tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/music-lessons-38084/articlesMusic lessons – The Conversation2020-04-13T12:15:52Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1351412020-04-13T12:15:52Z2020-04-13T12:15:52ZMaking music at a distance – how to come together online to spark your creativity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326592/original/file-20200408-179222-1i7yayt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C18%2C3026%2C2023&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nathan Williams and his band play zydeco from the back of a truck in a Lousiana Mardi Gras parade. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nathan-williams-sings-and-plays-the-accordion-with-his-news-photo/540702834?adppopup=true">Philip Gould/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People are social creatures. While many of us are making the best of social isolation, we’re much better together than apart. This is especially true with music that we create collectively – everything from jam bands and choruses to orchestras. Music connects us to each other and to our spiritual lives and can magnify our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT09JbaEh_I">collective creativity</a>.</p>
<p>What happens to music when we can no longer gather? Many of the ways we connect in person have been transferred to online transactions. Can music make this shift to a virtual connection? </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WFwL1aMAAAAJ&hl=en">professor</a> at the School of Music at the University of South Florida. I teach, among other things, creative thinking in music. In my book <a href="https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/to-create-book-g10054">“To Create: Imagining the Good Life Through Music</a>,” I write about how music helps us connect with our spirituality and, of course, with one another. </p>
<p>A month ago, most faculty members in the USF music department were resistant to any talk of <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-music-lessons-need-to_b_10314552">immediate and sweeping change</a> in the way we operate. However, as we learned more about how our well-being was at great risk, those attitudes quickly changed. In the last few weeks, my university moved all of our operations online because of COVID-19. We conduct private lessons, teach academic classes and meet together using video conferencing technology.</p>
<p>We had to figure out, logistically, what some people have known for quite some time. Making music online is not as bad as we thought. There are practical ways to take advantage of this time to teach yourself music and connect with other people online to create music together.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326605/original/file-20200408-109213-106kytm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pianist in Moscow prepares for an online concert without an audience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-Russia/5d7b1c4ff3504200b6f82db163a874b9/2/0">AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The energy of community creativity</h2>
<p>People have been making music in online communities since at least the <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jmte/2012/00000004/f0020002/art00008">inception of YouTube</a> in 2005. Individual and group performances are posted online and, for many years, music collaborations have been conducted in <a href="http://music.arts.usf.edu/content/go/music-education/mjme/links/virtual-choral-singing.asp">purely online environments</a>. </p>
<p>Most of us possess an innate desire to create, to take simple things and use them to form more complex things. With music, we take notes and rhythms, melodies and harmonies, and assemble them in ways that express who we are. </p>
<p>When we make music as a community, we do together what is rarely possible alone. We form bands and choruses of fellow musicians and create intricate, complex and sometimes wonderfully simple music that flows from our desire to make sounds that are expressive and beautiful.</p>
<p>That can be in person. But it also can be online. My advice? Find your community. Here are a few ideas to better connect musically with others while keeping your distance. </p>
<h2>Music and people online</h2>
<p>This is an excellent time in the history of music education to learn how to play an instrument online. There are vast music lesson resources available online, beginning with YouTube. Try starting or expanding your reach as a musician with online resources including <a href="https://www.fender.com/play">Fender Play</a>, <a href="https://www.playgroundsessions.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1Iv0BRDaARIsAGTWD1taVvZxSLrN5acsrP_YKhRqVNDVW5Vw2jR00d-xV0qFjifnZfsHKa8aArsGEALw_wcB">Playground Sessions</a>, <a href="https://yousician.com/lp/gskw1piano?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1Iv0BRDaARIsAGTWD1vVmRvUJfDbm9hwqiAMQJoGBeYgY8SD1kN6ddvO25GlQcRMuXCjS6EaAi-DEALw_wcB">Yousician</a>, <a href="https://www.lessonface.com">Lessonface</a> and <a href="https://takelessons.com/online/music-lessons">TakeLessons.com</a>. Most of these resources are free for the first few months, and then require US$10 per month to continue.</p>
