Music fills the air and the brain goes–Yippee! The brain does a dance of its own when musical sounds are heard and felt. What an internal dance! Yes, the neurons located within both sides of the brain fire up together. A crosstalk between the left and the right hemispheres of ones’ brain is ignited!—Party on! This brain activity is doing a welcomed dance. Tania Miller an artistic director and conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada stated that “Music is extraordinary for children because it engages and develops a myriad of simultaneous connections and engages many areas of the brain, allowing these areas of the brain to be strengthened. Music requires kids to make and perceive patterns, experience and understand relationships, and to generate connections between their physical, mental, creative and psychological selves.”
Music is empowering. It’s known to be represented within all cultures around the world. Profound new advances in science have produced new knowledge about the benefits of music on the growth and development of the brain in younger children. There has always been an awareness of the joy music brings into a child’s life, as evidenced by their physical movements or with their engaging vocal sounds. Now scientists have discovered through their research that the brains’ connectivity to music is important in the early years of a child’s brain development. Below is a chart showing some of the many benefits of music within the developmental domains of a toddler.
Scientists Pino, Giancola, D’Amico stated, “Our findings revealed that musical properties, such as rhythm and melody, could affect language acquisition in semantic processing and grammar, including syntactic aspects and phonological awareness.” They went on to further state that “complex mechanisms involving the music-language link, highlighting that music plays a central role in the comprehension of language development from the early stages of life.”
Music and children go together—always have and always will! The brain and body love to listen to it, make it and move to a range of different sounds. Oh, adults do too! That is one of the best things about this—it’s for everyone and comes in a variety of genres: rhythm & blues, jazz, rap, rock & roll, pop, country, hip-hop, folk, gospel, reggae, and lots MORE!
Currently, there are over 200 million songs streaming world-wide for one to select from. All for ones listening, playing, singing and dancing pleasure! Truly amazing how the world is literally filled and surrounded with music.
Happy days to you,
Kylene
“Music is the universal language of mankind.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American Poet
Resources & References
Baby Sparks, (2022), Learn about the profound effects of music in early childhood, https://youtu.be/xn6xp68-cZs?si=aqLLTAtOR3qVxoyl
Collins Anita, PH D., (2015), What if every child had access to music education from birth?, https://youtu.be/ueqgenARzlE?si=wKkh1jzNc9Z8xWio
Levitin, J., Daniel, Dr., Neuroscientist, (2024), Can Music Transform Your Brain?, Museum of Science, https://youtu.be/2bJMTtAgpb4?si=2FU7g4NXgRvJwS47
Miller, Tania, Conductor, THE IMPACT OF MUSIC ON CHILDRENS BRAINS, https://taniamiller.com/the-impact-of-music-on-childrens-brains-2/#
Pino MC, Giancola M, D’Amico S., (2023), The Association between Music and Language in Children: A State-of-the-Art Review, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10216937/
Sharma, Amata R. MD,MPH, Silbersweig, David, MD, (2018), Setting the Stage: Neurobiological Effects of Music on the Brain, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, https://remix.berklee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=mh-exchange-music-medicine