Learning how to play a musical instrument can be an expensive yet worthwhile undertaking. As a parent, you probably are worried about the high cost of buying an instrument, especially a piano, and then hiring a professional for lessons.
However, learning how to play a musical instrument offers many benefits that will have lasting positive impacts throughout your child’s entire life. Here are the reasons you should encourage your child to attend piano lessons in Boulder, Colorado.
Music Makes Your Child Smarter
If you are worried that piano lessons will affect your child’s performance at school, don’t be. Studies have proven that people who learn how to play a musical instrument, especially at a young age, become smarter.
Children who know how to read music may also do better in math. It turns out, math and music are intrinsically intertwined — when a child understands beat, rhythm, and scales, they also learn division and fraction.
Additionally, music may improve a child’s short-term and long-term memory. Memorizing a song before a performance exercises the short-term memory. As they grow older, they will dig deep into their long-term memory to recall a song.
There is also evidence that learning how to play music helps develop a child’s reading skills. Rhythm is important not just in music but also in speech and language. When a child can recognize sound patterns, they may also be able to identify elements of speech that are necessary when reading.
Music Improves Fine Motor Skills
Learning how to play a musical instrument teaches your child to move their fingers, hands, arms, and feet in time to produce sound. This has a positive impact on your child’s coordination and fine motor skills.
Playing the piano, in particular, improves hand-eye coordination. A study found that it even changed the cortical mapping in musicians to increase the speed of which their fingers move. Moreover, it increases the strength of your child’s hand muscles.
Music Instils Discipline
Professional musicians spend long hours playing an instrument. Similarly, a child learning how to play a musical instrument will spend hours, days, and months before they are ready to perform a song. The need to practice regularly in order to be able to play a musical instrument teaches a child discipline. It also instills patience and the value of delayed gratification because it takes a long time for aspiring musicians to hone their skills.
Music Builds Confidence
As a musician, your child will encounter both positive and negative feedback. It trains them to give and accept constructive feedback and build confidence. Those who participate in group training will reap greater benefits. They will realize that neither they nor their peers are perfect but there is room for improvement. This lesson can be applied to other aspects of your child’s life, particularly public speaking.
Moreover, working hard and being able to play, especially in front of an audience, will give your child a sense of excitement and accomplishment. Your child will grow up confident of themself and their skills.
These are only a few good reasons why you should encourage your child to play the piano or any other musical instrument they may want to learn. By supporting their passions and dreams, you arm them the necessary skills and attitude they will need to face the world.
