Can Learning to Play an Instrument Improve Your Childs Intellect?

Can Learning to Play an Instrument Improve Your Childs Intellect?
Written by Andrew Glennester (Jan 2008)

Marc Jaffrey the Music Manifesto champion wrote in their report "Young people's vitality, passion and creative determination to make music, with or without the support of the education system, is a clue to its value to them and its potential for the education system. We have an opportunity to use music making to provide the wider creative skills - such as team work, creative development and risk taking - that our young people are going to need desperately as they navigate the hard realities of an unpredictable century. And the young are already motivated to work hard to achieve these skills through music - what other subject can claim this? The truth our best music leaders and teachers have made evident is that young people's creative endeavour can be taken to another level when it is supported by a coordinated effort from music education providers in their locality."

This was supported by research carried out in 2006 by the UK's Music Industries Association. One of the questions they sought an answer for was, What people had to say about playing a musical instrument. They found that:

95% say it provides a sense of accomplishment and something that can be enjoyed for life. 90% say it is fun, relaxing and a good means of expression.
94% say music making helps to develop a child's creativity and
84% say it helps children's overall intellectual development.
84% want their children to learn to play an instrument.
82% say music can teach children discipline.
73% say music should be taught as a core subject.

A further independent study carried out at the University of Toronto in Canada, showed that the IQ scores of six year old children, taking music lessons, 3 points higher than normal.

The study appears to support the Mozart Effect - a theory established in 1994 which claimed that listening to Mozart temporarily increases problem solving abilities.

Professor Glenn Schellenberg, of the psychology department at the University of Toronto, who led the research, said: "It was a response to all the brouhaha about whether or not music makes you smarter."

When asked to explain the reasons for the improvement Professor Glenn Schellenberg said: "There are so many different facets involved, such as memorising, expressing emotion, learning about musical intervals and chords."

The debate around the matter of associating music and intelligence has been of great interest to scientists in more recent years. In the past research has linked musical aptitude to literacy and mathematical achievement to music lessons.

Scientists in Hong Kong have also carried out research on the subject. In 2006 they concluded that that children who learn to play an instrument showed much greater abilities when it came to remembering spoken words.

For many years scientists had suggested that wealthier families tended to send their children to music lessons and that the higher IQ scores were as a result of being better educated than their peers. This latest study showed that wealth does not factor into the equation where the link between music and intelligence is concerned.

So what can parents do to help their children? Robert Gerrard, who has provided music tuition to children of all ages said: "We shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking that weekly lessons with a tutor are crucial or a guarantee of a child's success as a musician. One 2 One music lessons are expensive and for many children can be seen as a chore. Children like to experiment with different learning methods and they aren't responsive to the approach of every music teacher - the standard one lesson per week approach often doesn't inspire them. It is important that they get daily input and advance their musical ability a little bit every day in a variety of scenarios, particularly at school with their friends and at home. We wouldn't expect to develop a child's maths skills by giving them one lesson a week and telling them to go home and practise, but somehow we've grown to mistakenly believe in that approach for music".

Home study courses can be very effective and some of the better packages incorporate fun elements to the learning, designed to inspire the pupil to progress to more advanced stages. Andrew Deeley from Totally Expert said: "Over the years we have come across many products that have promised musical mastery however none have been as effective as the range of products from Rock Star Recipes. I first came across their guitar tuition courses around 5 years ago when I started to learn guitar. A few years later they introduced me to their piano course, which I purchased for my 9 year old daughter, and now, 3 years on, she is able to pick out just about any tune and play it by ear on the piano."

For more information about the Music Manifesto visit: www.musicmanifesto.co.uk

To learn more about multimedia tuition courses for children and adults of all ages visit: www.TotallyExpert.co.uk


As a retail expert, an internet technologist and a keen musician, Andrew enjoys writing about the three areas that he specialises in. With over 20 years working with the likes of Thorn EMI, Whitbreads, Channel 4, Tesco, First Choice Holidays, Dixons Store Group and many more, Andrew speaks authority on the matters he holds close to his heart.