My eyes deciphered the notes on the page, my ears guided me to depress the right keys, and my fingers translated the symbols on the page with the right speed, rhythm and expression.

The benefit in my mind was the pleasure of making music. What I didn't know was that I was wiring my brain for classroom learning.

Playing a musical instrument develops a neurocognitive skill known as executive function. And strong EF is critical for the brain to operate in school and in life. Focusing on a topic, memorising information, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and paying attention to multiple ideas simultaneously are examples of it. It is at the heart of all learning.

Acquiring these skills starts in early childhood and is crucial for healthy brain development through early adulthood. In fact, recent studies from the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children's Hospital indicate that EF is a strong predictor of academic achievement - even more than IQ.

The solution to weak academic performance isn't simply standardised testing or tutoring during the elementary years and beyond. It is music performance starting in early childhood, which promotes EF skills.

A study from the Boston Children's Hospital this past northern hemisphere summer demonstrated through MRI brain imaging that musical training promotes the development and maintenance of these abilities.

Lead investigator Nadine Gaab says the brains of musically trained children display more activation and "more mature executive function networks".

This finding supports the widely held perception that music performance and academic achievement go hand in hand.

Living evidence of music's power to turn the most under-served on to learning exists in the United States chapters of El Sistema, which is an intensive after-school music training program for the neediest children. Dozens of US cities have programs that have produced strong outcomes among students.

Stanford Thompson, executive director of Play on Philly, the local El Sistema program, boasts that its students outperform peers who select academic tutoring and other after-school programs, as measured by an independent educational assessment firm.

In other major cities, similar stories of improved academic performance are emerging.

Unfortunately, these privately funded programs are all after-school initiatives that benefit a small percentage of children.

We must change preschool and elementary education to include music performance as a core subject. Studies show that early intervention is critical to avoid widening academic gaps. Resistance to change and complacency have short-changed our children, particularly the under-served.

It is time that to pay attention to the evidence before us and rethink education.

Los Angeles Times