Music and art stimulate the mind, they encourage creativity and help to lay a foundation for learning that leads to higher intelligence and aptitude. Music and art are good on so many levels, look at some of the following stats and quotes . Preschoolers who studied piano performed 34% better in spatial and temporal reasoning ability than preschoolers who spent the same amount of time learning to use computers. (Rauscher & Shaw. As reported in Neurological Research, February 1997) Preschoolers who took singing and keyboard lessons scored 80% higher on object-assembly tests than students at the same pre-school who did not have the music lessons. (Rauscher & Shaw. As reported in Symphony, Sept.-Oct. 1996)
In a study of medical school applicants, 66% of the music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. Only 44% of the biochemistry majors were admitted. (Lewis Thomas, as reported in the Phi Delta Kappan, February 1995)
After eight months of musical training, 3 year olds were expert puzzle masters, scoring 80% higher than their playmates did in spatial intelligence (The ability to visualize the world accurately). This skill later translates into mathematical/conceptual and engineering skills.
In 1994, it was reported by the college entrance examination board that students with course work in music performance taking the university entrance exam (SAT) scored 49 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and 36 points higher on the math portion than students with no course work or experience in the arts.
It has been shown that high school music students have higher grade point averages than non-music students do in the same school. (from Time Magazine June 11, 1999) "It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My discovery was the rest of musical perception." - Albert Einstein on his Theory of Relativity. Plato once said "...music is a more potent instrument than any other for education..."