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Jodi Langley
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
November 7, 2014
Music Inside the Classroom
Small children, for the most part, benefit from music in the classroom. The music helps
them to concentrate better because they are not distracted by other sounds in the class. Music
can benefit not only smaller children but all age groups. With sound, a mood is put into the
classroom setting which calms the noise and sooths the nerves. Music changes progressive
speeds and most of all behavior. Music effects children in the classroom.
In McKnights article, an experiment was conducted upon one group of students. Two
tests were conducted; one test was without music in the classroom and the other was with music.
Both tests were placed at the same time of day with the same assignment (McKnight). The first
test was with no music; the kids were talkative and several asked to leave the classroom or go to
the bathroom. The second test with music seemed to calm them down. McKnight proclaims that
each issue without the music was decreased.
In Mattars article things were a little different because instead of using one class or
group young pupils, they used two. One group was with music in the classroom and the other
was without. In the end, the group that had music playing had a significant growth in their
social, cognitive, and physical development (Mattar). Statistically the group of students without

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music playing had very little growth in either of the three areas. Mattar says that music can have
a great and positive effect on a childs education.
According to Working in Harmony: Some Effects of Music in the Classroom, the
experiment was conducted to test not only if music improved that classroom experience, but also
what methods of music worked better for the kids. Not all of the methods resulted in growth but
thats okay because it was the end result of which ones did that mattered. The different methods
of using music in the classroom showed how the students could be helped in a productive manor
that was fun (McGovern). The tests didnt only include playing music, but even more musical
input like rhythm spelling, motivational music, rhythm clapping, and song about key concepts.
In result the methods that helped were motivational music, rhythm clapping and rhythm spelling.
Even though all the methods didnt work, the ones that did will help with growth.
Research shows that small children with music interaction in their classroom have more
growth and progress compared to the children without music interaction. Concentration is more
focused on school work and there are less interruptions in the class. Behavior is positively
affected because of the vibe the music extends to the students. These different studies were on
different age groups of young children, so it affects different mind sets. The music in a
classroom affects the students !

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Works Cited
Mattar, Jehan. "The Effect Of Mozart's Music On Child Development In A Jordanian
Kindergarten." Education 133.3 (2013): 370-377. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10
Oct. 2014.
McGovern, Anne Marie. "Working in Harmony: Some Effects of Music in the Classroom."
(2000). ERIC. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
McKnight, Rosemary. "Does Listening To Slow Tempo Classical Music During Independent
Writing Affect Children's On-Task Performance?." (1998): ERIC. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.