Why Take Guitar Lessons?
(Or any other instrument for that matter?)
The link between music lessons and intelligence is not completely understood, but we know it exists. There is an intrinsic relationship between the two. Studies show that those who take guitar lessons
Why Take Guitar Lessons?
(Or any other instrument for that matter?)
The link between music lessons and intelligence is not completely understood, but we know it exists. There is an intrinsic relationship between the two. Studies show that those who take guitar lessons (or other instrument) and diligently practice the instrument actually become smarter people.
This makes sense to me as a music instructor and as a musician. There are few environments that demand an individual be so alert, responsive, and prepared as does music. To perform music well, you must be able to simultaneously play one phrase, whilst mentally preparing to play an entirely DIFFERENT musical phrase. Putting it all together requires motor-skills, motor memory, cognitive memory, and critical listening skills.
In order to learn music, you must be able to recognize and utilize patterns and have a firm understanding of math and rhythmic sub-divisions. This is why I believe so many scientists and computer programmers I know are also musicians. (Einstein used to say that he loved playing violin just as much as he loved physics).
"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music." -- Albert Einstein
Every child has a natural talent. Most will not grow to be as talented as Einstein in physics or as gifted as Mozart in music, but there is no question that studying music improves our cognitive abilities such as pattern recognition, listening, and memory retrieval. These are tools that are indelibly valuable in all walks of life. Below you'll find what I believe to be the five most persuasive reasons every child should be exposed to music lessons.
1) Guitar Lessons Grow Your Brain
Scientist Gottfried Schlaug, M.D. Ph.D, Director of Music and Neuroimaging Laboratory, Stroke Recovery Laboratory, and Division Chief, Cerebrovascular Diseases, Associate Professor of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School (that's a mouthful), has found that there are striking differences between the brains of professional musicians compared to non-musicians (e.g., larger corpus callosum, larger motor and auditory regions). He states that research by several groups has proved that when children receive long-term music training, the result is long-term enhanced visual-spatial reasoning, enhanced verbal memory, and amplified mathematical performance.
Learn More Here (click this link and then click "Children and Music Making": http://www.musicianbrain.com/#children
SUGGESTED READING: Here's a study about how music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning: http://faculty.washington.edu/demorest/rauscher.pdf
2) Guitar Lessons Improve Motor Skills
Here is a link to another study full of big science words by Schlaug:
http://musicianbrain.gottfriedschlaug.org/papers/Schlaug_Music_Child_Brain_NYAS2005.pdf I'm going to break it down into layman's terms here:
They found that the part of the brain which controls motor-skills is also bigger (denser) than non musicians. This is another study that proves practicing music literally causes your brain to grow, just as weightlifting causes your muscles to grow. Their hypothesis is supported by a wealth of experiments on humans and animals that connect structural changes with long-term motor training (i.e. practicing an instrument).
3) Guitar Lessons Improve Attention Span and Self Control
It is believed by many scientists that musical training improves attention span and self-control. Michael I. Posner Ph.D. is one of these scientists. He wrote an article called "How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition" published in 2009. Here's a quick quote about that article "Does education in the arts transfer to seemingly unrelated cognitive abilities? Researchers are finding evidence that it does. Michael Posner argues that when children find an art form that sustains their interest, the subsequent strengthening of their brains attention networks can improve cognition more broadly."
Here's a link to that article: http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=23206
4) Guitar Lessons Augments Geometric Ability
Elizabeh Spelke, a neuro psychologist at Harvard University, studied children between the ages of 5 and 18. She compared musical training to other training (dance, theater, sports) and assessed the abilities of individuals on geometry after training. We found a clear benefit for intensive music training, compared to theater or writing, Spelke said. On map-reading tests, she added, children with music training performed better than children with training in other art forms. The observed connection between geometric reasoning and music raises many more questions than it answers, she noted, including why there is a link and how the brain might be involved."
Learn more here:
5) Guitar Lessons Improves Overall Performance at School
"In 1996, the College Entrance Exam Board Service conducted a study on all students taking their SAT exams. Students who sang or played a musical instrument scored 51 points higher on the verbal portion of the test and an average of 39 