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Music is Powerful!
Music makes life better. Being able to play music is truly a gift that connects us with others and has the power to transform mundane events into extraordinary ones. For most people, the gift of music does not come naturally; it must be developed and nurtured through a structured program where students receive instruction and guidance.
If you are a music educator, you already know that music is a vital part of high school learning experiences and that connecting students with music increases their creativity, social and emotional growth, and academic achievements.
What you may not know yet is that some students who are attracted to guitar playing would not otherwise be interested in music classes or lessons at all. Without a school guitar program, the opportunity to connect with those students is lost.
My research has revealed numerous benefits experienced by high school students who participate in school music programs such as band, chorus, orchestra, or guitar. The amount of research and studies completed on the advantages of school music programs is vast. But for those who may not be so familiar with these benefits, here is a brief overview of them:
Improved test scores
Improved language skills
Better listening skills
Better math skills
Greater stress relief
Higher graduation rates
Higher levels of self-esteem
Higher neural brain activity levels
Higher levels of creativity skills, such as innovation, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking competencies
Helps special needs children by assisting them in finding ways to communicate and overcoming other challenges they face.
The positive effects of music education have been researched extensively, and it is widely recognized that programs like guitar improve student attendance and academic outcomes.
Benefits of Guitar Education
One organization that has collected recent data showing the benefits of guitar education is Austin Classical Guitar (ACG) in Austin, Texas, which is one of the foremost organizations in the United States advocating for guitar programs in schools and has done so for the past 30 years.
Through its guitar in schools program, ACG professes that its program brings
“Quality music education to new and diverse students. By the thousands.”
ACG has led in the creation of literacy-based guitar courses and has partnered with many Texas school districts.
In addition, ACG has created guitar programs for incarcerated teenagers and the world’s first braille-based guitar program.
ACG believes “that music has the power to transform lives,” and has gathered data to support its claim. ACG compared academic and behavioral measures of students enrolled in Title 1 high school guitar programs with their non-guitar peers at the same schools. The findings are exciting! (And summarized in the charts below):
In June 2025, ACG published new data on Title 1 schools showing that guitar students are continuing to outperform their peers, as demonstrated in the following numbers:
Guitar students outperformed their peers in all STAAR subjects and End-of-Course (EOC) exams:
Reading: +3.95%
Math: +3.11%
Writing: +4.92%
Science: +11.51%
Social Studies: +8.56%
EOC exams:
Biology: +8.78%
English I: +3.55%
English II: +1.88%
US History: +10.74%
Guitar students also had less than half the suspension rate of their peers
— 6.12% compared to 13.19%. More details can be found on the ACG website.
Music/Guitar Education Benefits Both Students and Society
In a paper entitled “Neuro-Psychological Benefits of Music Education,” written by Dorina Geta Iușcă, a professor at the National University of Arts in Iaşi, Romania, states that “learning music also benefits society because the students of the music disciplines gain powerful tools for: understanding human experiences, learning to adapt to and respect others’ ways of thinking, working and expressing themselves, analyzing nonverbal communication and making informed judgments.”
According to Dr. Robin Alexander, an MD Pathologist and passionate guitarist,
“The long-term effects of incorporating guitar pedagogy into traditional music education
reach beyond performance skills, catalyzing life-long musical engagement
and community involvement by the general public while fostering lifelong music appreciation among adults.
This domino effect not only benefits individual lives, but also subtly permeates the entire fabric of society within its sphere of care, resulting in guitar becoming an important factor in raising healthy individuals and communities.”
Guitar is Cool
Yes, guitar is cool! The guitar is a unique instrument throughout the world due to its infinite stylistic range and can be found on all continents and in all cultures. It's no wonder guitar sales outpace all other musical instruments every year, as the guitar has become the most popular instrument purchased for the past couple of decades.
One of the reasons the guitar is so popular around the world with people of all ages is that it is the focus of many genres of music: pop, rock, jazz, blues, country, classical, and many others. Another reason the guitar is so popular is that they are accessible and affordable, not to mention that guitars are also very portable and easy to learn. The guitar is a great way to learn musical skills such as music notation reading, music theory, and listening skills.
High school students know that the guitar is cool! A music education researcher named Virginia Boyle supports this claim by saying, “It is not necessary to convince students that the guitar is cool; they already know that. Many students enter the classroom already confident that they want to learn to play guitar.”
Why does the guitar have such an impact on students? Students recognize the versatility of the guitar and have most likely been previously exposed to it through a family member, their church, their favorite bands, or on the internet. Chances are, the guitar has influenced students in some way before they even enter a guitar class, and they can probably name at least one famous guitarist.
High school guitar teachers know that it doesn’t take much to prompt a student to enroll in a guitar class and connect with music.
According to Susan Rosanc, a music teacher at Travis High School,
I have taught every kind of music one can imagine: band, choir, orchestra, musical theater,
music appreciation, music history, music theory. I have never seen kids
so absolutely on fire for music as my guitar students.”
A guitar teacher barely has to do anything to convince the student that they want to learn, too. Beginner students like the sound of a guitar almost immediately as they can produce a pleasing sound that instantly satisfies and entertains. Of course, a great variety of music can be played on guitar, and there are also many different types of guitars: acoustic, electric, nylon string, steel string, 6-string, 12-string, and bass guitar. The basic lessons can be applied to any of these. Another reason that the guitar has such an impact is that no other instrument has the flexibility of the guitar; it can be played as a solo instrument, with others in a small ensemble, as part of a rock or jazz band, or as part of a classical guitar orchestra.
Hear from some students themselves, in the following videos, on how the guitar has impacted them.
Bridging Cultural Differences
One online blogger, Liam O’Connor, describes the guitar as a “seemingly simple instrument with six strings,” which “has woven itself into the fabric of musical culture worldwide. Its versatility allows it to transcend genres and connect diverse communities, from folk and classical to rock and jazz.” The sound of the guitar, or similarly stringed instruments, can be found in music throughout the world in all cultures.
Because of the global impact of guitar music, students often come from a wide variety of backgrounds, providing opportunities to bridge cultural differences in the classroom. High school guitar programs make music more accessible to a great diversity of students; and while students learn important life skills, they also learn how to connect with others from different backgrounds.
Thomas Amoriello Jr., a Past Chair of the National Association for Music Educators Council for Guitar Education, expounds,
“On many levels, the guitar has aided children emotionally and socially,
providing an outlet to the disinterested-in-school teenager and
academic relief to the highly motivated college-bound young leader with a schedule full of AP courses.
Introverts and extroverts; gifted and talented, and students on academic probation;
affluent and free-and-reduced lunch recipients; and all in between:
Guitar education reflects diversity and provides a common ground for all to come together.”
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