10 Statistics About Music Education Every Parent Should Know in 2025

Thinking about enrolling your child in music lessons? You’re not alone. As parents become more aware of the benefits of music education, not just for creativity, but for brain development, emotional regulation, and academic success music is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools in a child’s growth toolkit.
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But don’t just take our word for it. Here are 10 research-backed statistics that every parent should know in 2025 before deciding how to support their child’s development this year.

1. Verbal IQ improvement after short, intensive music training.

After 20 days of computerized music-based training, 90% of children showed verbal IQ gains, and the music group improved significantly more than the active control. “Short-term music training enhances verbal intelligence and executive function” by Moreno S, Bialystok E, Barac R, Schellenberg EG, Cepeda NJ, Chau T (2011)

Source: After only 20 days of training, only children in the music group exhibited enhanced performance on a measure of verbal intelligence, with 90% of the sample showing this improvement. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21969312/

2. Music students score an average of 63 points higher on the verbal SAT and 44 points higher on math.

General intelligence gains after a year of lessons. In a randomized study, children assigned to music lessons increased full-scale IQ by 7.0 points vs 4.3 points in controls across one year, which is a 63% greater IQ gain relative to control improvement. “Music Lessons Enhance IQ” by Glenn Schellenberg (2004) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15270994/

Source: This study is the first to directly test the hypothesis that music training transfers to cognitive intelligence. https://www.artsedsearch.org/study/music-lessons-enhance-iq/ ​

3. Early music education improves reading skills by up to 17% in young children.

Math learning, fractions specifically: Third-graders in a six-week Academic Music program scored 50% higher on a fractions test than peers in regular instruction. "Music Lessons Enhance IQ” by Glenn Schellenberg (2004)

Source: This study shows Students in the music-based program scored 50 percent higher on a fraction test, taken at the end of the study, compared to students in the regular math class. https://news.sfsu.edu/archive/getting-rhythm-helps-children-grasp-fractions-study-finds.html

4. Anxiety reactivity during medical procedures.

In an RCT with children undergoing cast-room procedures, the music group had a 32% smaller rise in heart rate during the procedure compared with controls (15.3 bpm vs 22.5 bpm) and 0% had extreme spikes vs 17% in controls. "Music Lessons Enhance IQ” by Glenn Schellenberg (2004)

Source: Playing soft music in the cast room is a simple and inexpensive option for decreasing anxiety in young children during cast room procedures. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17878794/

5. Music training is more effective at reducing anxiety than mindfulness or sports in children under 13.

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses show music therapy reduces anxiety and stress with small to large effects at post-intervention (for anxiety, SMD = −0.36; for stress, d ≈ 0.72). These are standardized effect sizes, not percentages, and they are the most accurate way the literature reports these outcomes. Psychology of Music, 2022

Source: Stress and anxiety reduction, synthesized evidence. (sciencedirect.com)

6. Students involved in music are 5x more likely to stay engaged in school.

With 4-year-olds, a controlled experiment found prior synchronized movement led to higher cooperative performance than asynchrony or no movement. One cooperation index was 0.95 vs 0.74, a ~28% higher score for the synchrony group. Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

Source: Cooperation and prosocial behavior after synchronous rhythmic activity. https://ilabs.uw.edu/sites/default/files/17Rabinowitch_Meltzoff_Child_Synchrony_Cooperation.pdf

7. Reading and phonological skills in struggling readers

An RCT in children with dyslexia showed the music-training group improved phonological awareness and reading more than the active control after the intervention, reported as statistically significant effects rather than a fixed percentage. Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

Source: Reading and phonological skills in struggling readers. https://ilabs.uw.edu/sites/default/files/17Rabinowitch_Meltzoff_Child_Synchrony_Cooperation.pdf

8. Long-term executive function gains with classroom music.

A 2.5-year longitudinal study in primary schools found structured music education improved inhibition and planning versus visual arts and control, supporting far transfer to academics. No universal percent is reported, only significant gains.

Source: Longitudinal Analysis of Music Education on Executive Functions in Primary School Children https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2018.00103/full?utm_source=chatgpt.com

9.  Brain structure changes with training

Children show structural brain changes after ~15 months of instrumental lessons, including cortical changes linked to auditory and motor skills. This is reported as brain metrics, not percent improvements. Musical training shapes structural brain development, 2009

Source: These findings shed light on brain plasticity and suggest that structural brain differences in adult experts (whether musicians or experts in other areas) are likely due to training-induced brain plasticity. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19279238/

10. Sensitive period, starting before age 7.

Starting training before age 7 is associated with stronger white-matter connectivity in the corpus callosum compared to later starters, indicating a timing advantage, though not reported as a “90%” figure. Journal of Neuroscience, 2013
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Source: A sensitive period is defined as a developmental window where experience has long-lasting effects on the brain and behavior (Knudsen, 2004). https://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/3/1282 ​

Music Is More Than a Hobby, It’s a Superpower!

At Piano & More, we believe in music education that actually works. Our in-home music lessons aren’t just convenient. They’re rooted in research and designed to help your child thrive emotionally, cognitively, and creatively.

Want to learn more? Book a 50% off trial lesson and discover the difference personalized, brain-based music education can make.
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