musicologytampabay

• Recent research from the University of Toronto suggests that music lessons improve children’s ability to determine emotive features of speech. Musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language. There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence. Learning, hearing and understanding musical intervals develops the part of the brain that distinguishes spatial relationships.
• Students learning to play music have to think creatively to solve problems, and are often faced with the prospect of there being no entirely right or wrong solutions to these problems. Developing creative and disciplined problem-solving skills through musical education prepares young learners for the rigors of higher education and life in the world: questions about the arts do not have only one correct answer.
• A study of the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. The truest melting pot of cultures has been, for thousands and thousands of years, music. Instruction in the arts exposes children to cultural difference and variability, and demonstrates the positive effects of cultural cross-pollination.
• Music lessons drive students to become detail-oriented problem-solvers. Becoming attentive to a great many variables in music demands that students become careful artisans, focusing on achieving a harmony between knowledge and theory, technique and performance. Students of music learn craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work. Developing an attention to detail grants positive work and study habits to students that are applicable across the entire spectrum of life and achievement.
• Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work. There are no shortcuts, tricks or easy ways to grow as a musician: hard work, patience and a positive, disciplined work ethic are the prime traits stressed by quality instructors, and these values have a universal applicability. There is nothing in life that can be better achieved by eschewing the values of hard work and self-discipline.
• Music study enhances teamwork skills and discipline. In order for an orchestra/band to sound good, all players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance, and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals, and practicing.

Sources

http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/12benefits.html