Disadvantaged children can improve their reading ability and language skills by learning to sing or play a musical instrument, a new research shows.

Northwestern University researchers found that reading scores of  children from lower income background remained steady after learning music compared to those  without the musical training.

For the study, half the subjects partook in musical training and the other half were randomly selected from the program's lengthy waiting list and received no musical training during the first year of the study.

Results showed that children without any musical training had deteriorating reading scores while the scores of the students with musical training remained unchanged.

Nina Kraus, PhD, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University said: "While more affluent students do better in school than children from lower income backgrounds, we are finding that musical training can alter the nervous system to create a better learner and help offset this academic gap."

The researchers also found that after two years, neural responses to sound in adolescent music students were faster and more precise.

The research team examined the auditory abilities in youngsters from poor backgrounds at three public high schools in Chicago. During the course of time, the students took part in either bands or choirs during each school day. The other half were enrolled in Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps classes that teach character education, achievement, wellness, leadership and diversity. At the beginning of the study, researchers noted that all the participants had comparable reading ability and IQs, the study author stated in a press release.

Researchers recorded the brain waves of the children as they listened to a repeated syllable against soft background sound, which made it harder for the brain to process. This was repeated after one year and again after two years.

The team found that the neural responses of the students taking musical classes enhanced compared to the JROTC students' responses that did not change. However, the changes in neural responses of the musically trained students were observed only after two years. This means that such programs cannot be used as quick fixes.

"We're spending millions of dollars on drugs to help kids focus and here we have a non-pharmacologic intervention that thousands of disadvantaged kids devote themselves to in their non-school hours - that works," presenter Margaret Martin, DrPH said. "Learning to make music appears to remodel our kids' brains in ways that facilitates and improves their ability to learn.