Everybody loves music. Both adults and children alike enjoy listening to music and even playing some musical instruments. However, apart from the fun and enjoyment that it brings, there are many benefits that come with being acquainted with music. For children, particularly, music can help improve their cognitive abilities.
According to extensive research, musical training greatly affects cognitive development. This is the main reason why a lot of parents choose to enrol their kids in music classes or sign them up for home piano lessons. To understand why this is so, this article briefly discusses how music can possibly affect the brain and what cognitive benefits it has for children.
How does music affect the brain?
There are several possible ways for music to affect the brain and improve cognition. For instance, some researchers suggest that due to the neural pathways it shares with language processing, playing or listening to music helps enhance one’s language skills. Because music training can help language processing a lot, it can assist in preventing literacy and language disorders in children.
Another way that music affects the brain and cognition of a person is by increasing their production of hormones that intensify pleasure, reduce stress, and stimulate social bonds. This enables music to improve one’s emotional and social skills. Particularly, based on research, listening to or participating in music boosts the areas of the brain that command social engagement.
This is primarily because music facilitates the release of endorphins in the brain, which are pleasurable hormones that are also produced when a person socialises with others. In other words, engaging in music, either with others or alone, can improve social skills naturally.
The Cognitive Benefits of Music
1. Enhances auditory skills
Several studies have shown that musicians score higher on exams that involve the identification of subtle differences between sounds and speech compared to non-musicians. This is mainly due to the fact that music training, such as piano lessons, teaches children how to differentiate between pitches, which is an essential component of language processing.
2. Improves language skills
Based on research studies, children who learn music experience significant improvements in their language skills, both written and spoken. At age 10, children who have been practising and playing musical instruments for at least 3 years usually experience improvements in their vocabulary as well. Basically, since music aids in language processing, it also helps children learn language and how to read.
3. Strengthens emotional skills
Another series of studies show that children who play music games during school hours tend to have more empathy for others compared to those children who play non-musical games or no games at all. Besides children, practised or professional musicians also have a tendency to be better at detecting emotions in other people’s voices. In essence, because music education teaches children to recognise emotions in texts and images, it also helps strengthen their emotional skills.
4. Boosts social skills
Infants generally show enhanced social skills when participating in music. In a particular study, infants in a parent/child music class that involves playing with instruments were able to develop strong social skills, such as increased laughing, smiling, and waving to others. The levels of their stress were also much lower than infants who did not participate in the class. Essentially, several other studies show that taking group music lessons helps children with poor social skills improve their prosocial behaviours.
Conclusion
Music is not really just all fun and excitement. It can also help your child improve many aspects of themselves, including their auditory, language, emotional, and social skills. Ultimately, by allowing your child to learn music and indulge in its pleasure, you are enabling them to boost their cognitive development while having so much fun at the same time.
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