EARLY MUSIC LESSONS SCIENTIFICALLY CONNECTED TO COGNITIVE GROWTH & PRECISION

Finally, music lessons are getting the recognition they deserve.

When we are taught music at a young age, we learn a systematic approach to a discipline. However, with music, sound is part of it, which can hone or accelerate our skills with understanding words and reading (for hearers). We are taught to differentiate sounds, which make our responses crisper. We learn quickly to hear many layers of sound at the same time and to produce it with our own individual touch to it.

Those of us who are musicians, music teachers or music therapists have experienced the joy of seeing students evolve through music. Now, the latest and greatest scientific studies have come up with this. Northwestern University is studying auditory brain stem responses in college students, under Nina Kraus, director. A doctoral student who was part of one of the studies, Alexandra Parbery-Clark, comes out with a statement that reminds us to keep the music in the study. She says, " We want music to be recognized for what it can be in a person's life, not necessarily, 'Oh, we want you to have better cognitive skills so we are going to put you in music.'" She goes on with what we all know as the joy of music, "Music is great, music is fantastic, music is social -- let them enjoy it for what it really is."

Quote by Ms. Parbery-Clark taken from The New York Times Blog section.