year-olds) and music at Key Stage 4 (leading to public examinations at 16 years old).

A couple of respondents highlighted two differing experiences of children moving between schools. P97 found that ‘Local music hubs are great, whether these are at county level or within a school. Support for students moving between schools in an area by providing continuity of teaching can be a result of the support of hubs’. That said, as stated above, although it’s recognised that there can be barriers to vertical movement between Key Stages and year groups, barriers can also exist when children move horizontally between schools, P163 saying:

‘When my daughter moved between state secondary schools, she didn’t join any music activities (or she didn’t even [mention] to any new friends that she played any instruments while she was at Grade 7–8 level), because she saw a classmate being bullied for taking a flute lesson’.

There was a strong feeling that routes of progression beyond compulsory education, especially for those who wished to keep learning or playing, but who were not studying music, were unclear. P474 suggests that ‘Progression routes available to adult leisure-time musicians are generally patchy and not well known about’. Similarly, P456 finds that as a freelance singing teacher they strive to encourage children to keep making music in adult hood but are ‘concerned if there will be anything available to them’. P8 writes that more needs to be done to facilitate this transition, saying we need:

‘Better signposting from music education hubs to community-based opportunities for young people after they’ve turned 19 and are no longer within the hub’s remit. Some (very few) young people will go on to conservatoires and music degrees, but what about progression routes for young people who don’t want to go on to become professional?’

P8 goes on to say that:

‘If the aim is to keep children playing beyond school age then we must also look to helping them make a transition between music school groups and adult groups. Too many think that they just have to ‘make it’ to Grade 8 then they can give up. I feel those students have been failed somewhere’.

The FG26 collaborative statement indicated that:

‘The group felt that progression for adults needs to be recognised as different from progression for children or young people. It’s not about following a linear path to a top-notch group, it’s about developing as a musician, as a person and as a group’.

Overall, P24 found that ‘Too much is geared towards children and young adults. Music education should be open to everyone throughout life, not just at the beginning of life’.

There was an overarching feeling that there was a need for much clearer progression routes in music. Although P7 stated that ‘in the UK [we] have a clear instrumental progression route based on repertoire’, this view was not generally shared, for example, P438 finds that there is no ‘clearly structured plan for progression’. P52 argues that ‘There need to be seamless pathways to access music education from before birth through to the very old’ going on to say, ‘There are too many ‘dropping-off’ points’. Similarly, P301 writes ‘We need a much more joined up approach if we want to see young people continue on their musical journey’. Previous research has also highlighted a lack of clarity when it comes to progression routes (Zesersen et al., Reference ZESERSEN, WELCH, BURN, SAUNDERS and HIMONIDES 2014 ).

P322 suggests that there is a need to ‘establish a pathway that is clear’, going on to say:

‘If a child is keen on football, it’s possible to see more or less what is going to be required even if you aren’t particularly knowledgeable about it; if a child is musical and you aren’t it’s all totally baffling’.

This links with previous research by Pitts ( Reference PITTS 2014 , 143) who found there was a need for clearer progression routes into ‘continued, age-appropriate musical learning’.

Others felt that progression routes can be too rigid and based around exams and grades (FG22). P342 suggest that:

‘In an ideal world, the music education hub will contribute to this by supporting diverse pathways, signposting, supporting students with bursaries, giving esteem to all musical traditions and enabling progress to be ‘diagonal’ – a young musician might try classical before moving onto folk as a flautist, while still playing piano and writing songs outside any formal structure, for instance’.

FG2 sums up the overall feeling, saying:

‘There should be an integrated system of progression for instrumental and vocal learners, from WCET through small group tuition, cluster activities, music centres, opportunities through a wide range of partners’.

An ending with a starting point

The recommendations following this research study included the identification of areas where the current research can be used as a starting point to make meaningful change:

Using and valuing pupil and participant voice, particularly in relation to developing a down-up approach to policy

Addressing geographical cold spots, whether in rural areas with a large geographical spread or in urban areas where there is an uneven distribution of provision

Collaboration between HE/conservatoires and schools/music organisations, particularly in terms of what students might be able to offer

Developing meaningful mechanisms for transition from first access/whole class provision to the next stages of learning

Facilitating progression from compulsory education to adulthood and exploring the sense within the data that if people are not studying music or doing it as a career, they fall outside the ‘system’

The final participant quote given above is poignant – there is ‘a need for an integrated system of progression for instrumental and vocal learners’ . The themes arising in this research are not new, and the amount of agreement between this research and previous research and literature is striking. Despite 20 years of policy initiatives, research and evaluation to drive change, the same challenges are still experienced and the barriers to music education have not altered. We seem to have ended at the same point that we started and the question that we must ask ourselves is why.

Two key messages run through our data:

Despite best efforts, even where music education provision is established, bridging the gap between initial learning experiences and more advanced study remains a challenge.

Facilitating collaboration between providers, whether different types of providers or the same type of provider but in different locations, is extremely difficult.

These two, of course, are interlinked. Our initial thoughts on why this might be the case relate to tensions within the music education infrastructure. Funding structures and the competitive environment that music education operates in, both in and out of school, create an educational landscape that is fragmented and schools and organisations are protective of their own ‘patch’. This works against the principle that difference is essential for inclusive practice (Henley, Reference HENLEY, Deppeler, Loreman, Smith and Florian 2015 ) – if we want diversity in music, then we need diversity in music education provision. A fiercely competitive environment leads to a ‘survival of the fittest’ situation where everyone needs their signature pedagogy to be the one that is the most successful and most widely adopted, but this stifles difference. Exacerbated by a lack of robust educational research-driven strategy and policy making to drive meaningful change, cherry picking evaluation findings to suit funding proposals enables organisations to simply replicate what has gone before and put aside what needs changing – there is no necessity to take evaluation learnings forward. The risk is that we will just repeat the same cycle of the previous two decades and, in 10 years’ time, we will find ourselves reflecting back on the previous 30 years and discover that we are once again ending at the same starting point.

Bell ( Reference BELL 2014 ) says that ‘when a barrier is encountered, rather than focussing on what is ‘wrong’ with the individual, we should be accountable for what is wrong with the situation’ (p.344). Referring to the social model of disability, he suggests that we should interrogate the infrastructure surrounding those with disabilities to provide solutions. In short, rather than keep trying the same thing, we need to do things differently. As we are heading towards the next iteration of the National Plan for Music Education, 10 years after the first, we suggest that our research provides a compelling case that now is the time to interrogate the infrastructure surrounding those experiencing barriers to music education and now is the time for change.

1 http://www.musiccommission.org.uk/about-us/

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Volume 39, Issue 2
Jennie Henley (a1) and David Barton (a2)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S026505172200016X

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Millions of U.S. Students Denied Access to Music Education, According to First-Ever National Study

—New Music and Arts Education national report coincides with this month’s NAMM Music Education Advocacy Hill Day and National Arts in Education Week—

Warren, N.J. — September 12, 2022 — Despite significant progress made in recent years to keep music and the other arts in U.S. public schools, millions of U.S. public school students still do not have access to these programs. This is according to recent findings by The Arts Education Data Project (AEDP), which provides the first-ever review of the status and condition of music and arts education in U.S. public schools based on large-scale student participation data.

A joint effort between State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education and its longtime partner, Quadrant Research, the AEDP studied actual student participation data reported by school districts to their state education departments data from the 2019 school year. The result is the National Arts Education Status Report Summary 2019 , a comprehensive look at access to and participation in arts education in public schools in the United States.

