Why Should My Child Study Music?
By Steve Harrow on August 30, 2012
Music lessons?? We know what you're thinking, because we thought the
same thing. Why pay hundreds of dollars for music lessons just to hear
our kids bang out a few notes on the piano and then complain miserably
about practicing? Why pour so much time, money and effort into
something so impractical? Our kids can survive without knowing how to
play the piano, but they need to read, write, and do math. So why
should our kids take music lessons?
We have four kids, ages eleven to nineteen (at the time of this writing). All of them have (somewhat reluctantly) studied the piano since they were six or seven; all of them added another instrument by age ten. Yes, that is a lot of
money poured into lessons, and a lot of energy spent coercing them to
practice. (None of them were little Mozarts— no long, blissful hours
spent at the piano composing symphonies at our house. Kicking and
screaming is more like it.) In spite of these gritty realities, we are
absolutely convinced that music is an essential part of our children’s
educations- no activity or study more completely engages and enriches
their souls, minds, and emotions than the art of music.
Music Engages the Soul in Worship and Praise
The author of wonderfully imaginative fairy tales, Hans Christian
Andersen wrote, “Where words fail, music speaks.” In Scripture (and
the history of the church), music is used to glorify God because it
possesses a depth of meaning that reaches far beyond mere words. The
Psalms speak of praising and thanking God through music. In Psalm
100, we are commanded to sing to the Lord, to "Come before his
presence with singing." Moses sang a song of victory to celebrate
deliverance from Egypt (echoed by the saints in Revelation.) Jesus and
His disciples concluded the Last Supper by singing a hymn. Music is a
gift of God that gives voice to prayer and praise, enriches His image in
us, and reflects His creative glory. The greatest musician of all, J.S.
Bach, believed that “The aim and final end of all music should be none
other than the Glory of God and the refreshment of the spirit.”
Music Engages and Enriches the Mind
With the click of a mouse, you can find numerous books and articles on
the mental benefits of music. One study by the University of California
concluded that children who studied piano and sang daily in chorus were
significantly better at solving puzzles than their non-musical peers. They
also scored 80% higher on spatial intelligence tests. (http://
ezinearticles.com/?Music-And-The-Brain&id=100806). The mental
focus and discipline required by practicing music develops the brain
(and good study habits) for any challenging application.
Music Develops an Appreciation for Beauty
Music reflects the beauty of God, whether it’s the New York
Philharmonic playing Beethoven's 9th or your child playing
Prancing Ponies. (Remember that first piano recital?) As your child
studies music, he will learn not only technique (how to read notes
and rhythms), but also interpretation (how to express emotion and
meaning- beauty- through those markings on the page). We were
always a bit surprised when our ‘energetic’ eleven year old son, with
his propensity for contact sports and airsoft guns, sat down at the
piano or picked up his trumpet and created beauty by sensitively
interpreting a sonatina or etude. He is engaging the whole person:
he disciplines his body and focuses his mind in order to express his
heart and create beauty- all of which feeds the spirit and reflects the
creative image of the ultimate Creator.
Music lessons are a gift we can give our kids, to develop their bodies,
hearts, minds, and spirits to the glory of God. Beethoven wrote,
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music
is the...soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” Martin
Luther adds, “Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the
greatest treasure in the world”. Our privilege (and duty) is to share
these treasures with our children.
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