March is Music In Our Schools Month, and as a way of promoting the benefits of music in your child’s life, we wanted to share with you how music affects your brain. Studies consistently show that music has a major impact on our lives – more then we even realize. So as you’re planning your young child’s daily activities, and are contemplating the benefits of adding a sport versus a musical class, keep these ideas in mind.
Music improves our creativity
Kids today always seem to be attached to a pair of headphones. From listening to music, to playing games, portable units make everything possible. But when it comes to doing some good, music may be the way to go. A moderate noise level has been proven to be the sweet spot for creativity. When a moderate noise level is going on in the background, it actually increases your processing levels, which in turn will lead to increased abstract processing. In other words, if you approach a subject in a normal way with a moderate level of music in the background, your creative juices will kick into play and you’ll be able to find more solutions to your problem. Yes, there may be a very good reason why you should allow your child to study with music on … within reason of course.
The type of music listened is influenced by your personality
Think you can find a friend by determining if your music choices are in line with each other? Yes, it may actually be true. Studies have shown that the type of genre of music you prefer can tell the world what type of person you are. For instance:
- Blues fans have high self esteem, are creative, outgoing and gentle
- Jazz fans have high self esteem, are creative, outgoing and at ease
- Classical fans have high self esteem, are creative, introvert and at ease
- Country fans are hardworking and outgoing
- Rock fans tend to have lower self esteem, are creative and gentle, but not hard working, not outgoing
- Pop fans have high self esteem, hardworking and outgoing, but have lower levels of creativity
While this is all generalized, the sooner you introduce various types of music to your child, the better appreciation they will have for music, and the more influence music will have in their lives.
Music can significantly improve our motor and reasoning skills
Playing music has its benefits; the studies continuously show that. But studies also show that the more influence music has in your life, the more significantly your motor and reasoning skills will be. A child with three years or more of practice and playing on a musical instrument will show more auditory discrimination abilities and fine motor skills. They will also test better on vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning skills. Which means they will have a higher understanding and be able to analyze visual information better, such as identifying relationships, similarities and differences in patterns and shapes.
Music can make you more active
When its time to get active and put exercise into our daily routines, music will help you along the way. Listening to music competes for our brain’s attention, and can help override the signals of fatigue we may have from a busy day. Not only can we exercise longer and harder when we listen to music, but it can also help us use our energy more efficiently. Different genres affect us differently – that’s why you’ll always find upbeat music during dance, rumba or even aerobics classes that help you stay with the beat and keep your energy levels high.
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