Finding a passion, something that is enjoyable, social and engaging, is the goal of any extracurricular activity. As parents, you want your child to be able to find all of these benefits while also learning and developing skills that will help them in other areas of their lives.
Taking up a musical instrument and learning to play it not only encourages self-expression but there is also scientific evidence that those who learn to play an instrument tend to do better in school.
Encouraging your child to learn a musical instrument can have far-reaching benefits.
Teaching a child or young person to play an instrument engages both the right and left sides of their brain. It’s a kind of mental ‘workout.’ The more your child does something, the more they engage their muscles and the stronger that muscle becomes. The same logic can be applied to brain functions. The more they are stimulated and the more they are put to work, the stronger these parts of the brain become and the more information they can absorb and store.
The more repetition and lessons they receive, the faster they will begin to develop muscle memory. Although a muscle cannot physically remember anything, this expression refers to how doing a physical activity repeatedly over time makes it easier and requires less mental effort, such as walking. Once children have honed the skill enough and developed muscle memory, their brain no longer has to work as hard on that aspect, so the skill is retained and their attention can be diverted to learning a new one.
Unlike riding a bike, learning to play an instrument necessitates patience and perseverance. It is not something that can be learned in a matter of minutes. Learning to play a musical instrument and being able to play it competently takes most people days, weeks, or even years.
Advancements in their skills can only be reached with dedication and patience as well as consistent practice. They must devote their time to learning the notes, comprehending how cords are formed and, for the most part, holding and maintaining proper form to play the instrument.
They also get to commit to spending time learning how to read music sheets in addition to learning the physical aspects of playing the instrument. Learning to identify each note on the page takes time and perseverance, just the same as learning how to read.
Students gain a high level of confidence in their abilities and capabilities when they devote themselves to a new skill. Seeing their improvement within this enjoyable pastime empowers them to continue maintaining and conquering the learning curve.
Unlike other social activities and hobbies, taking up a musical instrument teaches students how to become responsible individuals. It is not just a creative outlet and skill that your children are gaining, they are also learning how to treat the instrument in a responsible manner.
Differing from most sports equipment, musical instruments need to be handled with the utmost care and require regular maintenance to remain functional. Unless cared for diligently, instruments can start to show signs of wear and tear or can become damaged.
Whether a child or student takes up piano, violin or flute, equipment maintenance is still required to keep it at its best. Instruments need to be kept clean and correctly maintained in order to keep them in tune.
It can be hard for children as they grow and develop, to be able to understand and articulate how they feel. Their hormones change, they change and the world around them is continuing to change.
Music and all other forms of art allow and encourage self-expression in children and, in the case of music and learning a musical instrument, provide them with a creative way to express themselves. With such a wide range of different musical genres, there will always be one form or another that can encapsulate a feeling and allow it to be released and shared.
Instruments, music, and songs have always been a pillar of self-expression. Children that take up playing instruments and creating music not only understand this but gain an emotional understanding of how they too can express themselves in creative ways.
All musical instruments can be played individually but they can also be played in larger groups. By becoming part of a larger group, students can then learn something else too. It doesn’t matter if the group is only 2 people or as many as 100 participants, the ability to cooperate with others and to exercise self-control, for instance only playing when needed, would be required.