Learning a Musical Instrument Has Lifelong Benefits for Children

What a child learns early on will often stick with them for the rest of their life. It’s at a young age when our brains are doing the most developing. Therefore, the more you do to help your child’s development when they are still young, the better off they will be as they get older. One great way to boost your child’s early development is by having them learn a musical instrument. Below are just some of the benefits of learning a musical instrument can provide if you teach it to a child at a young age.

Language Skills

One of the biggest things kids have to learn when they are young is how to communicate. We often teach them language skills by talking to them, reading to them, or having them watch educational videos. Another great way to teach them though is with a musical instrument. Learning music uses the same part of the brain as language does – it requires sound processing and comprehension. The more you can stimulate this part of the brain when your children are young, the easier time they will have to develop their language skills.

Discipline

A skill you’ll need your entire life is discipline. Discipline is what allows us to learn new things or get work done when we would rather be doing something more enjoyable. A common example of teaching your children discipline is providing them an allowance when they complete their chores. Music can teach the same thing, as it requires that you sit and practice it every day. You can use a musical instrument to show your children that if they work at something every day, eventually they will improve and be able to do things they couldn’t before such as learning a musical instrument. 

Motor Functions

Learning to play a musical instrument is a great way to develop their hand-eye coordination as well. You need to be able to get your hands to do what you want them to, based on what you are seeing and hearing. Playing a musical instrument can also require very quick or subtle finger movements. When your child practices these movements repeatedly, they will develop the fine motor skills section of their brain and make it stronger. This can help them throughout life in a number of ways, whether it’s going on to become an athlete, a surgeon, or a computer programmer. 

Creativity

Once your child learns the basics of any instrument, they’ll be able to start using their creativity with it. Children love to create their own songs or melodies on the instrument they’ve learned, both of which require creativity. Creativity, like any other skill, requires constant use in order to strengthen it. Children have plenty of creative outlets, from playing pretend to drawing, but learning a musical instrument provides them with another great one. 

Social Skills

The final major benefit of learning a musical instrument as a child is that it can help grow social skills. It’s hard to learn a musical instrument on your own, even more so when you’re a child. More than likely, to learn the instrument, they will need to attend lessons. This gets them to interact with a stranger (the teacher), and perhaps other students if it is a group lesson. Music lessons are a great way to help your child socialize with others outside the classroom, as they can spend time with strangers while also learning something fun. 

How to Get Your Child Started with Music Lessons

To give your child all of these benefits, you should start looking for ways to help them learn an instrument. If your child is old enough, you can start by asking them what instrument they might like to learn. If not, then you can pick one for them, with instruments like the guitar, recorder, and piano being some of the easier for beginners. Once you’ve decided on an instrument, it’s easy to search for lessons geared towards your child’s age in your local area.

Another option is to take lessons yourself, then teach your children. This has the additional benefit of improving your own brain function as well. According to the Lone Star School of Music, a provider of piano lessons in Austin, TX, “Learning how to play an instrument has many benefits for a mature mind. Science says music helps deal with stress and even make you smarter. It also helps stave off hearing loss and strengthens long-term memory.”

Once you’ve progressed far enough with the lessons you can begin to teach your kids. Who knows, in a few months you could be starting your own family band! But even if that doesn’t happen, helping your child learn an instrument, either through lessons or teaching them yourself, will develop skills they’ll use the rest of their lives.