Making a case for a musical youth

Early exposure to music has far reaching implications for a child's development - whether or not they scale the heights, writes Louise Holden

From as early as three years old, depending on who you ask, children can benefit from music lessons. The aim is not to hot-house a virtuoso, although that may be an outcome, but to develop parts of the growing brain that will enhance performance in a whole range of skills later in life.

The cerebral circuitry required for learning music is taking shape by the time a child is three years of age, and exercising it has implications for the development of spatial skills, language, motor skills and mathematical ability. However, a child of three may not be physically ready for an instrument. A general introduction to concepts of rhythm and melody can bring a child into the world of music without taxing her physically - it also gives parents and teachers an opportunity to ascertain a child's strengths.

Helen Walsh runs the Music and Me programme for children at Walton's School of Music in Dublin. The programme, variations of which are available in music schools across the country, is designed to lead four to six year olds into an appreciation of music without the strictures of formal training.

"If parents have not played instruments themselves and don't know what's involved, a foundation course in the basics of music can give their children a platform from which to take up an instrument later. Parents can learn with the child, sitting in on the classes if they wish." Games, songs, whistle playing and rhythmic exercises are useful ways to interest small children in music and to give them a new avenue for creativity.

"We run outreach programmes in primary schools and the introduction of music to the classroom can have some startling results," says Byrne. "Children who have not expressed themselves meaningfully in the classroom before can suddenly find an outlet for creativity in music. I have reported back to teachers about really bright children who I have worked with only to be told that they have never displayed those abilities in the classroom before."

Music engages the mind and body. It's physical, encouraging new uses for a child's developing motor skills. Rhythmic banging or fingering a tin whistle are entirely new forms of movement that build on a child's physical confidence.

Research into the link between musical training and brain development is slight but growing. Two American studies found that three and four year olds who took piano lessons performed better on tests that measured their spatial-temporal reasoning. Spatial-temporal reasoning is the ability to visualise complex imagery and the relation of objects or locations to each other. It is a critical skill in mathematics, engineering, science and design.

Another study, conducted in Hong Kong, found that children with six years of music lessons before the age of 12 had stronger recall that those who had not. Researchers read 16-word lists three times to 60 girls. Those who had studied music for six years remembered more words than those who hadn't.

Music employs the brain in a manner that cannot be replicated by any other activity. Just because your child does not mature into a concert pianist does not mean that her, and your, efforts at learning music have been wasted. The benefits of musical activity can reverberate through a life aiding learning, expression, socialisation and discipline.

Hong Soon Har is coordinator of the Gateway programme at Newpark School of Music in Dublin. She believes that the best way to bring children to music is through sensory appreciation rather than reading. The results, she maintains, are far reaching.

Very young children learn a range of life skills including turn-taking and patience, group work, application and concentration. "The Mozart effect works. It's just one example of how music can help people to focus their energies and optimise their mental performance."

The key to getting the full benefits of music in childhood, says Byrne, is for parents to get involved, too. "Music is intimidating for many people. Introducing children to music early does away with that fear. But parents need to engage with their children's learning. Find out what's going on in the lesson, talk to the teacher, make practice a permanent feature of the day, even if only for 10 minutes. Little and often is better than lengthy, occasional rehearsal. Take an interest in the child's learning without being pushy."

Byrne also recommends making music part of the environment in the home. With television, computers and other media vying for a child's attention music is easily crowded out of family activity.

Dr Frank Wilson, an assistant clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, has spent many years studying the influence of musical training on brain development and concludes that music more fully involves brain functions (both left and right hemispheres) than any other activity studied.

Wilson believes that in time, as the body of research grows, we will come to a universal understanding that "music is an absolute necessity for the total development of the brain and the individual".