Music to children: a study by scientists
Содержание
If you look around you, you will find that music is everywhere. It is an integral part of our daily lives. It doesn't matter how old, young or old we are, we listen to different music all day long!
We hear music everywhere: on TV, in films, on social media, in players, on phones, on the street... Almost all kinds of government ceremonies are accompanied by a musical band or orchestra or some other kind of music. We sing songs and play music on holidays: on birthdays, at weddings, at anniversaries...
We have music to worship God.
Children
It's hard to find a child who doesn't love listening to music and singing along to the beat. Research has shown that when parents create a musically rich environment for their children, they not only entertain them, but also help their children develop essential life skills. So it's no surprise that many parents use music to help their children express their emotions, such as joy, grief or excitement. It is a kind of outlet for anyone, not just a child.
What kind of music has the power to educate?
In the 1990s, a group of researchers conducted a study that showed exactly how music affects a child (if he or she listened to it from early childhood). Music helps children to speak clearly, develop their vocabulary, strengthen their emotional skills and improve their social behaviour.
In fact, music has the power to strengthen the connection between the body and the brain. For example, dancing to music helps children develop motor skills. Singing helps develop the voice. Music also helps with teamwork and necessary social skills.
Psychologist Howard Gardner on music
Howard Gardner published his famous theory of multiple intelligence decades ago, and it is still evolving. In this theory, he identified seven different ways in which people can learn:
- Verbal-linguistic
- With the help of logical maths
- Visual-spatial
- Kinesthetic
- Intrapersonal
- Interpersonal
- Musically rhythmic
Later, he added two more new ways of teaching: "naturalistic" and "spiritual".
Musical intelligence is the ability to learn things in a rhythmic style.
Howard Gardner also highlighted several famous and renowned artists and creative minds such as Stravinsky and Picasso. These are examples of people who studied hard and were able to achieve the impossible. It turns out that for them, information is learnt best in the form of patterns (repetitive elements).
According to Gardner, children or adults who have developed musical intelligence are more engaged with music and poetry. They can learn better if the information is systematised and presented in a musical way. The simplest example, which everyone remembers, is the melody under which we memorised the alphabet, i.e. counting. And note that all languages have their own separate melody specifically for the alphabet.
The scientists concluded ...
- Children in early childhood do not respond to or express music in the same way as adults.
- The early years of a child's life are the most important for developing a love of music.
Impact on children
Children respond to music the same way they respond to words. Even very young children try to recognise music tones, frequency and rhythm, just as they do when they first hear a word. This is why the early years are so important to a child's development.
They build their own organisational structure in the brain and take apart different parts of the music to analyse it later. This develops their cognitive skills and brain functions.
Here it is important to consider that children learn musical skills by imitating and memorising rhythms and tones. If they do not clap their hands or make any other movements, they will not be able to develop their musical skills.
One of the things that has the most negative impact on children is when parents are not musically inclined and do not support their child's love of music.
Role of parents
Whether we are talking about music education or any other type of education, parents play the most important role in a child's life. Schools and teachers everywhere point to the fact that children whose families are more musically inclined have more developed skills and behaviours.
Researchers claim that children who are exposed to music at an early age in their homes have a closer bond with their parents. Thus, music is not only a tool to help children maximise their potential, but also a method of bonding with their families.
Conclusion
Let's face it. There are no downsides to letting your child play or listen to music. It has a positive effect on them in many ways: it helps them become better students, better citizens and better people, and it helps them understand the world better and communicate more with their nearest and dearest. Music also has a calming effect on children.
