Music and the Brain – How Important is Music to a Child’s Development

Studying the Link

Over two decades ago researchers in the US began studying the link between learning ‘to read music and play the piano’, and ability in Math and Science. This led to a ten year UCLA study comparing results for young students taking music versus students taking computer classes. Students learning to read music and play the piano scored significantly higher on Math and Science assessments.

Expanding Results

Researchers then went on to prove that learning to read music and play the piano has other cognitive benefits. Hong Kong university of China discovered that not only does the regimen of learning to read and play music increase the rate of learning new vocabulary, but it results in a permanent increase in the learning rate. If the music learning process stops, the increased capacity is retained. If the challenging music program starts again, the rate of learning increases further.

This makes sense. Consider that reading music requires the student to look at music notation (an abstract symbol set) and decode it. Playing music requires that decoded information to be used to guide ten fingers on the piano keyboard. The brain is operating challenging receptive and productive processes simultaneously, which is good exercise for the cerebral cortex, and it soon causes permanent changes in this important area of the brain.

Music and Children’s Health Are Related

When parents are asked, Why they think their child needs a music education they mostly answer with responses like My child is showing talent or interest or My child is already studying on their own. We want to take the time to visit the health benefits between Music and Children.

There are endless scientific studies on the subject of the effect of a musical education on children; and specifically how music and child development are directly related.

When talking on this subject, the voice as an instrument is the most logical place to start. The voice is an instrument as much as a piano is and a vocalist is as much a musician as a violinist.