Can musical training make children smarter? All the studies point to yes. But we already know this, don't we? Need I bore you with the myriad of neurological studies which suggests that early musical training serves as a connector between the motor regions in the right side of the brain with those on the left? Or that musical training prior to the age of 7 provides long-lasting effects of hand-visual-auditory stimuli which likely boosts the normal maturation of neural connections?
Studies aside, we know music is a form of communication, and learning to read and interpret music with an instrument is like learning a foreign language. But learning music has many more benefits, as most music teachers can tell you, with or without all the studies, those which go beyond learning how to play an instrument. But what about public school music education? First of all, all musical training is good. Unfortunately, so many districts are struggling to fund fine arts education, that many students do not get the kind of comprehensive musical training they need to create stronger neurological benefits. Parents are encouraged to add fine arts education through extra-curricular programs beyond the school programs. In future posts, I will be discussing all of the outstanding benefits children get from musical study. For now, you just need to know that having daily musical training will make your child smarter. Yes, it will. And the younger you get them started, the more benefits they will be able to acquire and carry with them through adulthood.