So you’re thinking of signing your kids up for music lessons? Science has shown that you’ve made the right choice. Children of all ages benefit from music, and the skills your child will develop through music lessons will serve them in all areas of their life. Not only is music engagement a great way to encourage the development of musical skills, the effects are present in other areas of life as well. If you’re hoping to improve your kid’s reading skills and social abilities, music might be your answer.
Here are some skills your kids will develop as a result of taking music:
Time management
Signing your kids up for music lessons will give them the opportunity to engage with another activity outside of school. Depending on the age of your child, they’ll need to find a balance between all of their school work, music lessons, and other sports that they play, if any. If a child is really young, you’ll need to provide them with a lot of structure and guidance in the early stages of their musical career.
For example, you could create a visual schedule that indicates what days they’ll be practicing on, and for how many minutes. After a kid has practiced managing their responsibilities in this way for an extended period of time, balancing school and extracurriculars will become a piece of cake. Students with a lot of extracurriculars who are able to find a balance will be less stressed and more able to focus on the important things in life.
Self-expression
Music lessons will also give your children the ability to foster self-expression skills. Many kids struggle in creative writing classes because they aren’t sure how to properly channel their ideas onto the page. By signing your kid up for music lessons, they’ll be given the opportunity to channel their musical ideas through their instrument on a regular basis.
All music involves creative thinking, but composition will best allow your kid to cultivate these skills. Encouraging your kid to create their own songs or pieces will teach them that it’s important to share their ideas with others. Learning how to express oneself is an important skill for children to have as they get older. Whether kids are working on a group project at school or they’re preparing for their first interview, expressing their ideas confidently will likely help them achieve important milestones.
Academic skills
Music lessons can also improve your kids’ academic performance. If you’re looking to improve your child’s skills in all areas of learning, musical engagement may be the answer. A study from Northwestern University showed that kids who played instruments had better neural processing than kids who only listened to music. Another study found greater increases in IQ in kids who took music lessons when compared to kids who didn’t. Of course, there’s no guarantee that your kid will become the next Einstein once you sign them up for music lessons; but, science does suggest there are some very real benefits associated with music engagement.
Additionally, if you’re hoping to improve your kids’ reading comprehension skills, music lessons might give them an extra push in the right direction. Reading is one of the most important skills children develop, as it affects their success in all areas of life. Even in subjects that aren’t primarily focused on reading, such as math and science, students will need to have sophisticated reading skills in order to understand problem-solving questions on their assignments and tests.
At Northwestern University, a study found that kids who actively participated in their music class had better speech processing abilities and higher reading scores than children who weren’t actively involved. Music functions in a similar way as a language since it’s often used to communicate with other people. We also write music notation in a way that resembles written English. Different notes symbolize different pitches and rhythms, just like how different letters are symbols for sounds and word meanings. This probably explains why kids who engage with music have such high language processing abilities, so if you want to reap the benefits, sign your child up as soon as you can.
Social skills
Music is a universal art form, which means other children will appreciate your kid’s skills and some might even know how to play instruments themselves. If you’ve signed your kid up for music lessons and you’re looking to increase their social skills, try asking the music instructor if there are any other students that could play a duet with your kid.
The process of practicing a duet with another student, making adjustments to improve the sound, and remaining patient with each other when mistakes happen will allow your kid to improve their ability to work well with another person. These skills will transfer to all areas of their lives, as children need to cooperate with others for group projects and eventually, in their professional work lives.
If this list of skills has convinced you music lessons are the way to go, then take a look at this article on the price of guitar lessons to get started.
About me:
I’m Natalie.
I work as a musician, session guitarist, and guitar teacher, and would like to use my music website as a personal outlet to share my six-string knowledge with the world.
Visit my website: MusicalAdvisors.com
Connect with me: natalie.musicaladvisors@gmail.com
I do appreciate how you said that music is a universal language and that it will help a kid improve their social skills because they will be most likely appreciated by other children as well. I guess I was right in thinking that it will be best to enroll my younger brother in a music class. He has been interested in music since he was really small but has always been shy about trying it out. Now I have to encourage him. Thank you.
You’re so right Tammy. Especially where there the child is interested in music taking the next step and getting lessons is often what helps them come out of their shell and develop confidence that will translate into other areas of life as they develop their music skills. Keep encouraging.
I like this so much & completely agree with you:) 🙂 🙂 I’m currently working on the f# minor nocturne! they’re beautiful pieces.
Before I started taking piano, I had always imagined the Conservatory students to have it so good – I mean, for their homework, they get to play guitar, or jam on their saxophone, or sing songs! What fun! Compared to sitting in lab for four hours studying the optical properties of minerals, or discussing Lucretian theories of democracy and politics, I would play piano any day.
But after almost three years of piano at Orpheus academy, I understand just how naïve this is. Playing music for credit is not “easy” or “fun” or “magical” or “lucky.” Mostly, it’s really freakin’ hard. It requires you to pick apart your piece, play every little segment over and over, dissect it, tinker with it, cry over it, feel completely lame about it, then get over yourself and start practicing again. You have to be precise and diligent, creative and robotic. And then – after all of this – you have to re-discover the emotional beauty in the piece, and use it in your performance.
Thank you. You are right on with your assessment. Hard work gets you to the beauty. But no shortcuts other than good teachers/mentors and lots of focused practice.