The report’s release coincides with NAMM Music Education Advocacy Hill Day on September 14, when members and arts education advocates join the industry association in Washington, D.C., to carry a message of support for music education to Members of Congress and their legislative aides.

It is also timed to National Arts in Education Week (September 11-17), when the field of arts education joins together in communities across the country to tell the story of the impact of the transformative power of the arts in education.

It’s a Matter of Equity in Education

The new AEDP report reveals that, while 92 percent of students in U.S. public schools have access to music education in school, 3,609,698* of students do not have that same opportunity. In addition, 2,095,538* students do not have access to any arts education (defined as dance, music, theatre or visual arts).

The new data also reveal that a disproportionate number of public-school students without access to music and arts education are concentrated in schools in major urban communities; have the highest percentage of students eligible for free/reduced price meals; and are either majority Black, Hispanic, or Native American. In addition, many of these students without music and arts education attend public charter schools.

Research shows that learning music results in educational, cognitive, social, emotional and physical benefits. For example, pioneering research conducted by neurobiologist Nina Kraus(1) offers insight into how musical experience affects brain function across the lifespan. Findings to-date indicate that tapping into the brain’s potential for music learning supports overall learning, and is most critical for disadvantaged and underserved students.

To advance access and equity for all students, federal education law as defined by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) recognizes music and the arts as part of a well-rounded education.

Contrary to reports of a decline in the number of music and arts programs, the AEDP report confirms that music and arts education is widely accessible to students across the various grade spans, with participation at its highest in elementary schools because many states require participation at this level.

Music and visual art are the arts disciplines most available to students and therefore have the most significant participation. Most schools (80 percent) offer two or more of the arts disciplines.

Yet, despite this positive trend, there is room for improvement.

“Equity in education determines whether students can learn and grow with music and arts,” said Robert Morrison, CEO of Quadrant Research. “Before our new AEDP report, we had no large-scale national-level visibility into the actual status and condition of music and arts education in U.S. public schools. For the first time, we have a clear picture and can provide advocates, administrators, parents and policymakers with critical data to improve student access where it’s needed.”

More than 120 state agencies, arts councils, advocacy organizations, funders, and professional arts education associations are involved in this collective impact work.

The information in the AEDP report is from 30,633 schools in 7,015 districts from 17 states, representing 18 million students or 36 percent of the total public school student population in the United States for the 2018/2019 school year. States included are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

National funding for the Arts Education Data Project has been provided by the CMA Foundation, The Music Man Foundation, The NAMM Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council. In addition, various state agencies and state-based philanthropic organizations have provided individual state funding.

To learn more about the Arts Education Data Project, including links to individual state dashboards, visit https://artseddata.org/national_report_2019/

http://NAMMfoundation.org .

* Projections are based on a mathematical weight applied to the NCES list of schools from states not included in the list above to calculate the number of students and schools without access to either arts or music education.

1 https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/music/

About Quadrant Research

As the pioneer of state-level arts education data reporting, Quadrant Research is a nationally recognized leader in research, analysis, and market intelligence serving the fields of culture, commerce, government and education. Quadrant Research specializes in arts education and serves the four major arts disciplines: music, dance, theater and visual arts. Quadrant Research provides data, analysis, and market intelligence to give clients an accurate picture of current market conditions plus the knowledge needed for future growth.

About SEADAE

State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) supports the professional effectiveness of its individual members and provides a collective voice for leadership on issues affecting arts education in order to achieve quality, comprehensive, sequential, standards-based education in the arts for all students PreK- 20. The membership consists of those persons at state education agencies whose responsibility is education in the arts (Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts).

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is a not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $17 billion music products industry. NAMM is comprised of over 15,000 member companies and individual members located in 104 countries and regions. NAMM events and members fund The NAMM Foundation which promotes the pleasures and benefits of music and advance active participation in music-making across the lifespan.

Posted in Latest News on September, 2022

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Covering Innovation & Inequality in Education

OPINION: After the pandemic, young people need music education more than ever before

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Exploring the impact of music education on the psychological and academic outcomes of students: mediating role of self-efficacy and self-esteem.

$\r\nJian Sun*\r\n$

School of Music and Dance, Xihua University, Chengdu, China

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in scholars and practitioners to explore the factors that lead to an improvement in Students’ psychological wellbeing. Due to the tough challenges faced by students during their academic life, severe issues of stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues emerge, which affect their academic performance and have a long-lasting impact on their future careers. The pandemic accelerates the stress levels, anxiety, and mental issues of students. The main purpose of this study was to explore how music education impacts on Students’ psychological wellbeing and academic performance. This study also investigates the mediating effect of self-esteem and self-efficacy. To the best of our knowledge, there has been little to no study exploring the relationship of music education on the psychological wellbeing and performance of students, especially from the perspective of Asian countries. This study was conducted in undergraduate and graduate institutions of China. This study was quantitative in nature and data were collected from 319 respondents. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed for data analysis. Results reveal that music education has a significant positive impact on psychological wellbeing, which improves Students’ academic performance. Moreover, psychological wellbeing also has a significant and positive impact on Students’ academic performance. Self-efficacy and self-esteem significantly mediate the relationship between music education and psychological wellbeing. The findings of this study open new avenues for future research in music education and psychological wellbeing. This study suggests that the policymakers and practitioners should make such policies that encourage educational institutes to adopt music education to improve the psychological wellbeing of students.

Introduction

A huge amount of scientific research shows that the pandemic and its associated illness has a significant influence on the behavoir and mental health of individuals ( Loades et al., 2020 ; Luo et al., 2020 ), with only a few studies indicating contrary ( Gijzen et al., 2020 ). Even during the month of April 2020, when most people were on lockdown due to the pandemic, mental health hotlines in the United States saw 100-fold increases. Many healthcare centers have reported more casualties from suicide, likely due to severe psychological problems, than from the novel coronavirus. Several persons who in the past were not into wellbeing, now have more chance of getting into trouble during the pandemic regarding their health concerns due to the inability of generating more economic means. The pandemic has an influence on a wide range of people, but because of the uncertainty surrounding academic progress, social life, and employment, college students are among the most severely impacted ( Kim et al., 2020 ). Students all over the world were experiencing rising feelings of anxiety, negative moods, low self-esteem, psychological symptoms, drug addiction, and suicidal behaviors even before the epidemic ( Huo et al., 2020 ; Nawaz et al., 2020a ; Wu et al., 2020 ).

Consequently, students now require more resources and help to deal with the health-related adversities due to COVID-19. Students would be well-treated during this pandemic if the officials associated with the health of university students have pre-defined measures for coping with the negative impacts of the pandemic on psychological factors. These consequences provide enough insight about appropriate and necessary measures to be taken for addressing the health issues of students ( Hunt and Eisenberg, 2010 ). College students have traditionally underused psychiatric and counseling services. Recognizing which sub-populations may be affected by certain mixtures of psychological effects can help with specific therapies, effective treatment, and coping methods for those who are most at risk. To combat the possibility of illness spreading, the government has taken a number of steps. Isolation and loneliness, travel limitations, gathering restrictions, travel quarantine, trading closures, working from home, self-isolation, lockdowns, curfews, and university closures are all examples of these methods ( Hao et al., 2020 ; Nawaz et al., 2020b ; Sattar et al., 2020 ). Governments in a range of countries have imposed a lockdown or curfew as a precaution against the rapid spread of the virus ( Abdullah et al., 2020 ; Paital et al., 2020 ; Boonroungrut et al., 2022 ). Such policies have an adverse impact on business, schooling, healthcare, and entertainment across the globe.

