With added benefits
For years, I haven’t understood the unbalanced devotion some people have to a sport for their children which can completely unravel the family schedule with daily practices, weekly games, out of town travel and splitting up the family when more than one child is committed to a team. I personally love tennis, but understood when I got to junior high that even though I’d devote a lot of time to it, I knew I’d never make it past college level playing.
I have seen hundreds and thousands of dollars spent on uniforms, equipment and travel. I know for a fact my parents invested that money into my own tennis playing as a child. Some families even withdraw their children from school in order to participate in some athletic ventures. Yet when looking at the statistics of how these sports will impact the future of their children, some parents seem to focus only on the short term benefits, and at times, ignore the long term consequences of such a demanding lifestyle.
Although different, piano/music training and sports share many common goals. Learning to play the piano teaches many of the same disciplines children gain from a sport. However, excluding sports, numerous studies have been done that show the dramatic increase in early brain development and improvement in a piano student’s overall academic performance.
Enhances brain function
Piano lessons have been shown to improve a child’s performance in school. A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reports that music training-specifically piano instruction-is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills which are necessary for learning math and science. This experiment included three groups of preschoolers:
- one group received private piano/keyboard lessons and singing lessons
- a second group received private computer lessons
- a third group received no training
-From Neurological Research, Feb 28, 1997; Frances Rauscher, Ph.D., Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Improves Reading and Math
A research team studying first graders from two Rhode Island elementary schools found that students who participated in an “enriched, sequential, skill building music program” dramatically increased their reading and math performance.
-From Nature May 23, 1996; Gardiner, Fox, Jeffery and Knowles
Improves IQ scores
Mozart’s Piano Sonata K448 was found to significantly increase spatial scores of college students on IQ tests when the Sonata was listened to for 10 minutes, dubbed the “Mozart Effect”
-From Nature ©1993, Drs. Rauscher and Shaw, University of California, Irvine
Provides important exercises
Piano lessons provide children with important experiences that can help them develop physical coordination, timing, memory, visual, aural and language skills. When they work to increase their command of music and exercise musical skills, they gain important experience with self-paced learning, mental concentration and heightened personal and social awareness.
-From Nature ©1993, Drs. Rauscher and Shaw, University of California, Irvine
Provides important exercises
Students with coursework/experience in piano performance scored 52 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT and 36 points higher on the math portion of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts for a combined total of 88 points higher.
-Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the American Music Conference (1998)-From Nature ©1998, Drs. Rauscher and Shaw, University of California, Irvine
There is a direct correlation between improved SAT scores and the length of time spent studying the piano. Those who studied the piano four or more years scored 60 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math portions of the SAT than students with no coursework or experience in the arts for a combined total of 101 points higher.
-Profiles of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by the American Music Conference (1997)
Did you know?
The estimated probability of competing in athletics beyond high school interscholastic level is:
- Basketball: 3.3% men & 3.7% women
- Football: 6.5%
- Baseball: 6.8%
- Hockey: 11.3%
- Soccer: 5.7%
College Athletes greatly overestimate their chances of playing. More than three-quarters of men’s Division 1 basketball players think they will play professionally, but less than 2% make it to the NBA.
Going Pro: Division 1 perceptions and Reality
- Men’s Basketball: Perception=76% Reality= 1.2%
- Women’s Basketball: Perception=44% Reality=1.9%
- Football: Perception=52% Reality=1.5%
- Baseball: Perception=60% Reality=9.4%
- Men’s Ice Hockey: Perception=63% Reality=0.8%
- Men’s Soccer: Perception=46% Reality 1.9%
-2008 NCAA Research, insidehighered.com
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy sports and think they play an important role in kids’ lives as well. I was one of those kids who loved tennis and staying fit along with being very involved in music all throughout my childhood. Now that I’m an adult, I still play and enjoy tennis but it’s not at the level I was at in high school. The one skill I know I can carry with me no matter what is my music and that is why I like to share the gift with others.
If you found this helpful, share it with a friend!! Thanks for reading!
xoxo,
