Educators and psychologists have confirmed the value of music study in the development of a child. A child’s early years are the optimum period for intellectual development. Children and adult think in different ways. Children from the ages 2-7 begin to think and react through symbols (language, drama, drawings and dreams). This stage is perfect for starting the process of learning music.
Foundations of any subject can be taught to anybody at any age. Learning should be structured to serve for the future. Young children have the ability to understand music intuitively though performance and/or composition. In addition, they seem to have a natural ability to hear, remember and produce musical patterns regardless of whether or not they come from a musical family. Several recent studies show improved spatial temporal task scores and pattern recognition scores for children in different age groups who had received piano instruction as compared to same age control groups without piano instruction. These studies report that piano instruction is far superior to computer instruction in enhancing a child’s abstract reasoning skills necessary for learning science and math.
Most importantly, the study of music at a young age increases the quality of the child’s early life experiences. Music can sooth, stimulate or entertain children. It provides pleasure, joy and an outlet for creative expression; it helps develop listening and auditory discrimination skills; it contributes to motor skill development (both large muscle and small muscle); and it increases the range and flexibility of the voice. Music can sooth emotions, invite enthusiasm and bring immense pleasure to the listener.