Many institutions worldwide have delayed or canceled all campus events to reduce crowding and thereby viral spread. On the other hand, these policies have greater economic, medical, and social consequences for both postgraduate and undergrad communities. Owing to the cessation of classroom training at several colleges and institutions, undergraduate and graduate students can now benefit from online instruction ( Iyer et al., 2020 ; Sahu, 2020 ; Yamin, 2020 ). This kind of instruction offers an option to minimize either student-to-student interaction or student-to-lecturer contact. Unfortunately, many students are unable to access online education owing to a lack of resources or equipment as a result of the economic and digital gap. COVID-19 has been linked to educational studies in a few papers ( Kanneganti et al., 2020 ; Mian and Khan, 2020 ; Sandhu and de Wolf, 2020 ). Graduate practitioners, dental medical students, and radiological trainees are all affected by COVID-19 ( Alvin et al., 2020 ).

This study aims to establish a strong relationship between music education and analyzing the impact of music education on Students’ wellbeing and academic performance in universities. The primary goal of good education is to develop social thinkers who think creatively. While stimulating learners’ vision and imagination, music education may enhance Students’ passions, sentiments, and other non-intellectual variables, fulfilling the goal of nurturing Students’ inventive identities. As a result, music instruction at colleges and universities is an effective way to help students overcome “poorly functioning” personalities ( Arora and Singh, 2020 ). Students may develop their innovative identities and feel a feeling of self and self-efficacy via music instruction, allowing them to transcend personality flaws caused by the many negative elements in today’s cultural milieu. When it comes to efforts to improve music instruction in universities and colleges ( Chen et al., 2019a ).

Researchers believe that education about music at educational institutes could develop creative thinking in students. Such education could be initiated by theorizing the impact of music on regulating the function of psychology for the wellbeing of the students. This could be combined with actual teaching methods to identify a way forward for the improvement of the mental health of students through mixed-method teaching. Students at the post-matriculation level could be advised to actively participate in such music education activities to develop a mastery of music. This would aid in developing open-mindedness in students of this level and inter-communication skills regarding learning would also be improved. It will develop a culture of understanding others at a social level and their sense of self-control would also improve. It would also help them in reducing anxiety and lead to psychological wellbeing, ultimately leading to sound health ( Ling et al., 2020 ).

Generally, it is assumed that teaching music is not only a way of learning an art, but also has a significant role in psychological regulation and treatment; thus, education in music will lead to a specific role in treating the disease at educational institutes because the most important goal is to cultivate students independent personalities. Some music instructors frequently utilize their prowess to intimidate pupils and swamp them with information. Contextual motives now account for a considerable portion of learning outcomes ( Bagozzi and Yi, 1988 ; Hair et al., 2014 ). The students at this level would consider this challenging for keeping a pace in learning in this discipline if outside motives are removed. Colleges and universities must begin with Students’ actual mental wellbeing and provide colorful music teaching activities, which have been extensively used in the practice of college Students’ mental health work, and the role of psychological regulation function ( Zupan and Gadpaille, 2020 ). It can specifically assist children in improving their psychological health by establishing music education rooms using teaching tools at school level.

This may assist students in realizing the importance of the positive mental ability to develop learning skills by offering appropriate music psychological optional courses centered on topics that are relevant to their learning and lives. It can assist students in forming positive circles of friends and enhancing emotional interactions amongst them ( Le Prell et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, we may use Internet resources to undertake digital psychological counseling exercises, assist students by recommending additional attractive and motivational music compositions, and teach a certain basic understanding of music education, such that learners enjoy getting psychological enjoyment from melody. Simultaneously, the institute’s psychological aspects, utilizing music as a carrier, strengthening communication between students through games, performances, and other means, establishing a decent vibe of assisting individuals, cooperation, and love, in such a delicate way to monitor Students’ self-conscious study stress, help each other avoid depression, and promote a healthy psychological condition ( Chen et al., 2019b ; Wang et al., 2019 ). The impact of music education on the wellbeing, psychological, and academic outcomes of the students could be mediated by the well-known concepts of self-esteem and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is an the confidence of an individual in managing their environment, which determines how they act, perceive, and think about coming occurrences. Self-esteem is a person’s overall positive or negative assessment of their own value. Self-esteem has been linked to happiness, fulfillment, good stress management, and coping with difficult situations ( Bandura, 1977 ; Yıldırım et al., 2017 ). In the context of our study, both self-esteem and self-efficacy could yield significant results in terms of helping the model and mediating the relationship of music education with Students’ wellbeing and the academic outcomes in the era of the pandemic. Our study mainly focuses on the above-developed relationships in Students’ performance and their wellbeing. This study was based on certain objectives as follows: (1) To assess the relationship of musical education with the psychological wellbeing of the students and academic performance. (2) To evaluate self-esteem as a mediator between wellbeing and the academic performance of students. (3) To evaluate the mediating role of Students’ self-efficacy between music education and psychological wellbeing and academic outcomes during the pandemic.

The study has been structured thus: the first section explains the introduction and supporting literature, while the second section supports the hypothesis development and study model. Research methodology and data analysis have been written up in the third section. The fourth section contains the discussion and concluding remarks.

Review of Literature and Hypotheses Development

This research study revolves around the impact of music education on the psychological wellbeing of students along with their academic outcomes. Self-esteem and self-efficacy play a mediating role in the relationship of these. These are supported by the following theories.

Social Cognitive Theory

This theory helps in describing the functionality of humans with an emphasis on processes of an interactive nature. The cognitive activities are assigned a special role by the theory through which individuals could obtain a handful of insight from their surroundings. Individuals could give a reflection of the theory along with mixing of own behaviors and the ideas. This could also regulate the processes of own self-efficacy. The objective behind connecting this theory with music education was to investigate the significance of developments for developing acceptable learning and teaching practices for advanced students. It is critical to have a good theoretical foundation for understanding how learning happens when planning curricula and instructional services for children with outstanding academic ability. To explain human functioning, social cognitive theory stresses a dynamic interactive process between environmental, behavioral, and personal components. This understanding of human connections and functioning became characterized as a set of triadic reciprocal causation ( Avotra et al., 2021a ). The theory assigns a major role to cognitive processes in which a person may watch others and the environment, reflect on it in conjunction with their own ideas and behaviors, and adjust their own self-regulatory functions as a result. When looking at learning interventions for that demographic, a learning model that stresses the primary role of cognition appears reasonable. Human agency and perceived self-efficacy are components of the social cognitive paradigm that influences cognitive growth and performance. So, a link could be developed in light of this theory toward the role of music education in developing certain cognitive factors in students for psychological wellbeing.

