Most parents would agree that they want what is best for their children, although knowing what that is — or how to achieve it — is not always clear. As parents strive to find the highest-quality academic programs and extracurricular activities designed to help their children succeed and thrive, one sometimes-overlooked option is music education. Research has shown that music education can have a profound impact on children’s development — and on their well-being.
The Benefits of Music Learning for Children
Children and adults alike can find joy in listening to music, singing along to their favorite tunes and moving their bodies to the beat. But music education, especially for younger children, offers surprising developmental benefits that go far beyond mere enjoyment.
- Creativity. Music can be a wonderful creative outlet for children, allowing them to explore and create their own sounds and melodies, rhythms, and lyrics.
- Cognition. When children are exposed to music education, they can improve their cognitive abilities and spatial-temporal skills, enhance problem-solving skills, and improve both memory and attention span. These benefits can lead to higher test scores and, ultimately, greater academic performance.
- Social skills. Music classes and lessons for young students often involve collaboration and group performances. Children have opportunities to learn how to cooperate with their teachers and fellow students, helping them learn teamwork and develop key social skills that will serve them well throughout their lifetimes.
- Coordination. While you may not equate learning to play a musical instrument with improved motor skills or better hand-eye coordination, this is another benefit of learning to make or appreciate music. Students must learn to follow conductors and use the proper motions to make their chosen instrument make the desired sounds.
- Language skills. Music education has been shown to develop the left side of the brain, which is the same side involved in language processing. When young children are exposed to music early on, they can develop improved vocabulary skills, phonetic awareness, and an enhanced ability to process language.
- Study habits. Learning to play an instrument or sing requires consistency, practice, and patience. Children who build these habits through music education can carry these study skills to other areas of their education.
- Memory. When children take music classes, they learn to use and hone memorization skills to remember lyrics, read sheet music, and remember which keys, valves, drums, or strings on musical instruments make which sounds.
- Emotional intelligence. Whether they learn to play instruments or learn to use their voices to make music, children exposed to music education can develop better coping mechanisms for their emotions.
- Stress-relief. Having the opportunity to listen to and make music can have a calming effect on children, lowering stress and anxiety and helping improve well-being.
- Higher test scores. Students who are exposed to quality music education programs in elementary school tend to score significantly higher on standardized tests than students in schools with lower-quality (or no) music education programs.
Music Education Is For Every Child
Parents who come from musical backgrounds, or who see hints of early musical talent in their young children, may gravitate toward music-learning opportunities for children. Music education can benefit everyone, however, not just budding musicians. Whether a child learns to play the guitar in New York City or takes drum lessons in Queen Creek, AZ, incorporating music into their early childhood experiences can profoundly impact the way they will view and interact with the world as they continue to learn and grow.
While music education cannot make a child smarter, it can improve key skills involving language, cognition, coordination, and memory, and it can impact the way the child approaches other aspects of their lives. This can set the stage for a more fulfilling educational experience and a greater chance that your child will achieve their goals and dreams.
Author bio: Zach Meade is the owner and founder of Musicians Made. From the great Pacific Northwest, Meade has over 20 years of experience in private music lessons. Meade has a BA in music performance from Whitworth University. He has won numerous awards and accolades as a musician and has played all over the country. As a Queen Creek resident, he is a professional musician who currently works as Music Director at Desert Rock Church in Florence. He teaches private drum lessons, beginning guitar lessons and beginning piano lessons.
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