<p>You can also start a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2reeNKtRjg">band online</a>. Maybe you are, like me, a musician who is displaced and without people to play with because of social distancing. You don’t have to be alone. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jamkazam.com">JamKazam</a> and <a href="https://www.soundtrap.com">Soundtrap</a> offer platforms where you can connect and collaborate with other musicians. Create a login, a profile, input the instruments/voice that you would like to collaborate with, and you can be off and running in a world of music. Your first song is free, and then every one after that costs around $3.</p>
<p>One morning, I received an invitation from a drummer in Germany who wanted to jam with me on Jamkazam. <a href="http://www.coverwithme.com">Coverwithme</a>, <a href="https://bandontheweb.com">Bandontheweb</a> and <a href="https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=30740">Guitarmasterclass.net</a> are other places where people are forming bands and coming together musically online.</p>
<p>If you are a musician who used to enjoy sharing your music with other people by performing, take this time to acquaint or reacquaint yourself with online social media services. I upload a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randlesc2/">daily improvisation video</a>, my primary means of musical self-expression, and find it therapeutic – a catharsis from the emotional drain of social distancing.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326580/original/file-20200408-179754-1yrbvov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The One Good Thing Chorus in Brooklyn connected singers around the world by computer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-One-Good-Thing-Chorus/de7680826d204ee4985d78b206386bda/6/0">AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>COVID-19 has forced music educators to think about online learning. Friends in Minnesota recently compiled a list of resources for <a href="https://tinyurl.com/BandELearning">teaching band online</a>. Researchers at <a href="http://music.arts.usf.edu/content/go/music-education/mjme/links/virtual-choral-singing.asp">Purdue University</a> in Indiana and the <a href="http://www.uwindsor.ca/e-soca/7/dr-janice-waldron-music-education">University of Windsor</a> in Windsor, Ontario, are reviewing the ways that people learn music online. </p>
<p>This way of learning has <a href="http://music.arts.usf.edu/content/go/music-education/mjme/">many unexpected benefits</a>, and it is not likely to go away any time soon. Music teachers may embrace this way of thinking and doing, both in times of crisis and when our lives return to normal. </p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-help">Read The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clint Randles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Musicians around the world can connect with you online as you keep your social distance. Try it!Clint Randles, Associate Professor of Music Education, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1259442019-11-27T18:42:58Z2019-11-27T18:42:58ZBefore you let your child quit music lessons, try these 5 things<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303628/original/file-20191126-84235-hddtvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Boring lessons are one of the main reasons children want to stop music lessons.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows children are <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4921.0Main%20Features12017-18?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4921.0&issue=2017-18&num=&view">mostly likely to start studying music</a> between the ages of nine and 11.</p>
<p>Researchers in a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248981393_'If_I_play_my_sax_my_parents_are_nice_to_me'_Opportunity_and_motivation_in_musical_instrument_and_singing_tuition">2009 UK study</a> suggested the dramatic drop in music tuition after age 11 was linked to children starting high school. </p>
<p>The study also revealed the main reasons for children ending music lessons were boring lessons, frustration at a lack of progress, disliking practice and competition from other activities. Some children regretted stopping music lessons. </p>
<p>Stopping as soon as a child experiences difficulty or expresses frustration <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10824-015-9240-y">denies that child</a> the benefits of music and reinforces the message that, if something is hard, it’s not worth doing. But continuing lessons for someone who has come to resent them is futile. </p>
<p>Fortunately, there are some things parents can try which might keep kids in music class longer. And if that doesn’t work, it’s OK to stop.</p>
<h2>1. Find out the reason</h2>
<p>Sometimes a child likes the music lessons but has stage fright, doesn’t like exams or feels inferior to other musicians their age. These issues can be managed. Although they might result in a change of teacher, or repertoire or pattern of learning, they’re not of themselves a reason to stop. </p>
<h2>2. Choose the right instrument</h2>
<p>Music tuition can <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/raising-musical-kids-9780199941674?cc=us&lang=en&">go wrong quickly</a> when the wrong instrument is chosen. One <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40318138?seq=1">study suggests</a> if children select the right instrument (determined by simple aptitude tests and a preference for the sound of the instrument) they will keep on with lessons longer.</p>
