The Alphabet Song. It’s probably one of the first songs you ever learned, and as a parent one of the first things you try to teach your child. You may use songs for other things, like counting, colors, or learning to tie your shoes. In all those cases, you are using music to nurture your child’s mind.
Learning an instrument can truly have life-changing results. Music helps us exercise our whole brain, deepens our understanding, and is just plain fun.
Advances in science in recent decades have allowed us to look deeply at the activity of the brain during different activities. Certain tasks, like reading or doing math problems, light up the neurons in specific areas of the brain. Scientists have found that when a person is listening to music, brain activity lights up in multiple regions.
It goes even further when a musician actually performs on their instrument. Not only does the brain light up in multiple locations, but musical information gets processed, analyzed, and acted on rapidly. Playing music engages several areas of the brain, including the areas of the brain that process visual, aural, and motor information. Practicing those brain functions through the discipline that comes with mastering an instrument actually helps strengthen those brain functions. This means this new-found strength is helpful in other activities in life!
The benefits are endless. They include intellectual, social, and emotional advantages. So with all these clear benefits, why do we not place more importance on private lessons?
The Outdated Education System
Although we have great advances in technology to be thankful for these days, much of the educational system is still based on a model more than a century old. The current model of grouping students under one class doesn’t offer as many opportunities for individualized learning to help students learn effectively. Because that old industrial model also focuses on careers in fields outside of the arts, music and the arts seem to find themselves first up on the chopping block when budget cuts for education come our way.
However, these industrial values built around churning out workers to fill jobs in the realms of medicine, engineering, and other STEM-based fields are starting to shift. We’re starting to see more adoption of newer educational models as we continue to recognize the shortcomings of the older industrial model. Learning takes place everywhere, and every learner has different learning preferences and pace. Hopefully in these new discussions about making our education system better, we can talk about the very real benefits that come with playing music.
The good news is that even if music doesn’t stay in your school, there are still a lot of passionate private teachers to help your kids learn!
What Learning Music Can Do for Your Child
Higher Intelligence
The benefits of taking music lessons is pretty close to instantaneous. Even as little as 20 days of musical training can result in intellectual gain. But the good things don’t stop there. When students study the arts for longer they perform better in other areas, too! A study that followed students over 10 years found that students taking at least 9 hours of art study were 4 times more likely to receive recognition for academic achievement.
Memory
Music exists as an aspect of virtually every known culture on the planet. Something so simple as the impulse to tap your foot to the beat of a song feels automatic, doesn’t it? It’s almost as though we’re wired for music to be a part of us.
As we said earlier, we’ve all used songs to learn and memorize things. We use music when we study, work, and cook. Music can help us make mnemonics. Examples include using common tunes to memorize facts and using music resources when presenting materials. Getting education in music involves high use of memorization skills. Performers must be able to play and read music by sight, play the right notes, or remember certain lyrics. All of these exercises benefit the parts of the brain involving memory. In another study, researchers learned that musicians outperformed non-musicians in auditory, visual, and memory tests.
Comprehension and Vocabulary
Consistent music education can improve vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. Recent evidence suggests that the part of the brain controlling musical ability and language comprehension are more closely related than previously thought. Since learning music involves paying attention to qualities like pitch, tone, and enunciation, it makes logical sense. We understand meaning when speaking to others not only through words, but these same qualities!
Those with musical training tend to have higher than average levels of grey matter in their brains, which is directly related to auditory processing and comprehension. This allows musicians to learn to listen better, sense emotion, and react with greater understanding.
Discipline
Have you ever struggled with keeping a routine? What about your kids? Maintaining good habits like diet, exercise, and getting good sleep elude many of us, including our kids. Learning music can help there too! Becoming proficient at an instrument requires regular study and practice. Spending time on developing the skills and understanding to perform well is essential for success.
When we learn the proper discipline for learning music, we are practicing a good habit that can be transferred to other areas of our lives. Music also teaches perseverance. The ability to press on, even when things might not be going well with what we’re learning, is an invaluable life skill.
Joy
It’s simple: music is just one of the great joys of life. To be able to open that world up for your child can lead to nearly endless fulfillment. Any time you can watch a skill grow over time, and see noticeable improvement, there’s a unique sense of achievement and pride. Children love music, and when they do something they love, it makes them happy. Simple as that. And that joy can be contagious!
What Really Matters
We really believe that last reason is the best reason. When your child is happy because they can play part of their favorite song, or they nail that audition, we feel proud right along with them. Even just one lesson could change a future entirely.
If you’re interested in finding out what music lessons could be like for you or your child, feel free to reach out to us!
References for further reading and research
- National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, “Re-Investing in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools.” The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
- https://www.rcmusic.ca/sites/default/files/files/RCM_MusicEducationBenefits.pdf
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5078758/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3338120/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0028393211000613
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/memory-medic/201007/music-training helps-learning-memory
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