08 Nov The long-term benefits of music learning in childhood
Music learning in childhood, why is so important
While aesthetic education is the foundation of a harmonious personality, music learning has become one of its most effective tools.
It enhances cognitive development, especially in childhood, when the motivation of a child as his or her motivation is not yet based on a certain career track.
Music enables direct activation of cognitive mechanisms and hormonal system of the brain via development of emotional sphere, building discipline and will, creating senses of good taste, harmony and beauty.
At the same time, music – a unique and accessible language – provides a cognitive basis for precise science and logical thinking as it contains dimensions and mathematical patterns, developing both hemispheres of the brain in all meaningful directions for further learning and life.
Group musical interactions (e.g. singing in a choir, playing in a small orchestra or ensemble) allows to develop communicative and teamwork skills, while solo performances develops self-awareness and confidence.
How playing an instrument benefits your brain
This TED-Ed video by Anita Collins shows the biochemical effects that playing a musical instrument has on a human brain
Practical outcome of music learning for children
The author of doctoral research on music abilities and talent “The Natural Musician: On abilities, giftness, and talent” Dina Kirnarskaya provides substantial reasoning behind music learning of a child. Among them she points that music practice brings up the will and discipline, enhances mathematical and analytical abilities as well as language and eloquent speech development (foreign languages including).
Since classical music compositions are well structed and hierarchic (larger pieces are composed of smaller parts which in tun fall into shorter interrelated themes and fragments, latter being composed of minor phrases and motives) music learning, apprehension and performing creates a solid base for further successful it skills and compure scienses learning.
Besides, music learning enhances communicative skills and empathy, team work capabilities and enlarges the world outlook. Indeed, it would not be an overestimation to say that learning music can be seen as fundamentals for successful development of practically all areas of life.
First steps in music
When in life does one begin to react to music? In other words, does music respond to innate factors or is it a cultural fact?
Research on the behavior of young children and studies on lullabies indicate that there is a musical predisposition from birth.
In general, the maternal repertoire of songs or lullabies is limited from a quantitative point of view and requires a strong expressiveness and ritualization: this is probably why from the first weeks of life, children prefer a song performed in “maternal style” (even if sung by another mother to other children) rather than non-“lullaby-style” renditions of the same song. In addition, little ones are more attracted to situations in which they can see and hear the singer, as indicated by their increased attention.
Music has a proved positive effect on emotional and cognitive development of a child.
Furthermore, many studies confirm that musical practice not only represents a concrete advantage in the immediate future, but also a capital that will come in handy in old age.
Music practice and brain development
Music, however, does not just make the brain “resonate”, but can also help develop its structure and change its functioning during childhood. In a study carried out at the Max-Planck Institute in Leipzig, the brains of two groups of children aged between 9 and 11 were compared, the first of whom had practiced music for 3-4 years, while the second had had no active musical experience.
Well, through complex measurements of the thickness and extension of the gray matter of the cerebral cortex (the outermost part of the brain), it was ascertained that in children who had practiced music, the gray matter, which contains neurons, was decidedly more voluminous.
This enhancement of gray matter is not only reflected in musical ability but also in other cognitive activities, improving children’s performance in functions such as linguistic intelligence, vocabulary richness, arithmetic-mathematical skills. In essence, music involves the entire brain from an emotional and cognitive point of view.
Music and the cerebral hemispheres
It has long been known that listening to a piece of music, be it classical music or a simple song, arouses emotions that mainly activate the right hemisphere.
This is not surprising, because this hemisphere is also involved in the intonation of language and is responsible for the emotional emphasis, the pauses, the underlining that we impart to speech.
The situation is instead more complex if we consider a person – a child or an adult – able to read music, understand its structure, compose it: in this case the left hemisphere also comes into operation, where the areas of language are located on which the understanding and composition of a musical text depend.
The simple reading of the latter activates the motor centers of the brain responsible for those hand movements necessary for the execution of a piece by a pianist or a violinist.
In short, both hemispheres are activated in those who know or compose music, while in “laymen” it is only the right hemisphere that is interested.
Long term effects of music learning
The results of recent studies based on the use of functional magnetic resonance (that is, which evaluates the function of an organ) have indicated that when we listen to music the motor areas of the brain are also “dragged”, i.e. those regions of the frontal cortex in which localized the neurons that impart motor commands to the muscles.
During listening to music these neurons are activated and seem to give rise to preparatory movements, as if we were to dance. On the other hand, if we think about it, when we listen to music that drags us along we are often driven to move and follow the rhythm with the body, as always happens to the crowd attending a rock concert.
Basically, music has a global effect on the brain and during childhood it can modify the so-called “cognitive reserve”, thus improving the ability to counteract any cognitive deficits during old age. Such as the study carried out in Switzerland and Germany shows that playing a musical instrument (especially piano) is associated with a decreased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s deseas among older adults.
The cognitive reserve can be compared to a small room which, over the years, tends to shrink: however, if the small room is initially larger, like that of children playing music, one starts from a greater cognitive capital.
Increase brain capacity
Musical practice in childhood is therefore a valid strategy to enhance brain capacity. A study carried out at the University of Kansas has in fact confirmed that the cognitive abilities of those who practiced music early have a positive effect on old age, which is very important if we consider that average life is progressively lengthening and that diseases degenerative diseases of the nervous system are on the rise.
In short, stimulating the brain early has positive consequences, and this is because there are crucial periods of brain plasticity – in which new connections are created between cells, modifying the functions and structure of the brain itself – which have a greater impact on the development of the brain and nervous system.
Therefore, the sooner you practice music, the better it is for the brain: playing an instrument involves numerous brain functions, from linguistic to sensory and motor, as well as enhancing functions such as attention and memory.
More generally, these and other data indicate that brain stimulation in childhood contributes to making the brain plastic: learning a second language, playing an instrument, developing the mind through different strategies not only represents a concrete immediate advantage, but a capital that will come in handy in old age.
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