The Times They Are a Changin....

The Top 5 Reasons YOUR CHILD Needs Music Lessons

Bob Dylan truly hit the nail on the head when he wrote “The Times They Are A Changin” in 1964! 

As a whole, the world we live in is always changing. What we do for our children today can make a huge impact on their success for tomorrow. With the paradigm shift in today’s education system, there is a drive to always be one step ahead of the game. Parents just like you are finding it harder to keep up. It is harder to help your children at home with their school work and to get better grades, harder to help them deal with stress and anxiety, and just harder in general with the demands and expectations of them in today's world.

Here at NHAOPA we constantly here things like:
“ I can’t do their math, it’s not like ours was”  
“ I can’t believe they are learning that already”  
“ I don’t remember how to do that”
“ He/She is so shy”
“ He/She has behavioral issues”
“ He/She struggles making friends”
  etc., etc.

In today’s society, Google, Siri, Alexa, etc. have made it so simple to just ”ask and you shall receive”. Although technology can be helpful, in many ways it can also teach us to not think on our own and doesn’t encourage creativity. Getting your child to want to put the work in and not look for instant gratification is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to challenges facing parents today. Let’s not forget all the social media outlets can be both good and bad! 

Any extra curricular activities like sports, dance, martial arts, scouts etc are amazing ways to keep your kid active, thinking, socializing etc. But there is something very special about music lessons. Music lessons exercise the mind in a way like no other extracurricular activity does.
That is why music lessons are one of the best ways parents can help their child with their education, emotional/behavioral issues, and their overall well-being. With that said these are the …

Top 5 Reasons YOUR CHILD Needs Music Lessons:


1. STUDYING MUSIC CAN INCREASE YOUR IQ
Extensive research done in this area has proved that children who learn to play a musical instrument do better in academics. Learning an instrument can dramatically enhance children's abstract reasoning skills. 

PRETTY AWESOME, RIGHT? Well, what’s even more awesome is : playing a musical instrument is the only activity that neuroscientists have studied (including playing sports, reading and painting) that has this effect.

Playing an instrument requires counting notes and rhythms and can help your child’s math skills.  Also, learning music theory includes many mathematical aspects.  Studies have shown that students who play instruments or study the arts are often better in math and achieve higher grades in school than students who don’t. Students who are involved in making music in their teenage years score 100 points higher on the SATs.

According to a study published in the journal Psychology of Music, “Children exposed to a multi-year program of music involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers.”  It’s not surprising to hear results like that because music involves constant reading and comprehension.  When you see black and white notes on a page, you have to recognize what the note name is and translate it to a finger/slide position.  At the same time, you also have to read what rhythms the notes are arranged in and force your tongue to produce the correct pattern

Dr. E. Glenn Schellenberg led a study to find out if students would have a greater IQ boost from taking music lessons for a longer period of time. The test groups were given music lessons for six full years instead of just one, and the researchers found that the lessons had a positive and cumulative benefit.

“The study involving the younger children found that each additional month of music lessons was accompanied by an increase in IQ of one-sixth of a point, such that six years of lessons was associated with an increase in IQ of 7.5 points, compared with children who did not have the same amount of musical instruction.” – C. Munsey

2. STUDYING MUSIC CAN IMPROVE SOCIAL SKILLS
When you become a musician or a vocalist, you become a part of something very important a “community”. In a digital age where electronics teach us to become introverted, kids find it more difficult to talk to others and express how they fee. Learning an instrument can help foster self- expression at it’s highest level, can improve social skills, and can help children learn how to relate to others. 

Learning to play and instrument as a solo artist is definitely something that your child can enjoy, but getting together with others to create a unified sound has been proven to have extra benefits for your child. 

Friendships and relationships are strengthened through common interests and artists typically find that their most meaningful (and longest lasting) relationships are found through those they meet through the sharing of their art form. Even today as I write this blog I find my longest lasting friendships are with the friends I made in my early years as a singer in high school.

Not all children are naturally outgoing or like to be the center of attention. Shyness in children can be tough to overcome and one of the best ways to deal with shyness is to approach it head-on, and music is a great way to combat it. Gaining a musical skill creates a sense of confidence, and this confidence can greatly impact your child’s interactions with others. Once the musical skills start growing, the next step is performance, although this can seem terrifying at first. 

As music educators, we have found that consistent, low-pressure performance opportunities are key to overcoming these fears.

At NHAOPA  we produce a minimum of six cabaret style shows per year giving our students the opportunity to perform on a consistent basis.  This consistency helps to keep them motivated with constant short term goals that are achievable and allows our parents to see their child’s growth. 

When you combine increasing musical skills and consistent performance in an encouraging environment, shyness usually diminishes and the student begins to blossom.These changes can positively impact a child for a lifetime.

3. STUDYING MUSIC CAN BUILD CONFIDENCE 
Being able to play an instrument well doesn’t happen overnight. Polishing this ability involves a great deal of patience, time, passion, skill, discipline, and most importantly, practice. Although the training process can be quite complex for any individual, the reward in the end is like no other. Overcoming musical challenges that you thought you’d never quite master can give you a great sense of pride.  When you first start learning how to play an instrument, it seems like just holding a note for a couple beats or hitting a high pitch is an amazing accomplishment.  Many small successes will eventually breed long term, innate self-confidence. Completing a practiced piece and hearing the applause, children are filled with a sense of achievement and learn that even the most difficult tasks are possible. This prepares them for life by providing a sense of confidence that enables them to tackle any and all difficult tasks head-first.

4. STUDYING MUSIC CAN HELP ACCOMPLISH SHORT AND LONGTERM GOALS
Setting goals is crucial to making progress in anything that we pursue in life. Many times others set goals for us including our parents, teachers, bosses, coaches, government or peers. Goal-setting is an important part of day-to-day living, and it is the first step toward achieving a sense of accomplishment. Proficiency on an instrument is a long-term goal achieved over a period of many years. In order to accomplish this goal, the music teacher and student must set and accomplish short-term goals that will ultimately lead to long-term achievement. One of the greatest rewards of being a music teacher is to help young students become top-notch musicians and performers over the course of their elementary through high school years. Some students go on to pursue music as a career path and others go on to pursue other passions. Whatever their pursuits, taking music lessons will have taught them how to make progress towards their dreams.



5. STUDYING MUSIC CAN FOSTER SELF EXPRESSION AND CREATIVITY
Stuck in everyday routine lives, many of us lose touch with our creative side. Learning to play a musical instrument, especially when you reach advanced levels, can foster that lost creativity. The same is true for your children, since music education plays on your mental, emotional and cognitive abilities, the brain is stimulated to think out of the ordinary, which results in improved creativity. The world’s greatest leaders, innovators and inventors have something in common – creativity. Making music naturally elicits self-expression and creativity, and the ability for students to express themselves with confidence and creativity opens up incredible doors of opportunity. As you think about which extracurricular activities to choose for your kids, consider the true benefits of your investment. We all want our children to live life to the fullest and to experience great happiness as they follow their dreams. Sometimes, they need a little guidance from us. We invest in our kids' futures by giving them opportunities such as music lessons. Taking music lessons cultivates qualities that lead to lifetime success. Make learning a music instrument a priority in your home and encourage your kids every step of the way.

The list can truly go on. As a private music educator I have had the pleasure of seeing so many student’s lives transformed for the better because of music. At the end of the day that is what teaching is all about, making a difference in a child’s life!! If you want to see a difference in your child’s self confidence, behavior, and academic performance, you might want to consider music lessons. 

PS. If you would like to see how music lessons can help all the difference for your child book your consultation today!