Benefits of Music and Movement!

An important and indispensable part of any culture is music and dance. One can find music present in many aspects of our lives – theatre, television, movies, worship, holidays, drives, celebrations, and any ceremony. Nothing is complete without music and movement.

At home, music is usually part of the family culture – part of the everyday experiences. From birth, parents instinctively use music to calm and soothe their infants, to express love and to engage and interact with their children.

Most children love a blend of music, movement, rhythm and dance; this combination allows them to express themselves joyfully. Incorporating the same in Early education helps children with social interactions and language development. Both music and movement work to stimulate different areas in the brain and research has discovered the important impact they have on the mind of a child. These activities also have long-term benefits for a wide range of cognitive functions.

It’s important for parents to build a rich environment to foster musical exposure in children. This will widen their aptitude for music while building strong bonds with the family who can spend quality time over music and dance.

Here are some more benefits of music and movement:

Improve fine motor skills and coordination- Not only does it improve auditory skills, learning musical instruments helps improve hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, gross motor balance and spatial sense, rhythm and beat synchronization and organization.

Language Development- Research shows that the same parts of the brain involved in learning a language are used in learning music. Singing, learning new songs, learning an instrument helps in comprehension and processing information. It additionally helps children in focussing and
memorizing.

Develops Fundamental Math Skills- Reading music notes is something that fascinates anyone who thinks- ‘How does one find a relation to the musical notes and the actual instrument? But to a child who can read music, those dots actually deliver rich amounts of information about which key to press or which string to string. This is Math can be correlated to patterns and numbers.

Discipline and Hard work- The value of discipline and hard work is experienced greatly by children especially when they are learning music- the daily practices, the schedules and efforts show the child the benefits of the same. For older children, once they are part of a choir, band or ensemble, the
teamwork and dedication that is required are phenomenal. This collaboration with the greater community gives an overall positive feeling when everyone works towards a common goal.

Music and movement also build self-esteem and confidence- When children see the results of their hard work when they see their skills building up, it’s empowering for them to realize the extent of their effort. The degree of their achievement lies in the amount of effort they have put in. This is enough to build their own confidence and esteem, along with the fact that performing solo or even in a group requires a large amount of confidence and courage.

Music and movement can enliven and enrich the lives of all, from the pure pleasure of listening, to gaining social skills or building language. One can enjoy the same no matter what the setting at home, school, or even at public places.