<p>The choice of instrument <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/raising-musical-kids-9780199941674?cc=us&lang=en&">can depend on</a> the child’s preference, a parent’s suggestion or the availability of the instrument. Parents should take advice and, where possible, rent an instrument prior to making a financial commitment.</p>
<p>Gender expectation can <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248981393_'If_I_play_my_sax_my_parents_are_nice_to_me'_Opportunity_and_motivation_in_musical_instrument_and_singing_tuition">influence instrument choice</a>. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248981393_'If_I_play_my_sax_my_parents_are_nice_to_me'_Opportunity_and_motivation_in_musical_instrument_and_singing_tuition">Research shows</a> guitarists, saxophonists and drummers are overwhelmingly male; violinists, flautists and singers overwhelmingly female. </p>
<p>Particularly where a parent’s preference differs from that of their child, it’s wise to reflect on what is motivating the preference. Kids shouldn’t feel they have to conform to a stereotype.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303653/original/file-20191126-112522-znpe8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More boys take guitar lessons than girls. Try to not let traditional gender biases influence their choice of instrument.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Make practising less of a burden</h2>
<p>Around 70% of 5-14 year olds who play an instrument or sing spend <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4921.02017-18?OpenDocument#Data">two hours or less per week</a> on the activity. But most children <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/raising-musical-kids-9780199941674?cc=us&lang=en&">will not always want to practise</a> and many won’t know how.</p>
<p>Some children feel they are letting their parents down by not practising. This can make learning music miserable. Parents can help by: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>creating a household routine that makes time and space for practice</p></li>
<li><p>being present with younger children during practice and asking older children how practice is progressing</p></li>
<li><p>understanding how the teacher wants their child to practise. Whether via a practice diary or through communication during the weekly lesson, knowing the purpose of practice helps target the encouragement parents can provide</p></li>
<li><p>being realistic about how long their child can practise. Different teachers will <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-music-parents-survival-guide-9780199837144?cc=au&lang=en&">have different approaches</a> to how long their students should practise, but regular practice sessions are better than a longer session the night before a lesson</p></li>
<li><p>being flexible. If a child is exhausted or there has been a disruption to their routine, give them permission to take a night off</p></li>
<li><p>encouraging their child to simply begin a session, however short – rather than fixating on completing 20, 30 or 40 minutes of practice – will help establish a routine</p></li>
<li><p>celebrating small victories. Learning an instrument can be hard and children will sometimes feel they haven’t accomplished a great deal. Praising incremental improvements can help motivate your kid. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>4. Help your child take control</h2>
<p>Learning music is challenging but must be rewarding. Given lack of progress is a leading reason for stopping lessons, <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198744443.001.0001/acprof-9780198744443-chapter-6">it is vital</a>, particularly for teenagers, that they develop agency as musicians. </p>
<p>Examples of fostering agency include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>encouraging them to select some of the music they play</p></li>
<li><p>giving them space and encouragement to compose their own music</p></li>
<li><p>allowing them to choose where, when and with whom they play</p></li>
<li><p>valuing a learning journey that explores a breadth of repertoire, rather than repertoire of ever-increasing difficulty</p></li>
<li><p>letting them take responsibility for their learning. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>This last point might mean parents gradually let go of monitoring practice. An interim step is for a parent to offer to help keep the teenager accountable. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I know you often practise at 7pm […] would you like me to ask you how it’s going or remind you if it seems you’ve forgotten?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Competing interests represents a leading cause for stopping music tuition. The transition to high school is a pressure point in this regard. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303655/original/file-20191126-112512-osm386.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Getting your child to just start practice is enough to establish routine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When a child becomes over-scheduled or overwhelmed, parents should consider offering a break from music lessons. The break should be for a defined period (typically a term) and it is wise to keep the teacher informed.</p>
<h2>5. Frame the ending positively</h2>
