Music has a lasting influence in the everyday lives of people.  The music that someone exposes themselves to can have an impact on the way he or she feels at a given point in time and can also tell a lot about his or her personality. This is an especially important concept for younger children, as the music that someone exposes his or her child to when they are young helps to shape who the child will become.  Because the young brain is still developing, the music that a child is exposed to has a greater lasting influence on his or her brain and, in some cases, can even prove to be harmful to children.  With this being said, it is very important to monitor what music a child listens to.  Music such as rap and heavy metal can cause a child to behave recklessly (Pediatrics) while classical music can help strengthen the brains of children and set them up for a more successful future (Bales).  Similarly, music training and introducing a young child to music training can have positive lasting influences on his or her brain and brain development, helping the brain in aspects such as anxiety and emotional controls (Hudziak).  When looking at the possible positive and negative influences music can have on the brains of children, it is clear that the pros outweigh the cons and introducing a child to music and music training at a younger age can help set him or her up for a more successful future.

The developing brain of a child is a prime time to start a child on the path to success.  During this time, the brain is highly affected by its surroundings and environment. According to Dr. Jack P. Shonkoff, 

The milestones of brain development from the prenatal period until school entry involve… embellishments of nerve cells through the sprouting of new axons or by expanding the dendritic surface; the formation of connections, or synapses, between nerve cells (Shonkoff 185). 

When this observation is combined with an article by Diane Bales that states: “Babies are born with billions of brain cells, called neurons. During the first years of life, those neurons form connections with other neurons. Over time, the connections our brains use regularly become stronger” (Bales) it becomes clear as to why the young brain is so susceptible to environmental influences. In order to strengthen certain pathways and set children up for success and improve certain brain functions, such as spatial reasoning, it is crucial to introduce a child to music at a young age.  Many of the pathways that are associated with brain functions such as spatial reasoning and problem solving are used when listening to music (Bales).  By introducing a child to music at a younger age, these pathways are strengthened for his or her future use.  The benefits of music on the brain can be further seen through music training in young children.

 Music training is proven to have an even more powerful impact on the brains of children than merely having a child listen to music.  According to Marilee Sprenger, a child’s ability to play an instrument will begin to show around the age of 3 (Sprenger).  Many studies have been done to test the effects that music training has on the brains of children.  These studies have been used to take a closer look at both the physical differences in the brain and in the behavioral differences in the children who have been exposed to music training.  When it comes to the physical differences in the brain, increased cortical thickness and more rapid development of the pathways responsible for processing sound (Hudziak) have been found to occur in children who learned how to play an instrument.  To add on to these findings, according to a TED talk by John Iverson, the motor planning cortex was also found to be more developed in those who underwent musical training than those who did not (Iverson). Iverson mentions that the more accurate children were at beat and rhythm perception, the larger the motor planning cortex of the brain was.  Along with these physical differences in brain development comes the behavioral differences in the children who were able to reap the benefits of music training.

While the physical differences in brain development due to music training are important, what are almost more important are the behavioral differences in the children who underwent music training.  As mentioned before, the cortical thicknesses in the brains of children who underwent music training were thicker and more mature than those who did not. Amy Elise Nutt’s article in The Washington Post talks specifically about this study done by James Hudziak, saying that the brain was found to be thicker “in both orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortices” (Hudziak).  Both of these regions play a large role in emotional processing and the children who were introduced to music training showed increased emotional regulation.  These regions of the brain are also associated with anxiety, so the children who were introduced to musical training also showed increased anxiety management control (Hudziak).  Some even believe that musical training can even help with those struggling with anxiety and depression.  In fact, according to Susan Hallam, “Playing an instrument can lead to a sense of achievement; an increase in selfesteem; increased confidence; persistence in overcoming frustrations when learning is difficult; self-discipline; and provide a means of self-expression” (Hallam). 

Many studies also point to children having higher IQ’s when introduced to musical training.  In a study done in Canada, 132 children who were all randomly assigned to 4 different groups.  One group was given keyboard lessons, one group was given vocal lessons, one was given drama lessons, and the final group did not receive any lessons.  The end result yielded that the groups that were given keyboard or vocal lessons had a higher increase in IQ than those that were given either drama or no lessons (Hryckiewicz).  However, this same article mentions another scientist, Vaughn, that performed a meta-analysis of 6 studies to see if music can increase mathematical skills.  In this study, Hryckiewicz says that only three of them concluded that music can increase mathematical skills and that the other 3 concluded that music has no effect on mathematical skills.  While this study obviously did not have a 100% success rate on the correlation between music and mathematical skills, most people would want to give his or her child the best opportunities for a successful future.  Even though music training does not guarantee that someone’s child will have improved mathematical skills, there are studies that support it and nothing bad would come from having a child learn an instrument, especially when there are possible advantages to it.

