There’s just something about music that makes it stand out among all the other forms of art. But the main reason why we consider it to be so special is that it presents a form of communication. It’s a language on its own, or a collection of languages, all divided into different styles, genres, or subgenres. Whatever it is that you’re feeling – joy, sorrow, or even just boredom – music will be the perfect expression tool for you to express anything that you cannot put into words. This is where music lessons for children step in.
With all this said, there are obviously many benefits music and music lessons offer to the youngest ones. As they’re in their most sensitive period of life, toddlers and children of up to 10 years require full attention and a lot of effort for quality upbringing. Yes – it’s hard to be a parent. However, music and music lessons can make it all more enjoyable; both for the parent and the child.
Here we came up with the list of what we consider to be the biggest benefits your child will have from taking music lessons at an early age, as early as 4.
Music lessons for children and sensory development
Music is more than just a superficial stimulation of our auditory sense. It actually a multi-sensory experience that involves a few more processes in the equation. First off, it also requires visual engagement, whether it’s reading notes and tabs, or just looking at how the teacher or the parent played the melody or a whole song.
Up next, we also have a sense of touch involved. Anyone playing has to actually press the keys or strings or any other part of the instrument in order to make a sound. Over time, they’ll develop more sensibility thanks to different “shades” of dynamics while playing.
In the end, it all comes as a multi-sensory experience that requires coordination between what they hear, see, and feel. Actually performing music and having such multi-sensory experiences, toddlers and young children stimulate their brain activity and development.
Motor skills and coordination
Along with sensory stimulation comes coordination and, ultimately, the child’s development of motor skills. However, this is unlike regular physical and outdoor activities children might be engaged in. By playing any instrument, children perform tasks that require complex coordinated moves. All while involving their sensory and cognitive capacities.
Let’s say that a child plays keyboards. In order to play a simple melody in a given tempo, they need to coordinate their hands and fingers to what they’re hearing and seeing. And even with listening to music, a child can always stomp their feet and clap to a given tempo.
This is why it’s always a good idea to introduce them to music through percussive instruments. It requires less initial coordination; but as time goes by, the child will be able to more precisely replicate given rhythms. This will ultimately improve their motor skills and coordination.
Improvement of social skills
While some activities like drawing and painting can be performed during their alone time, music usually includes group activities. Whether they’re involved in a one-on-one music lesson with the teacher or a parent, or whether they’re involved in a group activity, there’s a lot of social interaction involved when learning how to perform music.
As we said, playing an instrument includes the coordination of complex moves. This means that kids need to communicate with the tutor to understand how to perform these tasks. Directly communicating with an adult brings all the barriers down. It helps them open up to the rest of the world around them.
Things get especially interesting in group classes or orchestra and band settings. Children will often face challenges in finding ways to adapt socially. As every human being looks for social interaction, group music lessons and performing music together with other children will help them in the development of their social skills. This is where they’ll have to learn how to be a part of a team that has one mutual goal.
Music lessons teach children discipline and patience
While music might be fun, it does require a lot of attention to get things right. In fact, it can become quite tedious at some point; where the student will have to repeat a certain section or an entire musical piece to improve their performance.
Of course, a child most likely won’t have to obsess too much over it, but any kind of practice and performance requires attention and patience. Yes, kids always have a hard time focusing on even the simplest tasks. But knowing how engaging and exciting music can get, it can be a great motivator for them, and ultimately something that will teach them discipline.
In addition, the development of their discipline also comes in learning how to accept that they need to practice in order to become better at a certain activity. The music here offers a great motivational and disciplinary tool – the child will learn that putting in the effort is the only way of achieving good results.
Stimulation of creativity through new means of expression
Music is like a language that provides a new way of communicating feelings without using any words. While becoming fully capable of writing original music and improvising requires years of experience, it’s always a good idea to let a child play what they want and explore their instruments. This will become their little world where they’ll feel the freedom to be creative. And you should always encourage that.
Letting them develop their creativity early can bring many benefits later on in their lives. After all, anything that you do and any potential problem that you might encounter requires creative thinking. And music is one of the best ways for children to get better at it.
