Music to Moms’ Ears

7 surprising benefits of music education

By Amy Crelly

 As we brace for another school year with still more budget cuts, parents and educators will no doubt need to defend music and arts programs. But it’s a battle worth fighting, says Nancy Nelle, early childhood music educator and Director of Musical Moments (Sacramento, Roseville, Davis and Folsom).

“So many other areas of learning and development are enhanced through music,” says Nelle, “such as social, emotional, physical and thinking skills.” Whether kids study music at school, in an after-school program or at home, there are many practical benefits to playing music and singing. These are some of the best:

1. Health and Happiness: The mind-body benefits of learning a musical instrument (including voice) include good posture, flexibility, strength, and the ability to keep muscles relaxed. Nelle adds, “The body actually produces endorphins, those ‘feel-good chemicals,’ when singing or moving.” In addition to teaching, Nelle is a Music Volunteer who helps pediatric patients at the Kaiser Roseville Women and Children’s Center.

2. Better Memories: Since all music is memorized, music greatly enhances kids’ capacity for memorization. Nelle explains that the areas of the brain responsible for memory, emotion and music processing are very closely linked. “The ability to memorize the alphabet through a song is an example,” she says, adding that the earlier children begin learning music, the bigger the benefits for both their short and long-term memories.

3. Gross and Fine Motor Skills: Many music programs, particularly those designed for young children, encourage dance, movement and gross-motor development, as well as the fine-motor movements kids continue to practice as they grow. “The development of fine motor skills are a natural result from learning any musical instrument,” says Monty Schmidt, Director of Earthtone School of Music in Sacramento. He adds, “When a student learns to read music, the process becomes a whole body experience.”

4. Creativity: Cathy Moore teaches Kindermusik classes for babies and young children in midtown Sacramento and Arden Park. “We dance a lot,” says Moore. The children also use their imaginations, “conjuring up images in their minds, pretending to be the animals in songs and stories.” Moore adds that even the shyest little kids gain confidence as they learn to express themselves through song and dance in a social group. “To watch them blossom at such an early age—it’s just amazing!”

5. Pre-Literacy and Math Skills: “The pre-math work that kindergartners do is all about pattern recognition,” says Moore. And music is the perfect, fun-filled primer for that skill set. “Even little babies start to recognize—and are even able to predict—patterns,” Moore says. Counting too comes into play. “When we’re learning a dance, we count out ‘1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4…’ and the kids practice counting out-loud as their bodies are moving. There’s something very powerful about learning something with physical movement.” Little ones’ language skills also benefit from immersion in music, rhythm and song. “Parents often tell me that their children’s language skills take off after being in a Kindermusik class,” says Moore.

6. Problem-Solving: Music students are constantly identifying and solving problems, says Victoria Tognozzi, a professional musician who plays with the Sacramento Philharmonic, Sacramento Opera and Sacramento Choral Society. She also teaches violin in Carmichael. Tognozzi frequently sees her students “approaching a problem, and sticking with it to try and solve it, sometimes over a long period of time, day in and day out.” Through this process, she sees her students developing patience and persistence too.

7. Patience, Perseverance and Confidence: Music teaches students that even if something is challenging at first, they will get it—if they just keep practicing. “Having the discipline and the tenacity to put in the daily practice—that’s one of the really wonderful things about music lessons, and one of the more difficult things,” says Tognozzi. “But if kids can learn that, it’s something that’s really helpful in anything else that they do.”