How Music Education Supports Brain Development

New York Times Best-Selling Author and Neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin wrote in This Is Your Brain on Music,

“Musical Activity involves nearly every region of the brain that we know about.”

From nursery rhymes to rock ballads, music is not only a source of entertainment but also a key factor in brain development throughout life.

Music and Emotional / Social Development

Music helps us understand our emotions as well as the emotions of those around us. When writing or playing songs, music allows you to express emotions that you may not have been able to identify; this helps build self-awareness and self-expression. Working in musical groups such as bands, orchestras, and choirs builds teamwork and communication abilities. Performing music can act as a release and build up social skills outside of music. Additionally, keeping up consistent practice builds the ability to discipline. Through each of its emotional support ways, music acts as a great way to reduce stress and improve mental health, along with the understanding of yourself and others.

Music and Memorization Skills

Memory is strengthened through music since learning new material and the instrument itself uses both short-term and long-term memory abilities. Performing and practicing pieces triggers the retrieval pathway in the brain, which improves memory functions all over. Music also triggers memories from the past and lays the foundation for them in the future. 

Music and Language Abilities 

Listening to music of all kinds helps improve language processing skills, since language and music have similar pathways in the brain. Singing uses the language pathways in the brain for the lyrics. Instrumentalists who find cues in songs also use the language pathways. Our language skills allow us the ability to read and write; music’s impact on these abilities influences academic success.

Music and Logical Thinking

Learning an instrument improves one’s logical thinking abilities due to the patterns both audible, through listening to music, and visual, through reading sheet music. Playing an instrument requires problem-solving and analytical skills, which are also used to solve puzzles and equations. 

Conclusion

Music contributes to brain development throughout life by enhancing emotional connections and various cognitive abilities.