6 Benefits of Music for Your Little One's Growth
It is no stranger to the ears that music can calm those who hear it. Not only for adults, the benefits of music can also be felt by your little one. Many mothers believe that only classical music is good to listen to. In fact, Moms, any music can stimulate your little one.
Many parents wonder if playing music for their baby will make them smarter? Well, Mother can no longer doubt that music is good for your little one. Music can lift their spirits, soothe them and maybe even put them to sleep.
But the benefits of music for your little one’s growth are not just mothers. Music can actually change the way your little one’s brain develops. What’s more, babies and toddlers love music. They will squirm, sway or dance to their favorite song, smile when their favorite song plays, and bang on toys to make their own music.
It is proven that music plays a role in brain development before birth. Listening to music during pregnancy not only has a calming and joyful effect on you, but also has a positive effect on the fetus. Around 16─18 weeks of pregnancy, your little one hears her first sound.
At 24 weeks, your little one’s ears are starting to develop rapidly and as babies have been shown to turn in response to sounds and noise in the last few months of pregnancy, the unborn baby can recognize their mother’s voice, mother tongue, word patterns, and poetry.
Classical music is good to listen to the fetus. Classical music has soft sounds like lullabies, beautiful melodies that inspire happiness all designed to soothe. Below are the benefits of music for your little one that you need to know, quoted from Parents, UNICEF, and What To Expect.
Benefits of music for your little one’s brain
Although there is no definite statement about the benefits of listening to music while pregnant, once your little one enters infancy, evidence shows that music begins to dominate the brain from a very young age. By 7 months of age, babies can detect the underlying musical rhythm, and by 9 months of age, they can see a slight difference in time. Research shows that music can improve a baby’s mood, reduce stress, and help him fall asleep, Mum.
However, most of the benefits of development come from active participation in making music, not just listening to it. Music making can increase the ability to form synaptic connections in areas of the brain dedicated to processing sound, sensation, movement, and attention. Music can also enhance synaptic connections between brain cells, which can improve language and cognitive and social development.
Music ignites all areas of child development and skills for school readiness, especially in the areas of language acquisition and reading skills. Taking music classes is a great way for your little one to participate in making music and benefits their cognitive development. Baby music classes can be started from 6 months.
During the first years of life, the brain forms network pathways that later influence language. Music classes help babies and toddlers learn to tune into rhythm, which has been shown to improve executive functions such as mental skills related to attention, focus, memory, and organization.
Learning to play a musical instrument can improve math learning and even improve school grades. Music and math are closely related. By understanding beat, rhythm, and scales, children learn how to divide, make fractions, and recognize patterns.
Develop physical skills
Launching from Parents, certain instruments, such as percussion, can help children develop coordination and motor skills. They require movement of the hands, arms and legs. These types of instruments are great for high-energy kids, says Kristen Regester, Early Childhood Program Manager at Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College Chicago.
String and keyboard instruments, such as the violin and piano, demand different actions from the right and left hands simultaneously. “It’s like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time,” says Regester. Instruments not only help develop ambidexterity, but can also encourage children to feel naturally comfortable in uncomfortable positions. Improving coordination and perfecting time can prepare children for other hobbies, such as dancing and sports.
Cultivate social skills
Classes that are formed in groups require interaction and communication between peers, which encourages teamwork, because children have to collaborate to create crescendo or accelerators. If a child plays his instrument too loud or speeds up too fast, he needs to adjust.
It’s important for kids to know and understand their individual parts in a larger ensemble, says Regester. Music Rhapsody offers general music education classes, where the teacher divides students into groups and assigns each child. Whether a team is responsible for choosing an instrument or creating a melody, students work toward a common goal. “This is the kind of experience we have in the community,” said Kleiner. “We need more group interaction and problem solving,” he added.
Builds discipline and patience
Studying the instrument teaches children about delayed gratification. The violin, for example, has a steep learning curve. Before your little one can make a single sound, he or she must first learn how to hold the violin, how to hold the bow, and where to put your feet. Playing a musical instrument teaches children to endure hours, months, and sometimes years of practice before they reach a certain goal, such as performing with a band or memorizing solo pieces.
“Private lessons and home exercises require very focused attention for even 10 minutes at a time,” says Larew. Group lessons, in which students learn to play the same instrument in an ensemble, also increase patience, as children have to wait their turn to play individually. And in waiting their turn and listening to their classmates play, children learn to show respect for their peers, sit still for designated times, and be considerate.
Increase self-esteem
The lessons offer a forum where children can learn to receive and provide constructive criticism. Turning negative feedback into positive change helps build self-confidence. Group lessons, in particular, can help children understand that nothing, including themselves or their peers, is perfect, and that everyone has room for improvement.
“Presenting yourself in public is an important skill, whether you become a professional musician or not,” said Larew. “These skills are easily transferred to public speaking,” he added. And, of course, once a child is advanced enough, he will have musical skills that will help him stand out.
Introducing children to other cultures
By learning and playing various musical instruments, children can discover how music plays an important role in other cultures. For example, bongos and timbales can introduce children to African and Cuban musical styles. Although the modern-day violin has its roots in Italy, learning to play it exposes children to the classical music made popular by German and Austrian musicians.
Versatile instruments, such as the violin and piano, can accompany a wide variety of styles, including classical and jazz that originated in South America. It is important to familiarize children with other cultures from an early age as this fosters open-mindedness about the world and traditions beyond what they know.
Make sure that making music is part of your little one’s playing time and listening to it is part of their routine rituals, Mother. Not because you want to make your child the smartest in the class but because it’s soothing, fun, and a great way to bond. The fact that it can also give a little boost to her cognitive development is an added bonus.
Also consider the benefits of getting children to watch musical dramas in the following video:
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