Not only can music be used as a learning tool but it can also be used as a motivational tool and social skill building tool. Research supports the notion that children who participate in instrumental music instruction have higher academic achievement.

Cardarelli (2003) investigated the effects of instrumental music instruction on standardized test performance of third-grade students. Students were divided into two groups: those participating in an instrumental music training program and those not participating. The music training activity was designed for inner city students who could not financially afford to take music lessons. She found statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the two groups, with a positive effect of the music program on the students’ achievement levels.

Those who participate in music have higher academic achievement than those who do not. (Arnett-Gary, 1998; Shobo, 2001; Yoon, 2000).

Music can be used as a motivational tool for students who may lack that "drive" in school or the confidence to succeed. Frequently, when children lack motivation it is directly correlated with low self-esteem. Children fall in love with music for many reasons and it touches their lives in many ways. Musical instruments give children joy and a sense of accomplishment just as they should feel from their studies. If children can learn to build that motivation through music and transfer that to their studies, more learning will take place both in and out of the classroom.

Research has supported the notion that music instruction can improve auditory perception skills that, in turn, might impact reading abilities.

• Music perception utilized auditory mechanisms related to reading as musical skills correlated significantly with phonological awareness and early reading skills in a group of four and five year- old children (Anvari, Trainor, Woodside, & Levy, 2002)

There is a connection between music and mathematics; both subject areas use numbers, repeating patterns and ratios (Vaughn, 2000).

• Whitehead (2001) examined the effect of music instruction on math scores of middle and high school students. Subjects were randomly placed into three groups: full treatment (which received music instruction for 50 minutes five times per week), limited treatment (which received 50 minutes of instruction once a week), and no treatment (which received no music instruction). After twenty weeks, the full treatment group showed a higher level of significant gain in mathematics than the other two groups. The limited treatment group showed limited athematics improvement and the no treatment group had the lowest gain in mathematics improvement.
• Gregory (1988) compared six classes of third graders who were taught math via music to six classes taught math via traditional methods. The music-integrated classes showed significant gains compared to the control groups.