Self-Esteem Theory

Self-esteem is still one of the most widely studied topics in social psychology. Self-esteem is often thought of as a component of one’s self-concept ( Harder, 1994 ), although it is one of the most significant aspects of one’s self-concept for certain people. Indeed, self-esteem looked to be interchangeable with self-concept in the literature on the self for a time. The link of strong self-esteem with a range of favorable outcomes for individuals and communities as a whole has prompted this attention on self-esteem. Furthermore, there is a general view that boosting one’s self-esteem (particularly that of a child or teenager) is advantageous to both the individual and society ( Cast and Burke, 2002 ). Self-esteem can relate to a person’s total self or specific components of their self, such as how they feel about their social status, ethnic or racial group, physical characteristics, physical prowess, and work or school achievement. Theorists have indeed classified various kinds of self-esteem as contingent vs. non-contingent; visible vs. tacit; genuine vs. fake; steady vs. volatile; worldwide vs. sector-specific. In terms of the complexity of self-esteem, many writers see it as a single, worldwide characteristic, while some others see it as a heterogeneous feature with distinct constituent parts such as the interpersonal, cognitive, and actual self. Differentiation has been made between a false sense of self-worth and a genuine sense of self-worth. Self-esteem which is dependent on meeting certain criteria of achievement or staying true to certain relational or psychological aspirations is referred to as contingent self-esteem ( Deci and Ryan, 1995 ). This is a form of self-aggrandizement related to being ego-involved in certain objectives and obtaining them diligently. This is frequently related to social comparison and is typically associated with narcissism. From the other part, true self-esteem is much more consistent and is founded on a stable and resilient sense of self. Their value would be represented in action, proactive behavior, and vibrancy as an integral component of their self. When it comes to assessing self-esteem, many writers differentiate among explicit and implicit self-esteem, although that is the reflectively unrecognized influence of self-attitude on the judgment of nature vs. self-dissociated objects. In this connection of the theory, self-esteem was identified as a mediator between the relationship of music education and academic outcomes.

Self-Determination Theory

Self-determination is a key concept in psychology that relates to a person’s ability to make decisions and govern their own lives. This skill is crucial to one’s mental stability and wellbeing. Individuals who have self-determination believe they have self-control in life. This also affects motivation since individuals are much more driven to act if they believe their actions will have an impact on the result. Self-determination was used in a variety of fields, notably education and health care. According to research, having a high level of self-determination can help one succeed in a variety of areas. According to this theory, people can become self-determined when their demands for competency, connectedness, and independence are met. The concept of self-determination emerged from the research of scientists ( Deci and Ryan, 1995 ), who published their views in the book “Self-Determination and Intrinsic Motivation in Human Behavior.”

They established a motivational theory that argued that individuals are motivated by a desire to learn and improve. Self-determination theory is a meta-theory of motivation and personal development, including psychological wellbeing, that is scientifically grounded ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ). According to the idea, all humans are born with a strong sense of curiosity and a desire to learn, and that certain contextual conditions may either promote or inhibit a person’s feeling of wellbeing, self-regulation, and intrinsic drive to learn. Belonging, competence, and autonomy are three intrinsic and basic psychological demands identified by the theory. Based on this theory, a study related to music participation was conducted by Krause et al. (2019) . All these theories provided a strong ground for the mediators used in this study for the Students’ psychological wellbeing and academic outcomes.

Music Education Relationship With Psychological Wellbeing, Self-Esteem, and Self-Efficacy

A few studies have been conducted in the past to look into the impact of music education on Students’ psychological wellbeing from different perspectives (e.g., Croom, 2014 ; Demirbatır, 2015 ; Erginsoy Osmanoğlu and Yilmaz, 2019 ; Krause et al., 2019 ; Mehraban, 2020 ). Through stimulating Students’ imagination and association, music education may enhance Students’ interests, emotions, and other non-intellectual variables, fulfilling the goal of nurturing Students’ inventive personalities. As a result, music instruction at colleges and universities is an effective way to help students overcome their “dysfunctional” personalities. Students may regulate their own identities for developing a feeling of self-efficacy via music instruction, allowing them to overcome the numerous personality flaws caused by the many negative forces in today’s cultural context ( Arora and Singh, 2020 ). The significance of music education for treating illness could be effectively performed in educational institutes since it is understood that educating music is a way of tutoring art and has significance in psychological regulation and treatment. Music education’s personal development benefits have gotten less emphasis. Yet, other research continues to link music training to the development of psychological advantages, such as self-efficacy.

Another study of middle school and high school band, choruses, and orchestral Students’ self-efficacy was undertaken by several researchers. The findings revealed a small positive association between musical ability and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is higher among students who have a higher level of musical talent. While this research shows a link between music ability and self-efficacy, it does not examine the influence of tutoring music on children lacking this ability by contrast ( Zelenak, 2015 ). The benefits of individual music instruction on pupils’ self-esteem have been proven in studies. Despite the fact that all students have identical motor skills, musical ability, and cognitive abilities, there is concrete evidence that children receiving paid piano lessons have a considerable advantage in developing self-esteem compared to counterparts unable to get tutoring on music education ( Costa-Giomi, 2004 ). Researchers back up this assertion by stating that an active passion for music is statistically significant in predicting self-esteem in children who have paid music tutoring ( Wu and Lu, 2021 ). Research into the influence of school-based music programs on personal development has also been undertaken.

The study focused on a music program that offered general music sessions to primary school children during the school day. The control group received no musical education and suffered a drop in self-esteem. The ones who were enrolled for music learning did not experience a drop in self-esteem. The hand drumming music program in Australia was shown to result in self-esteem being boosted by a substantial amount along with reducing problems associated with behaviors in the children who recently completed their training ( Faulkner et al., 2010 ; Rickard et al., 2013 ). When researchers looked at high school students reporting specific personal reasons for participating in music-related co-curricular activities, they discovered that they cited sentiments of good self-esteem and self-efficacy. Furthermore, researchers discovered that drumming participants in Africa thought of themselves as serving the cause of music. They felt like it was a great thing to be a part of and it boosted their ability in having the satisfaction of self-efficacy in concluding the lengthy research on learners ( Barbre, 2013 ). All these supportive papers suggested relationships between music education and the psychological wellbeing of students, along with the self-esteem and self-efficacy of the students, so we propose the following:

H 1 . There is a relationship between Music education and psychological wellbeing.

H 2 . There is a relationship between Music education and self-esteem.

H 3 . There is a relationship between Music education and self-efficacy.

Role of Self-Esteem on the Wellbeing of Students Psychologically

According to the research on self-esteem, there is a substantial relationship between self-esteem and psychological wellbeing. However, this relationship differs depending on the sort of self-esteem being studied. Self-esteem, for example, has been shown to play a beneficial influence in boosting psychological wellbeing in a broad body of research. Furthermore, culture has indeed been found to influence the causal relations between self-esteem and happiness. In individualistic civilizations, self-esteem was shown to be more strongly linked to life satisfaction than in collectivist societies. Individuals from individualistic cultures may value their distinctive qualities and personal characteristics, making self-esteem a more important factor. Individuals in collectivist societies, on the other hand, may place a higher emphasis on relational and communal elements of the self. In collectivist societies it is critical to understand which types of self-esteem are favorable to psychological wellbeing ( Diener and Diener, 2009 ; Sowislo and Orth, 2013 ).

