Take Note Studio Blog

  We’ve all heard the idea that classical music can make you smarter.  We’re told that listening to music while studying for a test can improve your score, or that playing music for a child in the womb can increase their IQ. In truth, the link between music and intelligence has yet to be proven. But while playing Mozart for your child may not give them a genius-level IQ, recent studies show that music can play a vital role in brain development. Music enhances cognitive, emotional, and social development, especially when babies are exposed to it from an early age.  Let’s take a closer look at how music boosts brain development in babies. Music Exposure Improves Pattern Recognition  A study done by the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (I-LABS) found that playing music for 9-month-old babies while they played with their parents improved their brain’s processing of rhythm in both music and speech . Christina Zhao, lead researcher on th...

  Love of music is a universal thing.  Whether we listen to music in the car, strum a guitar around the campfire, sing in a choir, or tickle the keys of a piano in our free time, we all enjoy music in some way. But did you know that music has the ability to enhance every part of our lives? It’s true — music has physical, mental, and emotional benefits. This is especially true when we learn to play an instrument. What’s more, when children learn an instrument at a young age, it can boost their development in a number of amazing ways. Here are just a few of the ways that learning to play a musical instrument can enhance your child’s life : 1. Improves Memory Skills Learning any new skill forms new neural pathways, keeping our brains healthy and agile. Learning to play an instrument is no exception.   Playing an instrument is to the brain what a total body workout is to the body . It uses every part of our brain, including our motor, auditory, and visual cortexes — important...

Music and play bring a lot of joyful fun to life — a good enough reason in itself to make sure we give our children plenty of time to play and fill their lives with opportunities to engage with music. But singing, dancing, playing instruments, listening to music, and playing with other children can do even more for our kids than help them have fun. In fact, music and play are vital to a child’s healthy development. Here are a few reasons why kids need music and play. Music Enhances Brain Development and Boosts School Readiness From swaying and bouncing as infants to making up songs as preschoolers to group singing or learning to play instruments in elementary school, music makes up a vital part of the way our children learn, grow, and develop. Numerous studies have shown the benefits that music plays in child development. For instance, a 5-year study done at the University of Southern California showed that childhood musical experiences can accelerate brain development. This was parti...