les of teaching and when attempts are made to cut out "nonessential" subjects from curricula, it only worsens the problem and further distances the at-risk student from the goal of becoming motivated to do better (30-31). For many reasons, music can be one of the most influential factors in getting at-risk students motivated. Music related courses in curricula give students many of the important elements that will erase the characteristics of an at-risk student. Every student likes music if only one kind, and outside of school, most students seek out music pretty actively (31). Therapists use music to help severely handicapped individuals, so why can't schools do the same thing to help at-risk students?(31) Musical groups such as choir, orchestra or band help bring people together as well as improving communication skills, group work, and forming peer groups. Music creates a higher standard of performance of people. For example, if a math test grade of 90% would be an "A", a 90% grade on a musical performance would be quite bad (32). This study seems to suggest that music can provide a student with a level of individuality to learn in his/her own style. Music education creates a much more well-rounded student that do much more and learn much easier. Music can also have very interesting and beneficial effects on the mind. A study was conducted at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California at Irvine by Frances H. Rauscher, Gordon L. Shaw and Katherine N. Ky. In the study, 36 college students listened to one of three listening condition for ten minutes and then took the Stanford-Binet intelligence test designed for abstract reasoning (Rauscher, Shaw and Ky 611). The experiment was repeated for each of the three listening conditions and included listening to a Mozart piano sonata, a relaxation tape, and complete silence (611). They found that the equivalent IQ scores were equal between lis...