Despite all of the evidence that points to music training being beneficial for the successful future of children, there is still skepticism about how much music training actually affects how well children perform in school and whether or not any outside factors would have skewed the findings of these studies.  An article published by Nick Collins brings up a study done by Professor Schellenberg that claims the children who play instruments come from more privileged backgrounds (Collins).  Because children that come from more privileged backgrounds tend to have more money to spend on better schools, school supplies, and tutoring, they already have the advantage when it comes to grades.  Collins also claims that the same study found that because the more privileged children came from higher earning parents, that their parents also tended to be better educated than those who did not have any music training—ultimately claiming that “kids who take music lessons have different personalities, and many or virtually all of the findings that have shown links between music and cognition may be an artifact of individual differences in personality" (Schellenberg). While music training can be expensive and children from more privileged families do tend to have the upper hand when it comes to resources, this study does not take into account the physical differences in brain development the occurred between those who were introduced to music training and those who were not.  The physical differences found in the brain that are mentioned above explain the differences in behavior and school performance.  There are also many studies that use control groups and study groups from the same background and the changes in behavior and performance remain consistent.  In fact, the study done by Krista L. Hyde and her colleagues used children from the same socioeconomic backgrounds and parents with the same and/or similar level of education that were all similar in age and found that the children who underwent musical training had “greater relative voxel size than those of controls in motorareas, such as the right precentral gyrus (motor hand area) and the corpus callosum (fourth and fifth segment/midbody)… as well as in right primary auditory region (lateral aspect of Heschl’s gyrus)” (Hyde).  This study seems to disprove Schellenberg’s theory that the differences in IQ and behavior are due to the fact that children who learn how to play an instrument are predisposed to do better in school because they are socially better off.

Another reason that parents might be hesitant about getting his or her child involved in musical training is because it has the possibility of opening the door to music with negative messages.  Multiple studies have shown that children and adolescents that listened to music genres such as rap and heavy metal or music that uses explicit language or content were not only worse behaved, but also performed worse in school and partook in riskier behavior than those who did not listen to such music.  According to an article published in Pediatrics,

Several studies have demonstrated that preference for certain types of music could be correlated or associated with certain behaviors, such as the association of drug and alcohol use with “rave” music or electronic music dance events… Heavy metal music-listening has also been associated with increased depression, delinquency risk behavior, smoking, and conduct problems. Fans of heavy metal and rap music showed a greater tendency to engage in reckless behavior than their peers who were not fans of those types of music (Council).

While correlation does not amount to causation, allowing young children to listen to such genres of music can greatly affect their future, thoughts, and actions.  According to an article written by Laura Lewis Brown, the cofounder of Music Together, Lili Levinowitz, who is also a professor of music education at Rowan University of New Jersey, states that her “research shows that 50 percent of children enter kindergarten without knowing the difference between singing and speaking” (Brown).  If this is true, children that listen to songs that use explicit language could be more inclined to use similar vocabulary when talking to his or her peers. While some might think that allowing his or her child to play an instrument might open the door to these harmful types of music, it is more than likely to do the opposite.  In most cases, children who start to learn how to play an instrument do not begin with the electric guitar or similar instruments that are involved in heavy metal or rap music. Children typically learn how to play calmer instruments such as the piano, violin, flute, or other similar instruments where lessons are sometimes provided through schools.  These instruments are more commonly found in classical music, which is also thought to improve a child’s learning capabilities and IQ.

Despite the worry of musical training allowing a child to be introduced to explicit music, it actually exposes a child to forms of music that would beneficial to the child.  According to the Creative Souls School of Music, the top 5 most popular instruments for children to learn are the piano, followed by the guitar, violin, drums, and saxophone (Mace).  Most of the instruments listed are associated with classical music as opposed to heavy metal or rap music that can have a harmful message to children.  In fact, classical music has been proven to provide learning advantages to children that either listen to or play it.  This concept is called the “Mozart Effect”.  The Mozart Effect is the idea “that people perform better on tests of spatial abilities after listening to music composed by Mozart” or similar classical styles of music (Thompson).  While the effects of classical music and the Mozart Effect are thought of to be temporary in older people, they can provide more long-term advantages for younger children.  This is believed to be true because “Classical music has a more complex musical structure… the complexity of classical music is what primes the brain to solve spatial problems more quickly. So listening to classical music may have different effects on the brain than listening to other types of music” (Bales). In this case, involving a child in music lessons not only allows him or her to reap the benefits of music lessons, but also reap the benefits of classical music.  However, a child should not be limited to only one genre of music and it is best to introduce a child to a large variety of music. 

While classical music is considered to be one of the most influential, and possibly even the most important musical genre to introduce a child to, it is also important to not limit a child to only one genre.  In order for children to attain all the benefits that music has to offer, it is crucial that they are exposed to different styles, rhythms, and genres (Brown).  According to Laura Lewis Brown’s article, 

Variety exposes children to more styles, but more important, musical variety may help them learn better. ‘Children learn through the juxtaposition of difference,’ Levinowitz says. ‘They should be singing those songs in unusual tonalities. Other beneficial actions include singing along or chanting to songs that are in asymmetric meters and not necessarily inherent in the culture.’ (Brown).

Also, exposing children to music with varying rhythms and beats helps in the development of the motor planning cortex, which is involved in motor function and helps in movement Iverson).  Not only can different music genres help a child to learn better, but it can also help in a child’s movements.

There is a lot of skepticism that comes along with the decision of whether or not exposing a child to musical training is worth the time and money.  Music training has been proven to not only boost a child’s IQ, but also boost a child’s self confidence.  The improvements in certain brain structures, such as the cortical thickness of the brain, aid in emotional control and with anxiety.  Even just listening to music has been proven to lower anxiety levels more than some anti-anxiety medications (Landau). Some might think that music training could open doors to music that sends negative messages to the listeners, but it does the opposite.  Music training, especially through schools, introduces children to a variety of music that will aid in his or her ability to learn new concepts with ease.  With evidence such as this, it is hard to argue that music and music education are not a necessary part of childhood development.
