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Music gives children ways to listen, sing, move, make sounds, and take part with other people. The clearest developmental gains are in musical and auditory skills; claims that music reliably raises intelligence, improves grades, or broadly strengthens cognition are not supported by the strongest overall evidence. Everyday music, active music-making, formal lessons, and music therapy are different experiences, so findings about one should not automatically be applied to another.
What music can support most directly
Music activities give children practice noticing melody, rhythm, pitch, and changes in sound. In a review of a longitudinal study, children who received two years of music training performed better on musically relevant auditory skills than comparison groups. These outcomes fit what instruction is meant to teach: listening to and working with music.
Music also offers opportunities to share attention and participate with others—for example, taking turns in a song or moving together to a beat. Those experiences can be worthwhile in their own right, but they do not establish that music will produce a measurable social or emotional benefit for every child.
Music, speech, and language: a promising connection, not a guarantee
Music and speech both unfold through sound over time. Rhythm and auditory timing are therefore areas of interest in research on music and speech processing. In a 2018 research blog, Emmeline Edwards, then Director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health’s Division of Extramural Research, wrote that “From an early age, children are remarkably responsive to music and its elemental components (e.g., melody, harmony, rhythm, and dynamics).” That observation describes responsiveness to music; it is not proof of universal language or school gains.
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A study of 36 children aged four to six compared short-term music and French training. Researchers found lasting changes in children’s brain responses to trained sounds after one year. The study measured brain responses; it did not show that music training improves general academic achievement or that the same result applies to all children.
Does music make children smarter or improve school performance?
That broad claim needs caution. A 2018 review of a longitudinal study reported differences in neural activation during an inhibition task among children receiving music training, but found no corresponding difference in behavioral executive-function performance. It also reported no such neural difference between the music and sports groups. A brain-activation measure is not the same as a demonstrated everyday advantage in attention, self-control, or learning.
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A larger evidence synthesis offers a useful check on sweeping promises. Sala and Gobet’s 2020 multilevel meta-analysis included 6,984 participants, 254 effects, and 54 studies. After accounting for study quality, the overall effect of music training programs on cognitive and academic outcomes was approximately zero. Small positive effects appeared in studies without random assignment and with non-active control groups. This does not mean music has no value; it means the evidence does not justify presenting music lessons as a dependable way to raise intelligence or grades.
What studies of self-regulation and school readiness show
A 2023 randomized trial in Queensland evaluated one structured program, Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation (RAMSR), rather than music activities in general. It involved 213 children across eight preschools and delivered 16–20 sessions over eight weeks. Those details describe the tested program and setting, not a recommended dose for families or evidence that any rhythm activity will have the same effects.
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When considering this kind of result, distinguish the actual program, participants, and measured outcomes from a general claim that “music improves self-control.” A finding from a particular preschool intervention does not automatically transfer to informal listening, instrument lessons, other age groups, or other settings.
Music therapy is different from ordinary music activities
Music therapy is a professional intervention directed at therapeutic goals; it is not interchangeable with singing at home or taking a music class. For children with autism, an NCCIH summary reports that a 2021 review of 22 studies involving 850 participants could not reach definite conclusions about benefit. The same summary describes a multinational trial involving 364 children from nine countries: symptom severity in social communication did not differ between children who received music therapy alongside standard care and those who received standard care alone.
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These findings do not show that music therapy is never useful for an individual child. They do mean that broad claims about treating autism or reliably changing social-communication symptoms are not established by those results. Music therapy should not be presented as a substitute for standard clinical care; families considering it for a therapeutic goal can discuss how it fits with the child’s care team.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How parents and educators can make music part of a child’s day
Music can be offered as play and shared activity, without treating it as a developmental prescription. Follow the child’s interest and make participation accessible: listening quietly, singing, moving, tapping a beat, or exploring simple instruments are all options. A child does not need a particular instrument or paid lessons for music to be part of daily life.
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- For shared play: sing familiar songs, take turns choosing sounds, or make up a simple call-and-response rhythm.
- For listening: notice whether a piece sounds fast or slow, loud or soft, or changes as it goes along.
- For movement: invite the child to clap, sway, walk, or dance to a beat in whatever way suits them.
- For active sound-making: use voice, body percussion, or simple household-safe percussion instruments; buying equipment is optional, not a proven requirement.
- For a specific developmental or therapeutic goal: ask what outcome is being targeted, how progress will be assessed, and how the activity relates to the child’s existing supports.
There is no universal best format established by the evidence described here. A useful choice depends on the child’s age, interests, access needs, the purpose of the activity, and whether the supporting evidence measured real-world behavior, a task, or a brain response.
How to interpret claims about music and development
When a class, program, or article promises developmental benefits, check what kind of music experience was studied and what outcome was measured. A result for structured instruction is not necessarily evidence for passive listening; a brain-response change is not proof of improved grades; and findings from a clinical therapy study do not describe ordinary family music-making.
Quick Recap
- Specific musical skills: the most direct and plausible outcome of music training.
- Speech and auditory processing: an active research connection, not a universal promise of language or academic improvement.
- General intelligence, executive function, and grades: broad transfer is contested, and the overall effect in the 2020 meta-analysis was approximately zero after study quality was considered.
- Clinical outcomes: depend on the population, therapeutic approach, and outcome; the autism findings summarized above were inconclusive or showed no difference on the specified measure.
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