Some researchers studied the relationship between self-esteem and psychological wellbeing by expanding self-esteem studies beyond the individual to the social level. As per the social identity theory, the collective is an important element of the self, and hence assessing the collective self may help people feel better about themselves. Indeed, they discovered that self-esteem was significantly linked with wellbeing in many white, Black, and Asian students in the United States. Even so, once individual self was taken into account, the relationship between collective self-esteem and wellbeing became non-significant for white students, small for Black students, and moderate too strong for Asian students. This shows that culture may have a significant impact on the importance of various sorts of self-esteem ( Crocker et al., 1994 ). Many studies, such as Singhal and Prakash (2021) , indicated a significant relationship among the wellbeing of students and self-esteem. Numerous of studies also pointed out the mediating role of self-esteem from different perspectives and found a significant contribution of self-esteem as a mediator ( Hesari and Hejazi, 2011 ; Bajaj et al., 2016 ). These studies suggested the role of self-esteem as mediator in music education and psychological wellbeing in the context of our study, so we developed the following hypotheses.

H 4 . There is a relationship between self-esteem and psychological wellbeing.

H 7 . Self-esteem mediates between music education and psychological wellbeing.

Role of Self-Efficacy and Psychological Wellbeing

People who have a high level of self-efficacy have a can-do attitude, which helps them to perceive obstacles as issues to solve problems rather than avoid them. They also create appropriately challenging objectives for themselves and stick to them with tenacity. Because they are extremely engaged, people with high self–efficacy love life. When they are confronted with difficult events, their confidence in their capacity to control the situation to their advantage leads them to be self-assured. Greater wellbeing, stress control, greater self-esteem, improved physical state, and better illness adaptation and survival are linked to high self-efficacy. On the other hand, poor self-efficacy seems linked to increased symptoms of anxiety and depression, along with decreased rates of psychological wellbeing ( Bandura et al., 2003 ). A lot of studies such as Siddiqui (2015) indicated a significant positive correlation between self-efficacy and the psychological wellbeing and suggested analyzing the relationship in our context of the study. Several researchers concluded the mediation of self-efficacy in various situations in which self-efficacy plays a mediating role between different variables and contexts ( Zhao et al., 2005 ; Molero et al., 2018 ; Sabouripour et al., 2021 ). These studies found a positive strong mediation of self-efficacy and helped us in developing the following hypotheses of this study:

H 5 . There is a relationship between self-efficacy and psychological wellbeing.

H 6 . Self-efficacy mediates between music education and psychological wellbeing.

Relationship Between Psychological Wellbeing and the Academic Performance

This interesting connection between academic outcomes and Students’ psychological wellbeing had been studied many times in the past and found significant results ( Bhat and Siddiqui, 2015 ; Alkhatib, 2020 ; Amholt et al., 2020 ; Gökalp, 2020 ; Chaudhry and Ikram, 2021 ). Psychological suffering has been identified as a serious and pressing concern among university students across the world. According to a study done in the United States, psychology is responsible for five of the top six health-related issues. High psychological distress and low psychological wellbeing are two classifications that may be used to describe university students who are suffering from a high level of mental illness. According to a study conducted by experts, university students in Australia discovered that high levels of psychological wellbeing were associated with reduced levels of depression. However, a lack of psychological wellbeing leads to an increase in despair. A scale to evaluate psychological wellbeing and psychological discomfort was used to evaluate the wellbeing of students. The link between discomfort and psychological wellbeing is presented in the research ( Bhullar et al., 2014 ; Roslan et al., 2017 ; Sharp and Theiler, 2018 ). All this supporting literature hinted about the connection of the wellbeing of students and academic achievement in terms of performance, so we propose the following hypothesis in this regard:

H 8 . There is a relationship between psychological wellbeing and Students’ academic performance.

This study is based on the following conceptual framework (see Figure 1 ).

Figure 1. Conceptual model.

Methodology

The population of this research study are students studying in schools, colleges, and universities in China. This study is quantitative and empirical in nature. A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data from respondents. A total 350 questionnaires were distributed out of which only 319 questionnaires were received back so that the response rate of this study is 91%. Out of 319 respondents, 160 were boys/men and 159 respondents were girls/women. Similarly, 85 respondents were below the age of 10–15 years, 95 respondents between 16 and 20, and 130 respondents between 20 and 30 as depicted in Table 1 . Similarly, the qualifications of 190 respondents were undergraduate, while 129 respondents were graduates. The convenience sampling technique was used for data collection because it is the easiest way to collect data from the respondents ( Nawaz et al., 2019 ; Dar et al., 2022 ). Therefore, due to limited time, this study employs a convenience sampling technique. A total of 25 items were utilized from the literature to design a questionnaire for this study. Music education was measured by a five-item scale adopted from Dönmez et al. (2019) . The psychological wellbeing was measured by a five-item scale adopted from Diener et al. (2009) . Furthermore, self-esteem was measured by a four-item scale adopted from Rosenberg (1989) . Similarly, self-efficacy was assessed by a five-item scale from Schwarzer and Jerusalem (1995) . Students’ performance was measured by a six-item scale adopted from Rashid and Zaman (2018) . This study is quantitative and cross-sectional. The partial least square (PLS) method was used for data analysis. A statistical software Smart-PLS used for data analysis.

Table 1. Demographic details.

Data Analysis and Results

This research study’s data was conducted using PLS methodology and statistical software Smart-PLS was used for data analysis. Data analysis consists of two stages, i.e., measurement analysis and structural analysis. In the first step, the measurement model was used to investigate the reliability, convergence, and validity of the construct. Finally, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for testing of hypotheses.

Measurement Model

The measurement model of the constructs was examined in the first step to determine the reliability, convergence, and discriminant validity of latent constructs. In this study, latent variables are assessed by the observed indicators (items) and are reflective in nature. In the reflective model, indicators are affected by the latent variable in the other words arrows are toward the indicators from their latent variables as can be seen in Figure 2 measurement model in which arrows point from latent variables toward indicators. In the First step, indicator loading was measured for each construct. It has been proposed that if the value of outer loadings is greater than 0.70, it is acceptable, which means that construct represents the 70% of items that construct ( Hair et al., 2019 ; Avotra et al., 2021b ). However, some studies suggest that a value greater than 0.50 is also an acceptable reliability ( Hulland, 1999 ). In this study as indicated in Table 2 , all outer loading is greater than 0.50 which shows reliability, except for ME2, SE4, SEC5, SP6 which were removed from the model to generate better results. Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability and rho_A test were used for investigating the internal consistency of the construct. According to Hair et al. (2019) , Cronbach’s alpha’s value should be higher than 0.7 to establish the internal consistency of constructs. Table 2 illustrates that Cronbach’s alpha of each latent construct is higher than 0.70 which shows higher internal consistency of scale. The second method that determines the internal reliability and consistency of a scale is composite reliability. All Composite Reliability (CR) values greater than 0.7 indicate Internal Consistency ( Hair et al., 2019 ; Yingfei et al., 2021 ). Table 2 highlights that the composite reliability of each latent construct is above 0.70 thus internal consistency is established. Third method for measuring reliability is rho_A. The value of rho_A is greater than 0.70 is acceptable for determining reliability ( Hair et al., 2019 ; Xiaolong et al., 2021 ). Table 2 reflects that all value of rho_A is greater than 0.70 thus internal consistency is established.

Figure 2. Output of measurement model algorithm.

Table 2. Reliability and convergent validity.

Convergent validity refers to all items of the constructs that are closely related to each other ( Hair et al., 2012 ). The average variance extracted (AVE) is used for determining convergent validity for all constructs. The threshold value of AVE is equal or greater than 0.5 to establish the convergent validity of constructs ( Hair et al., 2019 ). In this study, AVE for all the variables is above 0.50. Thus, convergent validity has been established.

