We all know that listening to music can uplift your mood and bring lightness to the day, but did you also know that learning to play an instrument can make you smarter?
A recent study by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation found that learning to play a musical instrument can improve mathematical, science, and English scores in children and can even increase SAT scores. In fact, in schools where administration officials say their music programs are strong, graduation rates top 90 percent and attendance is over 93 percent.
In other words, playing an instrument helps improve a student’s dedication to education and be better equipped to handle life’s challenges.
The question is, with annual budget restrictions forcing many schools to cut back on music education, how does a non-musical parent start to integrate music into their children’s lives? It begins with the basics: make it fun.
Ted Fong and his wife Marielle, of Sacramento, Calif., have five children who have grown up not just learning to play a variety of musical instruments and throughout their growing years, they also performed at various street fairs and private events. In fact, they played enough over the years to earn enough in tips and stipends to help pay for their college education, which has so far lead to one graduate and two currently attending school. Each of their children has continued to be involved in music at their respective levels of education.
Ted, a multi-talented jazz musician himself, said that he believes music helps children in many ways.
“It’s very important,” he said. “Music helps kids develop creativity and harness their emotions. More so if they’re creating music as opposed to just playing music from the printed page.”
He said the key to getting children interested in learning to play musical instruments is to make it fun and creative.
“I took classical lessons, but later found it was more satisfying to improvise,” said Ted. “Our kids picked up on this, first on the ukulele and then with singing. Singing especially helped them develop their listening skills and their ear. Then they discovered how to harmonize and set up a groove with ukulele, djembe, and shaker. It became enjoyable for them and others. So they kept going.”
Ted recommends a YouTube series by Rick Beato about how children process music.
“It’s like a language that they first learn before they are two years old. I agree with his view that parents should play classical, jazz, and other ‘complex’ forms of music to their kids in the first year of life and afterward. Their brains have the amazing ability to assimilate the harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic vocabulary very rapidly.
Leave instruments around the house and encourage kids to explore them and learn how to sing and play what they hear in their heads, said Ted.
“They should continue to listen and appreciate especially classical and jazz. Find a music teacher who can teach more than reading notes, but how to understand and hear what they are playing. Take them to live musical performances.”
It’s clear, especially with the Fong family, that everyone benefits when music is part of a family.
Who knows, maybe it can help pay for college too!
Keith Turner is a freelance writer who is learning to play a musical instrument (ukulele) and loving the process. He also is a professional auto reviewer for families. He can be reached at carguy@hotmail.com.