Play Music Now - Articles - Article #1 - How Music Helps Your Child Grow

Music is Fun.

Let's never lose sight of this very important reason for music. It's enjoyment!     Listening to music is fun. Playing the radio or stereo is even more fun, because you're in control of the kind of music you want to hear. Being able to play the music you want on an instrument could be the most fun of all.
    Music can be a private partner that turns an otherwise lonely hour into one filled with self-satisfaction... a form of fun. Or it can provide the the basis for the kind of pleasure that comes from a team activity by practicing or performing with a group.
    Learning to play just for the fun of it is probably the best reason for any child to take lessons. If your child cannot enjoy music simply for the fun of it, somehow he or she could miss a great deal of the pleasure music offers.

Playing Unlocks a Rich Treasury.

For many children, playing an instrument is all that it takes to unlock the storehouse of our rich musical heritage.
    Discovering the masters through a child's own playing can bring "great" music down to a personal level of enjoyment. Playing sheet music rummaged from grandma's attic can give your child a very personal view of his family's history. Even the music of the previous generation becomes more rich and meaningful for the child who is able to produce himself on a musical instrument.
    Somehow all music becomes so much more personal when you learn how to play. Another very good reason to let children give music a try.

It Builds Confidence.

Accomplishment... any kind of accomplishment... definitely builds confidence. Baking a cake. Catching a ball. Putting a radio or model plane or dress together from a kit of pattern. Riding a bike without falling down. Playing the trumpet. all of these accomplishments help a child build self-confidence.
    Of course no one can guarantee that the musical child will grow up to be President. But, he or she will have had a good hear start towards achieving some of the goals the set out for themselves. That's how important all these accomplishments... including music... are building confidence.

Improves Self-Image.

There is little doubt that self-image or self-concept is important, if not vital, to a student's achievements. It's responsible for the kind of goals he sees a s suitable for himself... an indicator of scholastic achievement. And studying music can build that self-image.

Music Affects Overall Academic Performance.

Music students tend to perform better in mathematics, English, and social science than non-music students. And why shouldn't they? Computation is an integral part of making music. Listening is an important part of learning any subject. And music teaches listening. It also involves concentration, memory skills, alertness and self-control.

Studies have been done some time now on basic intelligence as it relates to playing a musical instrument. While once it was said that smart kids are in the band of orchestra, for some time now neurologists have been finding that the kids are smart because they are in the band or orchestra.
    Recently a series of comprehensive skills tests were run on 5,514 fifth graders in all Albuquerque's 75 elementary schools... and guess what? In every single test area, kids who were learning how to play an instrument and were participating in the school band or orchestra, received higher marks than their classmates. Not only that, the longer the student had been in instrumental programs, the higher they scored!

Right Brain - Left Brain.

The theory of bi-lateralism of the brain has been thought by many to be the reasons for increased intelligence in the artistic child. This states that the brain is divided into two halves... the analytical brain and the subjective-artistic brain. When both does not develop as a whole, thereby not developing as well in total intelligence.
    Dr. Frank Wilson, a well-known neurologist, feels that increased intelligence is helped by a child playing musical instrument, based on the fact that approximately 80~90% of the brain's motor control capability is devoted to the hands, mouth, and throat. He feels that by developing highly refined control in those areas, a child is stimulating almost the entire brain, thereby increasing total intelligence.

What About the Tin Ear?

The jokes about "tin ears" and "carrying tunes in wheelbarrows" are probably as old as music.
    The fact is that almost everyone has some musical talent and is capable of learning to play a musical instrument.
But some people might be more interested in other form of accomplishment. Crafts. Sports. Art. Mechanical pursuits. So let the child have the choice. There is no reason a child cannot excel in more than one form of endeavor. Many prominent sports figures are also accomplished musicians. People with well-rounded interests are usually more successful in life.
    Also, there's a valuable lessons to learn in having tried music. Your child can learn that there are choices to be made constantly. and decisions needn't be irreversible. He'll develop the confidence that gives a person the freedom to chance his mind. The freedom to position the enjoyment of music in this pursuits.

Where to Start?

There is no better place than the instrumental music program at school. the school band or orchestra director who will guide your child on his/her instrumental activities is both an educator and musician. As a trained specialist , it is his objective to give your child the best musical experience possible. He knows music and he understands the psychology of learning. In addition, he knows that young people are individuals with varying personalities, aptitudes and needs.
    As a music educator, the school instrumental music teacher's goals is to make music in a meaningful and pleasurable part of your child's life.

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