Music CAN make a child smarter!

Causal Link Between Music and Intelligence

Over the decades, classroom teachers have noted that their top academic students are often those children who are studying music performance (piano instruction and band). However, until the past decade there has been little research to prove a causal link between music and intelligence. At this point, however, developmental neurobiologists and research psychologists have provided us with insight into the music performance/intellectual development link.

This new body of research suggests that music training at an early age can develop the neural connections in the brain that are necessary for understanding complex mathematical and scientific concepts. This research shows an important link between musical training and other cognitive abilities, particularly spatial abilities and abstract reasoning. In no other subject area is a child called upon to make four or five decisions per second and to act on them continuously for long stretches of time.

Also Consider the Following Benefits For Your Child

Cooperation: In today’s business world, cooperation with coworkers is necessary for success. The old “pyramid model” of top-down isolated decision-making has passed. Today’s workers need to be able to cooperate to achieve common goals. Music instruction is marked by cooperation, not competition. By playing music together, children learn that cooperation is a means to an end, a social skill that can be applied to other goals.

Beauty: Music brings joy and beauty into our children’s lives. While we cannot give empirical or “scientific” evidence that our children benefit from the joy of creation and the lifelong ability to bring the beauty of music into their lives, we know instinctively that our children do benefit. How many times have you wished that your own parents had brought music into your life, or how many times have you been thankful that your parents did give you the gift of music?

Self-Esteem: The ability to play an instrument makes you special. You can give joy to others. You receive a great deal of recognition from your family and peers. You have the knowledge that you set out to master a complex skill and you succeeded. All of these experiences build self-esteem and a “can do” positive attitude toward yourself and the world.

Affective Skills: Educating children in music puts them in touch with their feelings, and through their feelings, themselves. Being in touch with oneself, being capable of solitude and enjoying one’s own company for a time, and being moved to feel what one would not otherwise feel are benefits that are familiar to all who participate in music. These “affective” or emotional benefits enrich the quality of your child’s life.
-Omaha School of Music