In this post, one of our music coaches, David Ajayi, talks about the many benefits children can experience from learning to play a musical instrument.
Music is a highly subjective and personal experience, and it can mean different things to different people.
Music can be fun, it can be a means of exploring the world and other cultures, it can be a means of education, helping us understand history, politics and sociology. Music can be a means of communication, and a tool for relaxation…… The list is endless.
Learning to play musical instruments has been shown to confer significant benefits with regards to the development of the brain.
Here are some ways in which learning to play music can contribute to a child’s cognitive and emotional development:
Memory Retention: Learning and playing pieces require the memorization of notes, rhythms, and sequences, which can enhance both short-term and long-term memory.
Great Hand-Eye Coordination: Playing instruments like the piano involves the coordination of hand movements with visual inputs from sheet music. This enhances hand-eye coordination, which is crucial for various daily activities and academic tasks.
Better Attention Span: The need to coordinate so many different tasks simultaneously also goes a long way to improving the attention span of a child and helps a child learn how to multitask.
Emotional Intelligence: Music is a powerful form of emotional expression. Learning to play an instrument allows children to express themselves emotionally through the music they create, fostering emotional intelligence and self-awareness. Playing an instrument with dynamic expression is like reading the room and knowing what to say at each point in time.
Pattern Recognition: Music is usually made up of a combination of rhythmic and melodic patterns which can be improvised upon and improved to build another musical piece. This makes music inherently mathematical.
Learning to play a musical instrument involves understanding these patterns, rhythms, and the mathematical relationships between note values.
At school, children are confronted with problems such as mental mathematics, quantitative and verbal reasoning, all of which require an understanding of patterns. A child with a solid musical background, will find it relatively easier to decode such problems compared to a child who doesn’t.
Discipline: To succeed at music, a child will need to develop a great deal of discipline. Discipline is the practice of training oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way. Playing the piano requires consistent practice and dedication, instilling discipline in children.
At KMC we help children to develop discipline through various strategies that are designed to encourage them to practise their instrument on a regular basis.
In summary, learning to play a musical instrument can be beneficial in so many ways and these benefits are transferable to other areas of life.
The degree of the impact will depend on factors such as the intensity and duration of musical training, as well as individual aptitude and interest.
Combining music education with traditional education is key to supporting the holistic growth of a child.
by: David Ajayi, Music Coach at KMC