Many studies showed the positive effects of having babies and toddlers listen to soothing instrumental music, including enhanced brain activity, calmness, creativity, etc. Both of my kids play piano and flute, it is a joyful and challenging process. But definitely worth the effort! Here we list 10 benefits for kids learn musical instrument.
Table of Contents
Musical Can Help Kids’ Brain Growth
Young children undergo a crucial brain growth and development stage between zero to 3, even up to 7. Kids learn musical instrument can alter the brain structure, helping them cope faster and thrive in school.
Music can enhance sensory processes, even helping the brain process multi-sensory elements at once. These improved networks and connections in the brain help children gain higher intelligence quotient (IQ), emotional quotient (EQ), adversity quotient (AQ), and social quotient (SQ).
Concentration and Attention
Learning to play a musical instrument requires tremendous concentration and long practicing hours, which requires your children to focus and disregard distractions in the environment.
Concentration and focus can also help children in academic study. For example, math and science subjects involve strong analytical skills that requires engagement and high memory retention.
Sharpens Memory
Playing a musical instrument requires memorizing notes and connecting them with physical movements like strumming, stroking, or pressing keys. You also learn to harmonize with the rhythm, which requires memorization and understanding of the whole song.
In their brain, these activities create a lot of neural pathways that help your children retain more information at a faster rate. Learning how to play a musical instrument benefits your children to learn in other areas faster, including academics or other practical skills.
Comprehension
Learning a musical instrument requires a strong comprehension of your lyric sheet. Aside from memorizing them by heart, you also know how to strike the chords with proper timing. Moreover, how to be sensitive with the orchestra or band and learn how to blend with it.
Understanding the comprehension situation allows you to adapt to your surroundings faster, triumph over challenges better. You can use your knowledge and skills to make the best out of any situation.
Coordination
Learning to play an instrument can help your child fine-tune her ear, also use multiple senses and do numerous activities. Their brain, eyes, hands, or even feet should be in harmony. Your children should also be quick to respond and be efficient with movements to create beautiful music or execute the musical piece properly.
Confidence and Self-esteem
Aside from an explosion in brain development, children learning musical instrument can also benefit from having improved self-esteem and a boost in their confidence level. Any progress can bring a sense of pride to a child, especially with your acknowledgment, appreciation, and support as their parent. Therefore, celebrate every milestone and see huge improvements in how your children handle triumphs and failures.
Many music teacher provide quarterly or half year concert opportunity for their students. My advice is practice and participate these concerts. It boost child confidence and also encourage them to better performing by just looking at others performance. Do not forget the celebrate the milestones they made!
Self-expression and Social Skills
Many introvert children play musical instruments to express themselves without too much interaction with others, which allows them to express themselves without getting out of their comfort zones.
As your children slowly gain confidence with their newly-acquired skills, you can now encourage them to be more friendly with others by playing the instrument in front of many people.
Emotional Benefits
Music brings many emotional benefits, whether you are just listening to it or playing the instrument yourself. You can encourage your children to resort to playing their musical instrument to relieve tension, to relax and unwind, or go about a sad moment instead of sulking or crying.
Enhanced Creativity
Learning how to play a musical instrument can help your children unleash their creativity. Music is not just about learning to play others’ work but also creating new ones. Who knows, you might be cultivating a new songwriter or piano genius. Meanwhile, creative skills can also help children cope with other situations better apart from music.
As they grow up and eventually become part of the workforce, their creative talents can impact many industries and ignite new revolutions or engineer innovations that can finally benefit the world.
The Key to Success – Grit
Grit was defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” by psychologist Angela Duckworth. Learning to play a musical instrument requires long hours of practice. Musical child may need to sacrifices their game time and other activities. They need to be strong and persistence to reach their goal.
Conclusion
Kids to Learn musical instrument is not only fun for the time being, it has great benefit to young children in their brain development, social skills and self recognition. Young Children who begin learning an instrument have the opportunity to grow and improve their skills over time. They learn to be disciplined in their approach and experience that with hard work and perseverance, challenges and goals can be overcome. It can nurture their talent and even unlock more that you may not even be aware of.
Lastly, an extra benefit, learn musical instrument can help kids to earn additional pocket money. They can be a DJ in a friend’s party, can play on the street, or perform in a formal concert. Rule of thumb, for every performance, I give them an incentive, which is equal to their age. In this way, they can have some especially source of income other than chores and pocket money. It helps kids to gain a deeper understanding of earning, further with the whole kids with money concept we have discussed.
Do your kids play any music instrument? Share with us your experience!
About Me
Hi, there. I am Lin. Together with my husband and two kids, we live in the beautiful Netherlands in Europe. I am dedicated to self-development, creating quality time for the whole family, and fully supporting kids with their potentials and possibilities with all I have learned from engineering, MBA, and 10+ years of working experience in the energy sector.
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