I’m so excited to partner with you on this amazing and incredible journey your dear child is taking into music. Music is one of the deep loves of my life. My wife Karen and I met in conservatory and we’re excited for our son Theo to start violin lessons this year. Mom is a pianist and I’m a cellist, so the Violin is perhaps inevitable.
Music learning does tremendous things for children. It helps them develop positive skills for life and engages them in screen-free communion with the arts on a daily basis. Here are some of the things that academic research has to say on the subject:
Self-Expression, a Positive Outlet for Feelings and Emotions
Music provides a safe, healthy, and supportive environment for children to understand and express their emotions. By engaging with the emotions present in the music they study, children learn to better understand and regulate their own emotions.
Training for Executive Function
Musical training supports the development of the Executive Functions. Executive Functions are brain functions responsible for planning, working memory, self-control (also known as inhibition) and mental flexibility. Developing these skills helps children throughout the rest of their schooling and life, well into adulthood.
Improved motor control and body awareness
Playing music is a multi-sensory, integrative activity that involves every muscle in the body and every sense we posess. Learning to play an instrument improves fine motor control and puts a child in closer touch with their body. Children learn to hear and feel, not just see, their presence in the world. As a child I had a motor delay, and learning to play the cello helped me to move past it.
Elephant Ears
Musical training builds skills in auditory attention that transfer to speech processing - musicians build listening skills that transfer to other parts of their lives, including home, the classroom, relationships, and the boardroom. Developing “Elephant Ears” is a big part of private music teaching, and something that I emphasize in my lessons.
Self Awareness and Internal Motivation
By playing alone and with others, musicians develop greater self-awareness. Children who study music tend to be less concerned with the opinions of others and develop a more internal locus of control. In their desire to improve, many children develop stronger internal motivation. Parents may find that fewer nudges and reminders become necessary over time, though the occasional reminder to practice should be expected.
Music presents positive challenges
Playing music at a high level is challenging. For most students, it will be the most challenging endeavor they have ever attempted. Music requests a lifetime of study, and yields new lessons far after formal instruction ends. The musical traditions are vast, deep, and rich. Music has a shared vocabulary that crosses cultural bounds. Becoming fluent in the language of pure emotion is a worthwhile challenge. Technique is highly nuanced, and the mastery developed can be enormously rewarding.
Beyond all of these benefits, there is innate satisfaction in learning and performing great art. Learning an instrument at any age can greatly increase happiness - it’s highly rewarding! I look forward to partnering with you in this journey, and including you in your child’s lessons. This will be fun.