As a middle school student, Scott Somers was what many teachers might call "troubled." He had problems concentrating; he wasn't working up to his potential.

Now, at 17, Scott is a B+/A- student at Calabasas High School in Calabasas, Calif. He recently scored over 700 (out of 800) on an SAT II Biology: Ecological test.

Scott's surprising academic turnaround didn't come courtesy of medication, excessive grounding or tutoring. It came from learning music, a pastime he became engrossed in at 11.

"He had a strong attention problem," his mother, Bonnie Somers, says. "As his music [skills] developed, his ability to focus just really grew exponentially."

Currently Scott is a trumpet player in three groups at Calabasas High, the Jazz A, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Combo. He also is involved with a jazz combo that's played two local gigs. In addition to a band that plays monthly at his synagogue, Scott belongs to a local ska group called the Scuba Kids. And he was admitted to the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra.

"I'm excited about his enthusiasm with music," Bonnie Somers says. "He's learned really how to persevere with things. He practices three to five hours a day. We have to make him stop practicing at 9:30 at night--not only because of the neighbors, but because he has to do other things."

Scott's scholastic rebirth may seem miraculous, but many studies show there is a strong link between learning music and improved academic performance.

In 2002, the College Board released a report showing that music performance and appreciation students scored higher on the SAT than students with no music training. Music performance students scored 57 points higher on the verbal section and 41 points higher on the math section; music appreciation students landed 64 points higher on verbal and 43 points higher on math.

Not only do students studying the arts get higher SAT scores than students not studying the arts, studies done in 1998 and 1999 by MENC: The National Association for Music Education, show that of all the arts, students studying music appreciation received the highest math scores.

Data also show that music participants received more academic honors and awards than non-music students, and that the percentage of music participants receiving A's and B's was higher than the percentage of non-participants receiving those grades, according to the1998 follow-up study to the National Educational Longitudinal Study 1990 study, done by the National Center for Education Statistics, Washington.

That doesn't mean that every child who picks up an instrument is headed for Harvard. But it does mean that learning music gives a child more than just an appreciation for the arts.

Dr. Suzanne Hanser says that she can't promise parents that their children will do better on tests, "but I would promise them that through learning music, children are forming an endless number of pathways in the brain which may be used in any number of activities--perhaps math, perhaps the analytical ability we need to do well on the SATs."

Dr. Hanser, president of the World Federation of Music Therapy and chair of the music therapy department of Berklee College of Music in Boston says that "Musical abilities are linked to an endless number of neuropathways, which means that learning music offer tremendous possibility."

"The correlations between SAT scores and musical skills suggest there's an interaction between music and academic excellence. It appears that music performance and reading skills can enhance this process," says Larry Scripp, chair, Music-in-Education and director, Research Center for Learning Through Music, New England Conservatory. "We don't entirely understand what the bases for the correlations are, but they're there." The correlation between music and other subjects are not a direct cause and effect, according to Scripp, but they enhance each other. "When you combine music instruction with math," he says, "you have an enhanced understanding of math."

That's no surprise to Dr. Jan Berry, a part-time music lecturer at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and a saxophone instructor at Chicago's Roosevelt University, who began taking piano lessons at 4 and saxophone lessons at 12. At the time, she also had a strong interest in arithmetic, thanks to her father, a high school and university-level math and science teacher.

"They specifically do these studies in terms of math and music--and music really does rely on math," Berry says. "I can see why there's a direct correlation. You have to be able to figure out complex rhythms and how they fit into time; it's a lot like division.

"In math, you have an exact set of rules, and it's the same in music--two eighth notes always fit inside a quarter note; in math two times two is always four." When you play music, that computation is instantaneous. "You're doing it in time in your head when you're playing--it's like doing complex division in your head without a calculator."

The academic results are impressive, but better grades and test scores aren't music's only payoff. For many introverted kids, learning music can offer a social outlet and a much-needed confidence boost. Berry, who also gives private lessons, has seen a transformation in several students after she moved them into quartet groups.

"You see a social change in the way they're interacting with kids their own age," Berry says. "Not always with speaking, but with playing, they learn to interact. I've had a lot of kids who were so extremely shy they wouldn't even talk to me. There are a lot of things with music that are embarrassing--people make you sing out loud or play on the spot in front of people you know. It teaches people to deal with situations. It's exposing a part of yourself that you may not otherwise do. They gain a lot of confidence in themselves from the social aspect."

Renee Westlake, northwest division president for the National Association of Music Education and supervisor of music for the Bozeman Public Schools in Bozeman, Mont., says music's confidence-building effect is beneficial long after a child has finished school. Learning music "is good for self-esteem," Westlake says. "You look at a CEO of a corporation looking to hire someone and he is looking for people who have been in highly focused areas, such as music."

For the already-involved student, music lessons may seem like one more extracurricular activity to be squeezed into a tight schedule. However, music doesn't have to be a drain on a busy student's time.

"Students do better when they are involved more in school," says Mark Lortz, director of bands and orchestra at Westminster High School in Westminster, Md. "Academically, [our music students] are always more focused. Most of the time they are honor roll students--and usually, when students get out of the program or stop doing activities, their grades will go down or flip."

According to Lortz, whose school won the Exemplary Music Program Award for 2003-2004, given by the Music Educators National Association and the Maryland Band Directors Association, adding music as an extra activity isn't a problem.

"In fall, during the football season when we're performing one or two times a week, most of my kids do better than in the spring [when we have a lighter schedule]," Lortz says. "When I started teaching, I found that very surprising, but I attribute it to the fact they are doing so much, they have to figure out a way to get things done better, and they learn organizational skills."

Mike Hoff, assistant director of education at Vic Firth Inc., the largest manufacturer of drumsticks and mallets in the world, has seen the effect firsthand. The organizational skills they acquire from juggling school and music "seems to have a profound effect on their studies," Hoff says. "I had a student about 10 years ago whose parents came to me after the student had joined marching band. They commented that prior to joining band she was disorganized. But one year of being in the band, really 3 or 4 months, her grades and her work habits had improved. The only thing that had really changed was her participation in band activity."

And for students like Scott Somers, who carefully organize other activities to make more time for practicing, music can be the driving force behind a major life restructuring.

"He's learned to sacrifice things to achieve his goals," Bonnie Somers says. "He's willing to stay home on a Friday or Saturday night if he has to learn some music. That's a major plus for a parent of a teenager: knowing that your kid is willing to do something really serious with long-term value and to maybe sacrifice some of the short-term fun."

No one knows yet whether Scott will be a professional musician someday. Music will not, however, be just a high school hobby--of that they are all sure.

"Music is something you can do for a lifetime," Bonnie says. His older brother played football and always knew that his days as a football player were numbered. "Hopefully, Scott will be playing into his 90s."

Although many experts suggest a child's interest level is the best indicator for when to start lessons, studies show that early music education can have big payoffs.