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity refers to each construct being empirically distinct from other constructs. Discriminant validity discusses the differentiation of each latent variable from other variables. There are three methods to determine discriminant validity in Smart-PLS: Fornel and lacker criteria, Cross loadings, and Heterotrait-Monotraite. According to Fornell and Larcker (1981) , to establish the discriminant validity of constructs the square root of AVE of each variable in the research model must be higher than the correlation of the same variable with others. Table 3 indicates that the square root of AVE of each construct is greater than the diagonal values below. Hence, discriminant validity is established.

Table 3. Fornell and Larker.

Another method to determine discriminant validity is cross-loading. After the Fornell and Larker method, cross-loading is an authentic method for determining discriminant validity. Criteria for this technique is that the values of each item with its own construct are higher as compared to other constructs. If the value of item is highly correlated to their own construct compared to other constructs, then discriminant validity is established in Table 4 .

Table 4. Cross-loading.

Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) is another method for evaluating discriminant validity of the data in SEM proposed by Dijkstra and Henseler (2015) . If the values of HTMT are high, then the discriminate value problems arise. The threshold value of HTMT is 0.9 proposed by Dijkstra and Henseler (2015) which means two variables are correlated but not more than 0.9. All values of HTMT in Table 5 have a value less than 0.9, which reflects that the discriminant validity of constructs have been established.

Table 5. HTMT ratio.

Collinearity Statistics (VIF)

Variance inflation factor values are used to investigate the collinearity Issues and common method biasness of structural model. According to Hair et al. (2019) VIF is an indicator which is used to measure whether all indicator variables are correlated to each other or not and to avoid all issues regarding the significance and its value must be less than three ( Hair et al., 2019 ). In our results, all values are less than three as shown in Table 6 . Hence, we conclude that there are no collinearity issues between the variables in the proposed structural model.

Table 6. Collinearity statistics (VIF).

Model fitting parametric was tested before going for the structural assessment model. Model fits parametric includes SRMR (Standardized Root Mean Square Residual) and NFI (Normed fit indices). SRMR refers to “the difference between the observed correlation and the model implied correlation matrix whereby values are less than 0.08” ( Hu and Bentler, 1998 ). In this study value of SRMR is greater than 0.8 which meets the required criteria. The second model fit parametric is Normed fit indices (NFI), greater than 0.90. Value of normed fit indices is 0.901 which is acceptable. The structure equation model (SEM) provides the means that shows the hypothesized path by supporting the theoretical model. Basically, SEM model comprises with the hypothesized relationship between the independent and dependent variables in the projected research model. The structural model predicts that how well the theoretical model envisages the hypothesized pathways. For the current study, SEM Model is assessed with the coefficient of determination ( R 2 ), Coefficient of determination ( R 2) measures the variation in the dependent variable due to independent variables. R 2 -value of 0.75, 0.50, and 0.25 are considered substantial, moderate ( Hair et al., 2019 ). Table 7 shows the value of 0.570 for PWB which is strong. This shows that all independent variables have 57% variance in psychological wellbeing whereas value of 0.242 for self-esteem shows 24% variance in self-esteem due to all independent variables. Value of 0.242 for self-efficacy shows 25% variance in self-efficacy due to all independent variable. Moreover, value of 0.394 for student performance shows 39% variance in student performance due to all independent capacity is established.

Table 7. Coefficient of determination ( R 2 ).

Hypothesis1 proposed that there is a relationship between music education and psychological wellbeing. Result indicates that Music education has a significant and positive effect on psychological wellbeing (β = 0.512, t = 9.010, p = 0.000). As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted. Hypothesis 2 proposed that there is a relationship between music education and self-esteem. Our result indicates that the ME has a significant and positive effect on self-esteem (β = 0.491, t = 9.873, p = 0.000). As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted. Hypothesis 3 proposed that there is a relationship between music education and self-efficacy. Results indicate that music education has significant and positive effect on self-efficacy (β = 0.504, t = 11.492, p = 0.000). As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted. Hypothesis 4 proposed that there is a relationship between self-esteem and psychological wellbeing. Results indicate that the SE has a significant and positive effect on psychological wellbeing (β = 0.125, t = 2.386, p = 0.017). As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted. Hypothesis 5 proposed that there is a relationship between self-efficacy and psychological wellbeing. The result indicates that the SEC has a significant and positive effect on PWB (β = 0.257, t = 5.306, p = 0.000). As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted. Hypothesis 8 proposed that PWB has significant positive impacts on SP. Results indicate that the PWB has a significant and positive effect on Students’ performance (β = 0.627, t = 17.247, p = 0.000). As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted ( Table 8 ).

Table 8. Hypotheses constructs.

This study proposed the mediating role of self-esteem and self-efficacy between the relationship of Music education and Students’ psychological wellbeing. Our research applied Preacher and Hayes (2008) method for mediation analysis which is the most powerful and rigorous method for mediation analysis. Hypothesis 6 proposed that SEF mediates the relationship between ME and PWB The result shows that SEF positively mediates the relationship between ME and PWB (β = 0.061, t = 2.337, p = 0.020 ) as shown in Table 8 . As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted. In Hypothesis 7, we proposed that SEF mediates the relationship between ME and PWB. Results illustrate that SEF positively mediates the relationship between ME and PWB (β = 0.129, t = 4.851, p = 0.000) as shown in Table 7 . As the value of p < 0.05, therefore this hypothesis is accepted ( Table 9 and Figure 2 ).

Table 9. Mediation analysis.

This research revolved around certain objectives based on set goals to check the impact of music education on the wellbeing of the students psychologically and their academic performance during the most depressing moments of Pandemic. This study yielded some interesting results supporting the model of this research. The model is based on the remedial purpose of combating the depressing effects of COVID-19. Our first hypothesis was about checking the relationship between music education and Students’ psychological wellbeing, which has been previously tested and proved that music has a specific remedial effect on individuals of every walk of life. Our hypothesis was also accepted suggesting a strong relationship between psychological wellbeing and music education. These results are in accordance with many past studies such as Croom (2014) and Demirbatır (2015). The possibility of this kind of result is due to the soothing nature of music itself. In the period of online classes, socialization was limited to digital sources only, so music education was also possible over the internet. It helped in fighting the distress caused by COVID-19 during these times. The second and third hypotheses were about the impact and relationship of music education with self-esteem and the self-efficacy of the students.

As discussed earlier in the review of literature section, many researchers including Faulkner et al. (2010) , Barbre (2013) , and Rickard et al. (2013) indicated that music education was positively related to Students’ self-esteem and self-efficacy, which leads to academic achievement and the psychological wellbeing of the students. Our results were in accordance with these researchers’ results due to the importance of music in developing self-esteem and a sense of self-ability in students during these pandemic times. The fourth hypothesis was about the relationship of self-esteem with the Students’ psychological wellbeing. This hypothesis was also supported in the sense of this relationship. This happens because self-esteem plays an integral role in developing a strong sense of self-confidence in psychology, which leads to the Students’ psychological wellbeing. These results are also in accordance with many past researchers reporting similar results from different perspectives ( Barbre, 2013 ; Sowislo and Orth, 2013 ).

