Music.  It’s all around us.  Step inside a gas station, there’s music.  Do your weekly shopping, there’s music.  Click your seat belt tight, there’s music.  Music has long been recognized as a universal language as it bridges silence and foreign sounding words.  No matter the culture or continent, there’s sure to be some form of music there.

Over the years, research has been accumulating on how music may actually influence a child.  Findings propose music to be more than ‘just music.’ Rather, music has been discovered to facilitate learning in various subjects and skill sets.  The Telegraph says a musician’s brain is both structurally and functionally different from that of a non-musician, specifically in areas used for processing and playing music.  In addition, brain areas controlling one’s motor skills, hearing and memory grow larger and become more active inside the musician’s brain.

Plus, music has also proved to:

Increase confidence. As a student progresses on an instrument, he or she will meet opportunities to perform in front of friends, families, and strangers alike.  The student will also experience a genuine sense of accomplishment after realizing he/she really can master a song, plus he/she will learn to give and receive constructive criticism through regular scheduled lessons.  After becoming an advanced musician, the student will also simply stand out from the crowd.

Boost brain power. Math and music are intimately meshed.  Inside music one will learn to understand a beat, various rhythms and a variety of skills.  Converting to math, these skills will translate into assisting one in dividing, creating fractions and recognizing patterns.  Score!

Not to mention, the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Liverpool in the UK discovered commonly shared pathways in the brain between music and language.  This means the neural pathways traveled by music are the very same pathways language travels through too!  Plus, as students learn to read music on a five-line staff, their brain is strengthened in both reading text and comprehension.

Develop physical skills. For both keyboard and stringed instruments, different actions are demanded from the right and left hand simultaneously.  As a result, ambidexterity is nurtured and students grow comfortable in what would have been awkward positions.  In addition, hand-eye coordination is enforced, body movements are controlled and positive breathing techniques are introduced.  All these skills combined spill into and benefit fields involving sports, dance and more.

Teach patience and discipline.  Delayed gratitude is a real reality for students learning an instrument.  The violin, for example, presents a steep learning curve in which – prior to ever playing a single note – one must learn how to stand, how to position the violin, and how to hold a bow.  To reach a single goal, whether it’s performing in a senior recital or learning a favorite tune, a student will work days, weeks, months or even years.  Regular practice is a must and only with a whole lot of perseverance is mastery made possible.

Introduce cultures. Inside music one will discover a vast variety of genres including jazz from America’s south, classical from previous centuries, and pop of the day.  Each genre presents individual storylines and backgrounds allowing students to connect with a variety of characters.  Within a genre, children are also able to tap into composers from around the globe.  Inside classical music alone, children learn masterpieces created by composers in Germany, Austria, Italy and more.  Whether it’s a Russian dance or a French minute, as students are exposed to cultures beyond their borders, tolerance and appreciation is fostered for worlds they’ve yet to experience.

Lutz Jancke, a psychologist at the University of Zurich, reinforces an idea that music can actually make a child brighter.  Regarding one study he conducted he shares, “We found that even in people over the age of 65 after four or five months of playing [an] instrument for an hour a week there were strong changes in the brain.  The parts of the brain that control hearing, memory, and the part that controls the hands, among others, all become more active.  Essentially the architecture of the brain changes.  For children especially we found that learning to play the piano, for instance, teaches them to be more self-disciplined, more attentive and better at planning.  All of these things are very important for academic performance, so can therefore make a child brighter.”

Perhaps your child isn’t the next little Mozart and practice is still a chore.  Be encouraged that beyond learning the notes, your child is harvesting a host of skills that may benefit him/her for life.

If you’ve seen additional ways music has enhanced your child, I’d love to hear.  Mind leaving it in the comment box below?