Being a proud parent, I can’t help but use my resources as a web developer and SEO specialist to show off the talent of my 2 boys. Charles (CG), 14, and Jacob, 12, are both very talented musicians. Today their Jazz band, New Smyrna Beach Middle School Jazz Band, performed at the Lakeside Jazz Festival in Port Orange. Both boys played a solos. Jacob’s solo on the clarinet begins about 2:04 into the performance. CG’s solo on the trumpet immediately follows. Hit the play button above. Excuse the poor audio, it was a bit windy. And cold… What’s up with this April cold snap in Florida in anyway?

Both boys have been playing musical instruments since the 3rd grade. We were very blessed to have the boys attend the only elementary school in Volusia County (Spruce Creek Elementary) with a performing band. A big thank you to Mr. Ed Clowers, their elementary school band director. As both boys started playing, the improvement in their academics was obvious. Here are some startling statistics;

• Students taking courses in music performance and music appreciation scored higher in the SAT than students with no arts participation.
• Music performance students scored 53 points higher on the verbal and 39 points higher on the math.
• Music appreciation students scored 61 points higher on the verbal and 42 points higher on the math.
• According to the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, music students received more academic honors and awards than non-music students.
• A higher percentage of music participants received As, As/Bs, and Bs than non-music participants.
• Lewis Thomas, physician and biologist, found that music majors comprise the highest percentage of accepted medical students at 66%
• The arts are one of the six subject areas in which the College Board recognizes as essential in order to thrive in college.
• Researchers in Leipzig discovered through the use of brain scans that musicians had larger planum temporale, the region of the brain associated with reading skills. Also, musicians had a thicker corpus callosum, the nerve fibers that connect the two halves of the brain.

If you have school age children, I strongly recommend you get them involved in music. You won’t be sorry!