Music is so powerful. It educates, entertains, comforts, it can change our mood, our outlook, our perspective. It’s perhaps unsurprisingly then that research indicates that music positively impacts our brains. This impact is particularly remarkable in the brains of children. If you’re wondering how this happens, read on to learn how music can alter your child’s brain for the better.
1) Music improves your child’s language skills
Research suggests that learning music impacts areas of the brain that govern cognitive and social abilities, including the abilities connected to speech and language processing. Put simply, music training helps children recognize sound differences that improve pronunciation. Music lessons also improve children’s listening skills, leading to enhanced language processing skills.
Better still, research indicates that children who are trained to play an instrument hear and process sounds better, which can improve their overall language learning skills.
In a five-year-old study conducted by the University of Southern California, researchers sought to determine how music affected the development of children's brains. The study results indicated that children who were trained to play a musical instrument had the parts of their brains that processed language and speech mature faster than the children who did not participate in musical training.
The children who underwent musical training also showed improvement in reading, sound processing, and differentiation of tonal shifts.
Adults who had musical training when they were young have also been shown to be able to learn a foreign language faster than those who didn’t have similar training in their childhood.
2) Improved IQ and academic performance
Music training has been shown to enhance the academic performance of children and their literacy levels. This impact, according to a 2006 study, has been shown to increase with an increase in the duration of music training. Thus, the longer your child takes their music lessons, theoretically, the greater the improvement in their IQ.
The 2006 study was a buildup of a past study that showed that six-year-olds who were trained in piano and voice lessons for a year had a larger IQ compared to the control group that had to wait for a year to get the training.
Another 2008 longitudinal study that was incorporated in the school curriculum in the Netherlands indicated that structured music lessons improved children's cognitive skills, which resulted in improved academic performance.
3) Improves memory
Evidence exists that indicates listening and performing music improves memory. In a recent study, music was shown to help retrieve old stored memories and create new ones. Music also helps restore memories, especially in patients of Alzheimer’s and those with brain injuries.
Formal musical training has also been shown to improve children’s ability to perform verbal working memory tasks and long term memory tasks.
In one study, 60 students were tested on verbal memory. Half of these students had more than five years of musical training before the age of 12, and the other half had no prior music training. The results of this study indicated that students who had prior music training had improved verbal memory compared to the control group.
4) Enhances self-esteem
According to Music Groupies, making music allows children to have a sense of belonging, especially if they are part of a group. Children who may have difficulties interacting with others may find it easier to participate in music activities. Taking a music class also allows your shy child to make friends and teaches them how to be a part of a team.
Shy children also gain confidence through learning to play a musical instrument or engaging in music competitions, even if the music lessons are online or they’re learning sheet music at home on their own. Such children also learn to take criticism and feedback positively, which improves their self-esteem.
How your child can reap the benefits of music
You must have heard of the “Mozart Effect,” which points out that listening to classical music improves the cognitive abilities in children. This effect is based on a 1993 study which indicated that students who listened to Mozart’s music before taking an abstract reasoning test scored higher in the test compared to students who listened to other music and those who didn’t listen to any music.
Based on this study, many parents believe that by just listening to music, their children can reap the benefits of music. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
According to a new study done by researchers from Northwestern University, if you want your child to reap the cognitive benefits of music, your child must be actively engaged in learning music. According to Nina Kraus, one of the co-authors of the study, even a small difference in participation and engagement among a group of motivated students can lead to a notable difference in the strength of neural processing after the music training.
The study observed children for two years and tested whether the level of their engagement in music training mattered. The results of the study indicated that students who played music instruments had better neural processing abilities than children who only attended the music class. This debunks the myth that you can improve your child’s intelligence and reasoning by just having them listen to music. The research emphasizes the importance of ensuring your child is an active participant and is fully engaged in a music training class.
Get your child involved in music today!
If your child would love to learn an instrument or get involved in music classes, find out about the private music lessons at Chinook School of Music here. Or if you have any questions or would just like to find out more about us and what we do, get in touch with our friendly team today.