Hannah from Queen’s Park Music Kids discusses some of the many benefits of learning music at a young age. This is a shortened version, full article can be found on the Queen’s Park Music Kids website here

A few years ago, I was working in the suburbs of Glasgow as a peripatetic music teacher. The primary 4 class were learning about crotchets and quavers, holding hands, walking in circles around the tables singing Old Brass Wagon.

At the end of the lesson, a little girl walked up to me and timidly said, “Miss... You're the best music teacher in the world.” This young girl singing and walking around a table, thinking that she's had the best music lesson ever shows that this kind of important music education may currently be lacking from our education system.

In formative childhood years, experiences and the development of new skills go hand-in-hand with access to music education. Again and again in academic studies, it has been proven that frequent exposure and training in music helps improve physical, emotional and intellectual development in all educational settings.

Music improves brain, memory and language development

Learning music involves building on a variety of skills: language, kinaesthetic, listening and fine motor. In scientific studies, children who have had musical training before the age of seven have markedly better developed cognitive skills. Such development at an early age makes a huge difference to how quickly a child is able to broaden these abilities into later life.

Older children will still reap great benefits, but the science is clear- the earlier children are exposed to music, the faster the change of sensitive, receptive minds.

Research has shown that music training influences brain restructuring. The brain develops brain plasticity and connectivity between both hemispheres; it develops the sensory motor area which has been found to improve coordination and help regulate emotions; as well as increasing blood flow to the left hemisphere, which is responsible for language and speech.

A combination of singing and physical actions can be helpful tools for children learning new ideas and abstract concepts successfully. As actions are repeated, we develop our kinaesthetic or muscle memory and ability for automation – actions become natural enough that we don't need to think about it. Kinaesthetic memory can be developed through movement activities or learning a physical instrument while auditory memory can be developed through learning rhymes and songs.

Music can be therapeutic

Listening to music can promote happiness - producing dopamine, the “feel-good” hormone and oxytocin, the “love” hormone. While dopamine makes us feel pleasure and can help relieve us from stress and even pain, higher oxytocin levels can help us foster connections and build trust with others.

A particular activity which is effective for improving well-being is singing. As one of the first activities humans learned to do together in prehistoric times, singing was an important means to communicate emotional states to one another and keep larger groups together. It's literally in our DNA to feel happy and emotionally bond over music!

A study measuring the cortisol and oxytocin levels between amateur and professional singers in a short lesson showed that singing for 30 minutes hugely increased oxytocin levels, even though some of the singers weren't having a good time!

Music encourages social and emotional development

In 2017, Bradford's Feversham Primary School's attendance rose to 98% after headteacher, Naveed Idrees's decision to completely alter the curriculum – every pupil would get the minimum of 2 hours of music a week in the form of individual lessons and group assemblies. 99% of the children speak English as an additional language or don't speak English at all and so in this instance, music was a powerful tool for learning.

Music teacher, Jimmy Rotheram centres his lessons through the Kodály Approach: using hand signs, simple melodies and rhymes, movement activities and was able to successfully communicate and engage the children despite language barriers. The school found that this not only had a major impact on their test scores but also the children's behaviour, as they saw improvement on their listening and focus.

As well as learning valuable social skills such as working as a team, leadership and even something as simple as making eye contact, emotional intelligence is a vital part of music-making, especially with others. Music fosters emotional development and as a group, children learn how to show empathy, relate to others and establish important connections.

Learning music in groups teaches children how to be sensitive to others and develop personal awareness among other social skills. Creating music as a collective cultivates a sense of belonging and community which can be profound across all ages and can establish long-lasting friendships.

Music teaches value and appreciation of the world

Every culture has some form of musical expression and this has been built from centuries of traditions and storytelling. We understand so much of our history from how music is passed down through years of immigration, traditions, religious practices and other forms of storytelling.

For many of us, learning about our cultural heritage helps us understand our own identity. Just as music can have different meanings from culture to culture, music can have different meanings for each individual. Learning about one's own cultural heritage gives a sense of community and belonging which can help expand horizons, further the understanding of more unfamiliar cultures and create a securer sense of identity.

Children who are exposed to diverse media are more likely to appreciate and understand others from different cultures and backgrounds. With exposure to a positive learning environment, music can be used as a tool to learn and appreciate one's own cultural heritage and embrace and value cultural differences.

There is a need for music education

In the end, most children learning music don't go on to play professionally. However the transferable skills benefiting from exposure to music at such an early age are life-changing and innumerable. We should be making more effort to fill the lives of those we love with more music, even if it is just walking around in circles and singing a song.

Music is not only a source of entertainment but it is also a source of learning. Appreciation of the arts should be imbued from a young age; whether it be through music lessons, playing together in groups or listening to music - whatever it may be.

There is something for everyone.