<p>When a teenager wants to stop lessons but the parents are unsure of whether the desire is genuine or the time is right, it is sometimes possible to strike a deal. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’ve come so far and done so well […] how about you keep going until after the concert in three months and if you still feel the same way, you can stop.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Most teenagers ultimately do stop and that’s OK. The <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282156825_Liminal_or_lifelong_Leisure_recreation_and_the_future_of_music_education%5D">best thing parents can do</a> is help their child frame that ending positively. </p>
<p>Rather than seeing their child as “quitting” or “giving up”, parents should describe this transition as “moving on” or “graduating”. </p>
<p>Celebrate what they have accomplished and encourage them to keep playing for pleasure – their own, and that of others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125944/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy McKenry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Kids can stop music lessons at any time, due to boredom or disliking practice. It’s OK to let them stop if they genuinely don’t enjoy it, but it’s best to test a few things out first.Timothy McKenry, Professor of Music, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1119952019-03-04T05:12:26Z2019-03-04T05:12:26ZDoes the Suzuki method work for kids learning an instrument? Parental involvement is good, but other aspects less so<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261395/original/file-20190228-106371-1pixrvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Suzuki method requires a lot of parental involvement, so it may not be right for every family.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Giving children an instrumental music education can be expensive. In addition to purchasing an instrument and paying the cost of music lessons, parents invest their time by encouraging practice, attending recitals and driving their child to and from lessons. Parents rightly want value-for-money and confidence that their child’s teacher employs an evidenced-based, proven teaching method.</p>
<p>There are numerous approaches to teaching music, each with its own philosophy and history. To a parent looking to make an informed choice about music lessons, the options can be befuddling. But given the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?printsec=frontcover&vid=ISBN0198744447&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">research</a> highlights parental involvement as an important component for a successful music-learning experience, developing an understanding of the teaching method is vital. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-stop-nagging-your-child-to-practise-their-musical-instrument-100594">How to stop nagging your child to practise their musical instrument</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>One method that polarises the music education community is Shinichi Suzuki’s (1898-1998) “<a href="https://www.suzukimusicnsw.com.au/about/suzuki-method/">talent education</a>” (<em>saino kyoiku</em>), commonly known as the Suzuki method. It was first conceived as a system for teaching the violin. The Suzuki method arrived in Australia in the <a href="http://music-ed.net/History/index.htm">early 1970s</a> and was quickly applied to a variety of instruments. </p>
<p>Research highlights a range of positive outcomes for children learning how to play an instrument via the Suzuki method. It also shows Suzuki is not the only method that works. While the degree of parental involvement may mean Suzuki is not right for every family, the caring learning environment it encourages is one worth emulating. </p>
<h2>What is the Suzuki method?</h2>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Shinichi Suzuki playing the violin.</span></figcaption>
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<p><strong>1. Talent is no accident of birth</strong></p>
<p>The Japanese word <em><a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/198426751?selectedversion=NBD55528620">saino</a></em> has no direct English translation and can, in context, mean “talent” or “ability”. Shinichi Suzuki believed talent is not inherited, and any child could excel musically, given the right learning environment. </p>
<p>Today, advocates of the <a href="https://www.suzukimusicnsw.com.au/about/suzuki-method/">method</a> continue to echo Suzuki’s idea that “the potential of every child is unlimited”, and caring learning environments help children unlock that potential. </p>
<p><strong>2. All Japanese children speak Japanese</strong> </p>
<p>Suzuki credited the development of <em>saino kyoiku</em> to the realisation the vast majority of young children naturally and easily develop language skills. By examining the experiences that facilitate language development (including listening, imitation, memory and play), Suzuki devised the “<a href="http://www.suzukimusicqld.com.au/html/mother_tongue_approach.html">mother-tongue</a>” method for early childhood music education. Children can begin their music education from birth through listening, and can start learning an instrument from as young as three years old. </p>
