In 1975, a seven month study was conducted to discover whether musical training could improve reading results in American 1st grade children. 

 

One group given Kodaly music training, other none.  At end, researchers found that musically trained children scored significantly higher in reading tests.  

 

There are 3 key stages in learning how to read: 

• recognizing words

• sounding out - reading aloud

• recognizing whole word without having to sound out

 

Music appears to have key role in no 2 - according to reports in Educational Psychology, children with good pitch skills grasp sounding out more quickly than children without such skills.

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Music Makes Your Child Smarter, Philip Sheppard

Learning from Young Children: Research in Early Childhood Music, Suzanne Burton, and Cynthia Crump Taggart