5 Ways Kids Benefit From Music Lessons
Kids benefit from learning to play a musical instrument in some surprising ways!
Thank you Fender for sponsoring this post. Learn guitar at home with Fender Play!
Music lessons are a requirement for our children. Perhaps that’s just what they get for being born to two professional musicians, but we actually don’t expect them to choose a career in music if they don’t want to. We require them to learn a musical instrument because music lessons benefit them in so many other ways.
Our oldest daughter is now a senior in high school and I have seen the years of music lessons she has under her belt benefit her immensely. And, while she is a talented musician, her college plans do not currently include a major in music—but they do include continuing to study music by playing in the college orchestras and taking some music classes where she will continue to reap the benefits of playing a musical instrument.
If you’re uncertain about putting your child in music lessons because they might not be talented enough or because they won’t want a career in music, these benefits may surprise you. Playing a musical instrument will help your child be more successful in almost every other area of their lives. Music is just that cool!
Be sure to scroll all the way down to the end of this post to learn more about Fender Play—a great way to get kids online guitar lessons.
5 Ways Kids Benefit From Music Lessons
1. Music lessons can improve academic performance
There have been numerous studies showing how music lessons strengthens brain function. This study from Northwestern University found that children engaged in learning a musical instrument showed larger improvements in the way the brain processed reading and speech. Other studies have shown that kids who are studying music have better verbal memory and a heightened ability to learn foreign languages.
Music is inherently mathematical and can help kids to better understand mathematical principles as they learn how rhythm and other parts of music work.
2. Music lessons teach patience and discipline
Kids learn patience and discipline as they learn music in several ways. They learn to be patient as they start out only being able to play simple pieces and have to wait to play the music they really want to play. They learn patience when their practice sessions do not go the way they want them to. They learn discipline because they must practice often in order to improve.
They learn how to focus better both during lessons and practice. They learn the principle of hard work. Some kids may even learn to sit still for longer periods of time than they were able to do before they began to learn an instrument.
3. Music lessons help to develop physical coordination and motor skills
All instruments require a level of physical coordination in order to learn them. Usually kids will have to learn to do something different with each hand. The guitar, for instance, requires the left hand to finger the chords and the right hand to strum them. This type of physical coordination helps with brain development and coordination in other areas like sports or dancing.
4. Music lessons can boost self-esteem
Learning a musical instrument boosts self-esteem for kids in several ways. First, simply mastering something new helps kids to feel good about themselves. Having the ability to share those skills with others further improves their self worth.
Kids also learn to respond positively to constructive criticism as they take music lessons. Learning to take correction is an essential part of learning to play an instrument and the more they learn to do this with grace, the better off they are. Through this process they learn that correction is not a negative thing but a positive thing that only helps them to be the best they can be, thus improving their self-esteem.
5. Music lessons encourage creativity
Music lessons not only give kids a way to express their creativity, they also help them to feel more comfortable being creative. Music also helps kids learn to express their emotions in a way that they might not be able to do with words—”music is what feelings sound like” as my music professor husband likes to say.
Fender Play makes getting music lessons easier
I know that sometimes music lessons are not feasible. Maybe your kid doesn’t have time for regular lessons, or perhaps it isn’t in the budget. For my 17-year-old daughter, both of these have factored into her wanting to learn the guitar. I already pay a hefty sum for her violin lessons and she is so busy I don’t see how she would fit in a regular guitar lesson anyway!
Our alternative was Fender Play and it has been the perfect way for her to add guitar to her repertoire on her own time. I love that I hear the guitar from her bedroom in the evening after she has finished her homework, and I really love that I also hear her getting better and better.
Fender Play is an online music lessons system that allows kids to work and learn at their own pace and to play the songs they love to listen to. The videos break their favorite songs down to the basics and the song library is pretty extensive, so there are plenty of options each kid will love. The videos are also shot in a way that allows them to easily see what each hand is doing so that they can more quickly learn the coordination they need to play the songs.
Find out if Fender Play is for you by starting your FREE 30-Day Trial here: Try Fender Play for Free!
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