<p>In contrast to some Western approaches to music teaching, reading music notation is <a href="http://www.suzukimusicqld.com.au/html/mother_tongue_approach.html">not prioritised and is delayed</a> until a child’s practical music ability is well established. In the same way a child generally learns to talk before learning to read, students of the Suzuki method start by listening to and imitating music rather than sight reading sheet music. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-music-early-can-make-your-child-a-better-reader-106066">Learning music early can make your child a better reader</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><strong>3. Character first, ability second</strong></p>
<p>Taken from the motto of the high school Suzuki attended <a href="https://suzukiassociation.org/store/nurtured-by-love-book/">until 1916</a>, “character first, ability second” is the overriding aim of the Suzuki method. In <em>saino kyoiku</em>, music learning is a means to an end: students are taught an instrument to facilitate them becoming noble human beings. </p>
<p>Some students of the Suzuki method have undoubtedly progressed on to a career in music. But creating professional musicians and celebrating child prodigies or virtuosos is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/philmusieducrevi.19.2.136#metadata_info_tab_contents">not a priority</a> of the method. </p>
<p><strong>4. The destiny of children lies in the hands of their parents</strong></p>
<p>The Suzuki method requires a <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ912407.pdf">major contribution from a parent</a> and a home environment that wholeheartedly embraces the child’s music-making. A <a href="http://www.suzukimusic.org.au/suzuki.htm#prntinvolv">parent needs to</a> participate in formal lessons, record instructions from the teacher and regularly guide and monitor practice at home. </p>
<p>The learning process is a three-way relationship between the child, the parent and the teacher. The parent becomes a “<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=17&ved=2ahUKEwiCwKX56t_gAhWIYisKHU8vC-sQFjAQegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fetd.ohiolink.edu%2F!etd.send_file%3Faccession%3Dosu1070376603%26disposition%3Dattachment&usg=AOvVaw1zvnpanu4Quj33hC-5HpQr">home teacher</a>” who helps their child develop new skills, provides positive feedback and guides the content and pacing of practice sessions. The benefit of having a parent-mentor at home is the feature that sets Suzuki apart from other teaching methods. The parent can greatly regulate time spent practising and what they do during practice.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.shaunng.com.au/2010/02/suzuki-method-criticism-and-response.html">Some music teachers</a> have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/08/arts/mark-oconnor-fans-a-debate-about-the-suzuki-method.html">criticised</a> the Suzuki method for teaching children to a high level at an earlier age than usual, for an over-reliance on rote learning, for robotic playing, for a focus on classical music, and for a lack of engagement with music notation and improvisation. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261399/original/file-20190228-106371-13oinrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261399/original/file-20190228-106371-13oinrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261399/original/file-20190228-106371-13oinrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261399/original/file-20190228-106371-13oinrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261399/original/file-20190228-106371-13oinrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261399/original/file-20190228-106371-13oinrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261399/original/file-20190228-106371-13oinrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Some aspects of the Suzuki method can work for teaching children music, other aspects are less evidence-based.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rogelio A. Galaviz C./flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>What does the research say?</h2>
<p>The research into music education supports many aspects of the Suzuki method. For example, one <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ912407">study</a> that sought to compare different modes of parental involvement in music lessons found a clear benefit from parental involvement. This benefit was not limited only to the Suzuki method. The message from this study is: the more interested the parent, the better the learning for the child. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301674764_Music_and_movement_A_comparative_study_between_the_BAPNE_and_Suzuki_Methods">study</a> compared Suzuki’s approach to teaching rhythm with the <a href="https://www.percusion-corporal.com/en/">BAPNE method</a> (Body Percussion: Biomechanics, Anatomy, Psychology, Neuroscience and Ethnomusicology). The study concluded both methods had merit and should be integrated. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1597&context=honors_theses">thesis</a> from the University of Southern Mississippi compared the Suzuki method with the method of its fiercest critic, the <a href="http://www.oconnormethod.com">O’Connor method</a>. </p>
<p>The O’Connor method is an American system where a set of music books are sold to teachers and students, and training to accredit teachers. These books are tailored to different levels of ability. </p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.oconnormethod.com/Teacher-Training-Seminars.html">method</a> is less focused on parental involvement in teaching and the selection of music is more geared towards American music. The study found the two approaches could both be effective and shared common aspects related to technique, expression and the mechanics of learning the violin. </p>
