According to a quote from Habyts referenced to Dr Laura Markham of Aha! Parenting, “The earlier we introduce screens, the more it affects the child’s brain development and the more likely they will have trouble managing their addiction to screens and technology later in life.” What other activities do we have to engage children growing up in the cities and communities as parks and children's playgrounds gradually give way to other city developments to meet the residents’ demands?

Music education stands out as a valuable option amongst many others.

Music education has a holistic impact on every child’s development. Aside from being positioned as a nice-to-have in addition to other academic subjects in the school curriculum, music education does much more. It nurtures and develops the child’s creative ability and likewise, the social, cognitive, and emotional aspects too.

According to the Johns Hopkins Medicine Journal, music jumpstarts creativity. New music challenges the brain in a way that old music doesn’t. It might not feel pleasurable at first, but that unfamiliarity forces the brain to struggle to understand the new sound. Music naturally spurs creativity. For a child learning to play an instrument, as the child improves in mastery, he/she begins to explore his/her creativity by improvising on existing pieces and many times attempting to create new unique pieces. The stage music center reinforces the benefit of music education as it relates to creativity with this statement, “...an investigation of the history of music provides evidence that many children who got training in composing music grew up to hold patents to many inventions."

Music education also helps develop children’s cognitive skills, also known as mental skills such as reading, learning, thinking, reading, solving mathematical problems, reasoning, and paying attention. According to the findings of research on APA Psycnet, pupils taking music education have been shown to perform better in mathematics, better reading skills, improved verbal information retention, enhanced spatial reasoning, and increased SAT scores.

Music education for children has several other benefits. Another is improved self-confidence and expression. Muya Francis Kihoroi in his research talks about Jim, a young boy with low-esteem and mentally challenged. Jim’s self-confidence changed noticeably after he was accepted as an integral part of the worship group in his church and underwent music training. After a period of music education, Jim became a responsible person, began to dress smartly, walked around with self-confidence, and now played piano at other social functions aside from the church. Music education truly has a transformative effect on the child!

Most times, in playing or mastering an instrument the coordination between the hands, fingers, mouth, eyes, head, feet and other parts of the body is vital. So, regular practice of an instrument helps the child fine-tune his/her motor skills. Whether it's pressing piano keys, singing a part, strumming guitar strings, or fiddling a violin bow, a child is engaging and synchronizing different muscles and bones of the body to perfect a routine and produce sounds.

The perseverance and dedication required to make progress in music education go a long way beyond the child gaining mastery. A child develops discipline and patience for the music learning process and other areas of life.

In summary, the value of music education can’t be overemphasized as the benefits outweigh the immediate returns. Would you like to join us at Foster by the African Music Library to help give African children from low-income neighborhoods opportunities to participate in music education? If yes, register here.

The image of a African boy leaning on a drum, looking at an object that distracted him.

The Crucial Role of Music Education in Child Development

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