The relationship of Students’ self-efficacy with psychological wellbeing also resulted in the same outcomes as self-efficacy is also associated with the Students’ self-esteem and it leads to Students’ psychological wellbeing during his pandemic. These results are in agreement with ( Bandura et al., 2003 ; Siddiqui, 2015 ). The hypotheses about the mediating roles of self-esteem and self-efficacy were also accepted between the relationships of music education and the psychological wellbeing of the students. As it is well established that both self-esteem and self-efficacy had and have a strong relationship in positively improving the psychological wellbeing of the students, so the mediating role between music learning and the wellbeing of students psychologically was understood to play a significant role due to the nature of them. These results were in accordance with many past researchers who analyzed the mediating roles of both self-esteem and the self-efficacy of the students ( Molero et al., 2018 ; Sabouripour et al., 2021 ).

The last hypothesis was about the relationship of the psychological wellbeing of the students with their academic performance. It is a well-understood concept that if a student is psychologically active, efficient, and has good mental wellbeing then it would result in excellent performance, leading to distinction in academic performance. Psychological wellbeing is directly related to elevated grades or academic achievement. The last hypothesis yielded the same results and confirmed the results of many researchers in the past such as Bhullar et al. (2014) and Roslan et al. (2017) . The results obtained through this study are a great indicator of teaching music at institutes for developing better psychological wellbeing of the students to achieve improved academic performance from students.

Theoretical Contributions

This study contributes to the body of literature in a significant way. First, only very limited previous studies have examined the cause and effects of the student psychological and mental health, especially during crises. Recently, coronavirus has affected every part of society, so like others, students were also affected badly so there was a dire need to explore this topic and present solid solutions to mitigate the anxiety, stress, and burnout among undergraduate and graduate students. This study reveals that music education plays a vital role in improving Students’ psychological wellbeing, which ultimately leads to improving the Students’ performance. This study conceptualizes self-determination theory, self-esteem theory, and social cognitive theory to investigate the conceptualized path. The finding of this study reveals that music education develops self-efficacy and self-esteem in the students which assists them in improving their psychological wellbeing.

Practical Contributions

The results of this study can assist policymakers and practitioners in realizing the importance of music education in the curriculum of undergraduate and graduate students, which has long-lasting impacts on their psychological wellbeing and practical life, so there is a dire need to include music education in the curriculum. In addition to this, results show that self-efficacy and self-esteem also play a vital role in improving Students’ psychological wellbeing, so educational institutions should make their efforts to develop a sense of self-esteem and self-efficacy through their curriculum, training, and other means. Proper training should be provided to teachers of education institutes to help the students mitigate the issues of anxiety, stress, and depression, which are the main obstacles for students to become successful in their academic and professional lives.

Limitation and Future Direction

Besides the contribution of this study, there are some limitations of this study that could be mitigated in future studies to attain better results. First, the sampling technique adopted for this study is the convenience sampling technique, so future studies should adopt any other rigorous sampling technique. The sample size of this study was very small due to the lockdown enforced by the government to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was cross-sectional in nature so future studies should adopt time-series studies to get better results. Future researchers should explore other factors that may assist in improving psychological wellbeing as well as other impacts and consequences of music education. Future studies should explore other mediators and moderators in the relationship between music education and psychological wellbeing.

Recent scientific studies reveal the effects of pandemic and its associated illness which influence people’s mental health and psychological wellbeing. Music education and its practices are recognized as a vital tool in reducing the level of stress and anxiety among the students which has a significant impact on their personality grooming and academic performance. The main purpose of this study is to estimate the impact of music education on the psychological wellbeing and academic performance of students. This study also investigates the mediating role of self-esteem and self-efficacy between this relationship. This study adopts the theoretical lens of social cognitive, self-esteem theory, and self-determination theory to explain the proposed model of this study. This study is quantitative in nature and data of this study was collected from 319 students who are studying in undergraduate and graduate institutions by using self-administered questionaries. Convenience sampling was used in the data collection. PLS-SEM technique was used for data analysis. The results show that music education has a significant impact on Students’ psychological wellbeing and academic performance. Self-esteem and self-efficacy mediate the relationship between music education and psychological wellbeing. Results of this research study contribute to the body of literature on music education and psychological wellbeing and explore new avenues for future studies. Policy-makers and practitioners should promote music education in educational institutes to improve Students’ psychological wellbeing and academic performance.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Xihua University, China. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

JS contributed in all tasks of writing of draft and data collection etc.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : psychological wellbeing, self-cognition theory, self-determination theory, music education, self-esteem, self-efficacy, pandemic

Citation: Sun J (2022) Exploring the Impact of Music Education on the Psychological and Academic Outcomes of Students: Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy and Self-Esteem. Front. Psychol. 13:841204. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.841204

Received: 22 December 2021; Accepted: 10 January 2022; Published: 08 February 2022.

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Copyright © 2022 Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Jian Sun, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Lamont School of Music

Faculty Profile: Heidi Melton

Ian wisekal.

Growing up in Spokane, Washington, Heidi Melton's music journey began early—at her insistence. At four, according to family lore, she convinced her grandmother to teach her piano, despite being told she was too young. “Try me,” she challenged. Melton continued piano lessons for many years while also singing in choirs and learning to play the organ in church. But at fifteen, Heidi stumbled upon her vocation. Following a disappointing experience with a soccer tryout, her sister suggested she try singing lessons. “After the first lesson,” she recalled, “I knew I was doing this for the rest of my life.”

Melton’s musical education took her to some of the most prestigious institutions in the country, including the Eastman School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music. She honed her craft further through programs like the Merola Opera Program and the Adler Fellowship at the San Francisco Opera.

While Melton’s career as a Wagnerian soprano has taken her to stages around the world, teaching has always been central to her identity. “I’ve always loved the sharing of knowledge,” she said, recalling how, even as a child, she would play by teaching her Cabbage Patch kids, typing out lessons for them. For Melton, the most exciting part of performing is the preparation—the rehearsing, the researching, and the deep dive into the roles. Teaching, therefore, is a natural extension of her passion and intellectual drive.

Melton’s professional highlights read like a who’s-who of classical music royalty. Among her career milestones are performances at the BBC Proms in London with Donald Runnicles, singing Brünnhilde’s Immolation Scene with the Vienna Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev, portraying Sieglinde in Die Walküre at Bayreuth (Wagner’s personal Valhalla), and performing Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre with Sir Simon Rattle, Peter Sellars and the Berlin Philharmonic, her “hometown band” during the decade she lived in Berlin. She also won a Grammy for her part in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of the Ring cycle, directed by Robert Lepage. “I’m one of the luckiest people I know,” she reflected. “I’ve sung everywhere I’ve wanted to sing, with every orchestra I’ve wanted to.”

Now, as a member of the voice faculty at Lamont, Melton has found a role that allows her to balance her stage career with her passion for education. “It’s an amazing amalgamation where I can perform and teach,” she says, noting that her new position has afforded her a more stable home life. Previously, she spent most of each year traveling, often being home for only a few days at a time. This new balance, she believes, enhances both her teaching and her performing, allowing her to pick projects that “invigorate” her.

At Lamont, Melton is particularly proud of the supportive atmosphere within the voice department. “Every Friday, we have a performance class, and getting to hear all the voice students gives my heart such a huge boost,” she says. “It’s not the case everywhere, but here, there’s a real sense of community and support.”

