Music has the ability to GROW your child’s brain: 3 ways learning the violin will improve your child’s academic performance

You know, the more I learn, the more I’m grateful and excited to be teaching violin! There are so many amazing research studies out there that show how learning violin can help you throughout your life. 

If you have been here before, then you know that I want to light the world through music. By teaching children about violin, we help build confidence, teach life skills that move with them throughout life, and focus on academic achievement - this means the ability to take them from where they are at, and move them to a higher level and become their highest self - music has a great power to do this! 

What we have been learning is that music has the ability to help your child’s brain develop! By learning violin, you’re helping your child at school, with their overall learning, and extracurricular activities. 

We are going to look at 3 ways that music specifically impacts the brain and its development!

Music helps your child become their highest self!

#1 - It improves subtle listening skills

There was an amazing study completed at McMaster University in Canada (REF?). In this study, there were pre-school-aged children who started to learn a musical instrument compared with children that hadn’t started learning an instrument. The study found that the children who learned a musical instrument had increased connections in their auditory cortex - they were able to recognize sounds faster and could notice subtle tones of voice! 

The sensitivity for noticing subtle sounds is so helpful for your child in learning a language, as well as noticing emotional and physical cues. By learning violin, you’re helping your child to create a ‘subtle listening’ skill! 

#2 - It improves attention span

Again, I just think this is just amazing! 

If a child can focus, then they can learn quickly. Children can learn to develop their ability to focus. Children with different abilities - for example, ADHD or Down Syndrome -  can learn to increase their ability to focus by training their executive functioning capabilities. And because children learn best through play (?REF?), learning these kinds of attention building skills can be easily and rapidly achieved through learning a musical instrument.

I once had a student - let’s call him Sam - who was struggling in school and who also wanted to learn the violin. When we started, I wanted to focus on helping to ‘train the brain’. After about 6 months, Sam’s teacher approached his mom and said that she was noticing a significant increase in his ability to focus and complete his work quicker - she asked, “what was different?” 

If a child can focus, they can learn quickly!

The difference was that Sam was learning the violin and practicing his ability to focus, daily! Violin creates this daily habit that allows the brain to think and focus - when we do this repeatedly, it helps to continually expand our attention. 

In younger children who are learning violin, we see the ability to have longer conversations or interactions with others, and to focus more on math homework. Learning music, no matter what skill level they are at, helps to build overall focus and learning in all environments. 

#3 - It improves memory

Alright, let’s get a little more scientific here! When learning a musical instrument, the grey matter in your brain, which we use for deeper thinking and memory expands! If a child is learning a new instrument, then they are actively helping to develop the parts of their brain that help them to think and recall information more quickly - that will be very helpful for math facts too! 

In the brain, there is also something called the Corpus Callosum, which connects the left and right sides of our brain. When we learn music, it helps to develop the connections between both sides of our brain over and over - this helps us to learn so much faster. 

So, when your child sits down to practice, not only are they learning a new instrument and skill, they’re actually helping to support the development of their brain! They are learning how to develop subtle listening skills, to improve their attention span, and to improve their memory - what a gift! 

We need to remember to be grateful for our brains, or hands, and the beautiful gifts that we have. You can give your child a gift and investment that will continue throughout their life!

I know you want all of these benefits for your child, so if you don’t already have a music teacher for your child, I have a free guide for you to help you know what to look for in a violin teacher - if you’d like that then please go here.

Remember: you are enough by simply being you. 

Keep Spreading the goodness of music!

Melodie