Top 5 Things Science Says About Learning and Playing Music
Are you debating taking up music lessons or signing your kids up for them? If so, you may be interested to learn that there are additional benefits to playing an instrument that can last throughout a musician’s life. Here are five of the top things science says about learning and playing music.
#1 Playing Music Improves Cognition
When you play music, you have to focus, learn, and memorize. It turns out that in the process, your cognitive abilities are increased. A study was performed on 3-4-year-olds where they were given either singing lessons, keyboard lessons, or no lessons. The group that took the keyboard lessons, outperformed other groups in spatial-temporal skills by 34% , and those effects lasted long-term. Additional research shows that the parts of the brain that control motor skills, memory, audio information, and hearing are also more active in musicians.
#2 Learning to Play Music Improves Performance in Math Class
Next, learning to play an instrument involves music theory and reading music, both of which involve mathematical aspects. Research has shown that students who play instruments often, perform better in their math studies than students who don’t. Math is often a confusing concept for pupils, but when learning music, it comes to life in notes and rhythms which can help to improve understanding.
#3 Playing Music Improves Reading and Comprehension Skills
Math isn’t the only subject that can be supported by music classes. Music requires reading notes, understanding them, translating them, and recognizing rhythms. All acts of reading comprehension. Children who were exposed to years of music lessons have shown to display a higher level of cognitive performance in reading skills compared to students who aren’t trained. Furthermore, those who had higher levels of attendance and engagement, increased the strength of their neural processing.
#4 Playing an Instrument Relieves Stress
Next, music has a powerful effect on the human psyche, and playing music has shown to have an uplifting effect in music therapy studies. Furthermore, once you know how to play an instrument, it becomes a channel for self-expression. You can express emotions through it which can help to relieve stress, anxiety, depression, and more.
#5 Playing Music Improves Motor Skills
Last but not least, when playing an instrument, you are coordinating movements between your ears, eyes, and hands. These heightened motor skills translate into improved abilities later in life in areas outside of music. It was found that adults who started playing music before the age of seven had better timing on non-music motor tasks, showing strong neural connections in motor regions used for visualizing physical movements and carrying them out.
There you have five of the top things researchers have found happen when you learn to play music. The benefits are helpful for kids and adults alike and can help in many areas of life. If you’d like to learn more about how to get started, contact us today!
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