Looking ahead, Melton is eager to see Lamont continue to be a leader in the field, producing graduates who are not just exceptional musicians but well-rounded individuals who can contribute meaningfully to society. For herself, she is excited to continue learning and growing as both a performer and a teacher. This summer, Heidi took a well-deserved break—the first in her adult life—focusing on yoga, spending time with family, and preparing for her upcoming debut at La Fenice in Venice, where she will perform Schoenberg’s Erwartung .

Melton is also excited to sing alongside her students in this year’s performance of Verdi’s Requiem by the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Choirs. And we will be looking forward to hearing this opera star on our own stage.

Lamont Faculty Profile: Art Bouton

Lamont Faculty Profile: Stephanie Cheng

Lamont Faculty Profile: Jeremy Reynolds

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National Plan for Music Education 2022: The Power of Music to Change
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COMMENTS

Journal of Research in Music Education: Sage Journals
Journal of Research in Music Education is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal comprising reports of original research related to music teaching and learning. The wide range of topics includes various aspects of music pedagogy, history, and philosophy, and addresses vocal, instrumental, and general music at all levels, from early childhood through adult.
How Music Primes Students for Learning
The Cognitive Benefits of Music. The key to understanding music's advantages, researchers say, lies in how the brain processes sound, the raw material of music, language, and—perhaps counterintuitively—learning to read. The sounds that come in through our ears travel along an anatomically complex "auditory pathway" that's deeply ...
Reconfiguring music education for future-making : how?
Thade Buchborn is professor of music education and head of the music teacher training programme at the Freiburg University of Music in Freiburg, Germany. He holds a teaching degree and a MA in music and German for secondary school and a PhD in music education. He is board member of Freiburg School of Education FACE and is currently secretary of the board of the European Association for Music ...
Millions of U.S. Students Denied Access to Music Education, According
It's a Matter of Equity in Education. The new AEDP report reveals that, while 92 percent of students in U.S. public schools have access to music education in school, 3,609,698* of students do not have that same opportunity. In addition, 2,095,538* students do not have access to any arts education (defined as dance, music, theatre or visual arts).
Music Education Research: Vol 26, No 4 (Current issue)
Article | Published online: 31 Aug 2024. The efficacy of imagery-based instruction for expressive performance: a study of university musicians' practice. Robert H. Woody et al. Article | Published online: 2 Aug 2024. Explore the current issue of Music Education Research, Volume 26, Issue 4, 2024.
Celebrating the Best in Music Education Across the Nation The NAMM
"The 2022 Best Communities for Music Education is an opportunity to celebrate music programs and honors the resilience and dedication to keeping music as part of a well-rounded education as we all adapt to a new educational landscape," says Christopher Johnson of the Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas. "If there was one ...
British Journal of Music Education
BJME is a fully refereed international journal, which provides clear, stimulating and readable accounts of contemporary research in music education worldwide, and a section containing extended book reviews which further current debates. The journal strives to strengthen connections between research and practice, so enhancing professional development and improving practice within the field of ...
International Journal of Music Education: Sage Journals
International Journal of Music Education
Time for change? Recurrent barriers to music education
This article reports findings from a study that sought to identify barriers to music and music education in the UK. Emerging from empirical research involving n = 723 participants and clarified by an evidence base of over 10,000 research participants, the key findings presented in this paper relate to pupil and participant voice and involvement, location as a sub-theme of diversity and ...
Full article: Editorial
Theirs is a comparative study of policy and provision of teacher education in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This is certainly a watershed moment: a collaborative shared endeavour intended to transcend boundaries and create new understandings through music education. I've included two papers which address technology in education.
Music Education, Curriculum Design, and Assessment: Imagining a More
This article offers a practical planning strategy that music educators can use to confront and resist some of these curricular tendencies in subtle yet important ways. By reimagining long-standing norms related to content, pedagogy, and assessment, we can build a system that provides more students with access to a high-quality, equitable, and ...
Top 10 Most-Read Music Education Blogs of 2022
Top 10 #MusicEd Blogs of 2022 In 2022 music educators were reading about new ideas for their music programs, inclusivity in their classrooms, and notably—teacher recruitment and retention, as education faces a critical moment in which we must plan strategically for the profession and ensuring students receive music education as…
Music Education: Articles & News
NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants), the largest global not-for-profit music trade organization, has announced Julia Rubio as the new NAMM Foundation executive director to help fulfill its mission of strengthening the music products industry and promoting the pleasures and benefits of making music. July 11, 2024.
(PDF) Culturally responsive and meaningful music education
A deeper enjoyment and comprehension of the art of music are fostered by music education (Reimer, B. 2022). Through music education, people have access to a wide variety of information, abilities ...
Millions of U.S. Students Denied Access to Music Education, According
—New Music and Arts Education national report coincides with this month's NAMM Music Education Advocacy Hill Day and National Arts in Education Week— Warren, N.J. — September 12, 2022 — Despite significant progress made in recent years to keep music and the other arts in U.S. public schools, millions of U.S. public school students still do not have access to these programs.
OPINION: After the pandemic, young people need music education more
While the most well-resourced school districts ensure that their students have music education, the 2022 Arts Education Data Project revealed that nearly 4 million U.S. students do not have access to music in their schools. This gap is most glaring in city and rural school districts and in schools that serve large numbers of Black and Latino ...
Frontiers
Citation: Sun J (2022) Exploring the Impact of Music Education on the Psychological and Academic Outcomes of Students: Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy and Self-Esteem. Front. Psychol. 13:841204. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.841204. Received: 22 December 2021; Accepted: 10 January 2022;
General Music Education Music Education 2022 https://doi.org/10.1177
SEL, Mindfulness, and the Art of General Music Education. General music education, if practiced with intentionality, has the potential to be a passionate act of hope with tremendous implications for the academic, social, and emotional needs of students. General music specialists have the capacity to expose students to the very best parts of ...
National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
1. Neuro-Psychological Benefits of Music Education
The importance of music for the development of society and the individual has been proved over time in a variety of educational and cultural situations. The cortical representations of musical functions (such as melody, harmony, absolute pitch, timbre, rhythm, music memory, and music emotions) offer new perspectives on the implications that musical training has on the development of the brain ...
Federal Funds Can Be Used for Music Education
The webinar marked the official launch of a short survey to collect information regarding the use of Federal funds for Music Education. This data is crucial for ongoing music education advocacy efforts in every state, in every school district. NAMM members are urged to spread the word to your music educator networks to complete the survey ...
PDF National Education Policy 2020 and The Significance of Music Education
MUSIC EDUCATION Vandana Sharma, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Bhagini Nivedita College, Kair, Delhi University, Delhi Paper Received On: 21 DEC 2021 Peer Reviewed On: 31 DEC 2021 Published On: 1 JAN 2022 Abstract Present paper highlights the basic features of NEP 2020 and the importance of music education to the Indian educational system.
Faculty Profile: Heidi Melton
Growing up in Spokane, Washington, Heidi Melton's music journey began early—at her insistence. At four, according to family lore, she convinced her grandmother to teach her piano, despite being told she was too young. "Try me," she challenged. Melton continued piano lessons for many years while also singing in choirs and learning to play the organ in church. But at fifteen, Heidi ...
A Review of the Literature on the Relationship of Music Education to
In recent decades, research has focused on whether it is possible to transfer values in education and if so, how exactly. At the turn of the 20th century, the common feature of approaches to pedagogical reform lay in the great importance attributed to the development of artistic, physical, and social skills (Váradi, 2019).In addition to respecting children's need for freedom, a coherent ...