Is there an ideal age to begin music lessons?

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Nowadays, parents are bombarded with a plethora of brain-enhancing products for their children like musical apps and online videos. With the promise of making their children grow smarter, parents take advantage of these products. That’s all good and acceptable. Still, nothing beats the benefits of formal music training. The question is: When is the right age to start training?

Several studies done by the University of California suggest that taking music lessons at age three can boost brainpower. However, Baby Center reveals that piano trainers recommend that children’s hands should be big enough to handle the keys and they should be able to sit still for hours of training. And this is usually at age five.

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There is also a growing concern about introducing formal lessons to very young kids. This may be an issue for them, later on in life, if they felt like they were being forced into playing an instrument when they were smaller. They can possibly grow to hate, even develop anger against music. So just when parents think their very young children are ready for formal lessons, music teachers advice parents to give them a year or two before enrolling their kids so that the children can determine for themselves what instrument they want. Although piano is an ideal instrument to start with, parents have to expose their children to several other instruments to know and cultivate their interest.

Brain development is probably the number one reason why parents encourage their young to engage in music. But let it be a reminder to them that the love for music should be as fun as much as it is educational.

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Mark Begelman continues to spread his musical influence on kids of all ages. Visit this website for more music updates.

Early musical training helps in language development

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Learning music at a very early age not only helps children acquire musical skills, but also promotes their cognition and motor development.

While not all children may exhibit prodigious potential, the skills from musical training enable them to learn other subject matter seamlessly. Language development, for example, is an area that benefits. There have been recent studies that directly show how the left side of the brain, known for processing language, is set to work through musical training. The brain becomes “wired” to recognize and understand the patterns in music and speech.

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According to the Children’s Music Workshop, young minds retain and absorb new information by linking it to songs.

The emerging relationship between music and language development has been inspiring, at the very least, and extends to other areas of growth, such as the cultivation of social skills. Dr. Kyle Pruett, clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and himself a musician, stated that language development over time tends “to enhance parts of the brain that help process music. Language competence is at the root of social competence. Musical experience strengthens the capacity to be verbally competent.”

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So, whether it’s in singing, playing the piano or banging the drum, children must be set off on that musical path.

Mark Begelman is the co-owner of Markee, a fully-equipped recording and rehearsal studio based in Florida. Follow this Google + account to get more information about its facilities and the company’s advocacies.