Music enriches
a child’s life. Research has found that music
enhances other areas by facilitating learning.
It’s more than the voice singing or the fingers playing an instrument. Music taps into multiple skills sets, often simultaneously
eg. using eyes and ears as well as large and small muscles.
Musical
training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain involved
with processing language. Linking familiar songs to new
information can also help imprint information on young minds. As
teachers we often sing times tables, or the Thrass rap, to enhance learning.
Research indicates the brain of music students works
differently to that of non-music students. Apparently children involved in
music have larger growth of neural activity because more of the brain is used
when playing an instrument or singing.
Research has also found a causal
link between music and spatial intelligence. This means understanding music can
help children visualise various elements which should go together, like they
would do when solving a maths problem.
These skills are used when solving multistep problems in engineering,
maths, art, gaming, IT and architecture.
It doesn’t end there: along with better performance results
on concentration-based tasks, music training can help with basic memory recall.
Music is also associated with other cognitive strengths such as verbal recall
proficiency. People who have had formal
musical training tend to be better at remembering verbal information stored in
memory.
So, get very excited when your child tells you they enjoy
music! The benefits are greater than you
imagine!
