I can’t say I have too many early childhood memories……… the moments that stuck are few and far between. But I do remember the music lessons, not the actual music…. the building, it was a high rise with a lift, pretty cool when you live in suburbia, and the colourful elephants, dancing across the pages of the pink and yellow music books.
My mom signed me up for the Yamaha School of music at the tender age of 2½ years. Not sure why, but it was a bold move, for a working mom.
The experience definitely did not turn me into a musician – I’m good at quite a few things, music is definitely not one of them. But………. those three years of music, probably shaped my destiny. Graduating from music school – helped me graduate with a PhD.
The reason……..
Early music changes brain wiring
Specifically the wiring that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, early music lessons builds a strong corpus callosum.
This supped up connection, probably helps the budding “baby” musician, co-ordinate the physical movements, necessary to actually play the instrument, with the musical notes.
BECAUSE, PLAYING A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IS HARD !
Getting it “right” changes the course of the brain’s development, forever.
But this musical gift is…
Only for under sevens
This is the finding of a team of researchers from Concordia University’s psychology department.
The research team scanned the brains of 36 adult musicians, while they performed a movement task unrelated to music. Although every brain scanned was a musical maestro, with years and years of musical training and experience, not all the musicians had started young. Half had started early – beginning their musical training before the age of 7. The other half were late bloomers, finding music after the age of 7.
Only the early musicians exhibited the altered corpus callosum brain structure.
Starting music early….
Makes the difference. The earlier the better.
The brain scans found the earlier the music lessons started, the greater the connectivity between the two hemispheres of the brain. And the greater the connectivity, the better the performance on the task that was tested.
Early musicians were “SMARTER”.
Requires doing not hearing
Playing baby Mozart is not enough. The effect requires a child to learn to play, a little Mozart.
But it doesn’t mean you’ll raise a Mozart.
A stronger corpus callosum is not a requirement to be a musician. But being well connected is definitely a recipe for thinking successfully.
Get your child connected
So if you have the cash for an extra murial or two – choose music. No musical genes required. It’s NOT TOO EARLY to get started.
Those music lessons will play on forever, as they leave your child’s brain, BETTER connected.
Further reading
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