<p>The thesis does claim the O’Connor method embraces a more diverse musical repertoire. But the modern <a href="http://www.suzukimusic.org.au/suzuki.htm#env">Suzuki organisation</a> says its teachers have more flexibility in incorporating different styles of music. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/force-feeding-kids-classical-music-isnt-the-answer-41748">Force-feeding kids classical music isn't the answer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18125980.2016.1245461">study</a> out of South Africa highlights ways the Suzuki method can be adapted for use in different cultural contexts. The authors examined the challenges associated with Suzuki’s requirement for high levels of parental involvement for orphans and children from low-income and single-parent families. </p>
<p>These challenges could be overcome by a community approach to music education. In a group learning setting, older and more advanced students mentored younger, less advanced students and provided the encouragement and guidance otherwise provided by a parent. </p>
<p>Some aspects of the Suzuki method remain steeped in controversy. There is no reliable evidence to support the idea that musical training improves character and a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296916584_The_Child_as_Musician_A_Handbook_of_Musical_Development">sizeable body of research</a> contradicts the notion that genetics has no role in musical aptitude.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy McKenry is affiliated with the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) as a music examiner</span></em></p>The Suzuki method can work, but requires a high level of parental involvement.Timothy McKenry, Professor of Music, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1041812018-11-12T15:56:19Z2018-11-12T15:56:19ZPoorer children priced out of learning instruments but school music programmes benefit the wider community<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243014/original/file-20181030-76384-5maunx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In tune.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-girl-school-learning-play-violin-286767377?src=REuN69dQTSgpjl6SGaVR4w-1-79">SpeedKingz/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Years of austerity in the UK have bitten away at school budgets, and the arts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/mar/14/royal-college-of-music-head-criticises-state-of-school-music-provision-budget-cuts">have suffered</a> heavily. Schools can no longer afford <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/teaching-assistants-funding-cuts-schools-headteachers-naht-austerity-a8248816.html">to employ teaching assistants</a>, so it is little wonder that local authorities have <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45097070">cut school music funding</a>.</p>
<p>Schools are responsible for their own budgets, and musical instrument lessons that were traditionally subsidised by councils have been <a href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17203149.school-music-crisis-as-hundreds-of-tutors-axed/">cut down in some districts</a>. Now, the Musicians’ Union has found that children living in the poorest areas are no longer getting the exposure to music and the arts that they so often only get in school. With parents being asked to subside instrument lessons, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/music-lessons-school-instrument-tuition-musicians-union-poor-children-a8619201.html?amp&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR3wxAqhKU8saKNQc_WQR5qto-HrYklpnAEsj8WCfk4TVDMAfA0bGOt34Z8">41% of low-income families</a> have said that they cannot do so due to their limited household budget.</p>
<p>Research shows that if music is made enjoyable for school-age children, there are more benefits than just being able to understand notes or play an instrument. There is <a href="http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/735337/25902273/1422485417967/power+of+music.pdf">evidence to suggest</a> that children’s listening, reading, and language skills can all be developed by effective school music programmes. One study <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3090254.pdf">from the US</a> also found that pupils engaged in music activities communicated more with teachers and parents, while the parents themselves built friendships with one another. And there is a well-being aspect to this too. A study of an American community choir for ten to 14-year-old boys found it had <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/09654280210434255">social, spiritual and emotional benefits</a>.</p>
<p>Now <a href="http://cheme.bangor.ac.uk/documents/Codi'r%20To%20(English)%20.pdf">our research</a> has found that there is a huge economic benefit to children having musical education. For every £1 invested in a north Wales community programme, we saw as much as £6.69 created in social value. Social value allows us to consider the wider benefits of a programme, including those that are not usually valued in pounds and pence.</p>
<h2>Raising the roof</h2>
<p>For 18 months, we worked closely with Codi'r To (“Raise the Roof”), a Welsh <a href="http://www.codirto.com/english/about-us.html">community regeneration programme</a> set up in 2014. More than 280 children from two socio-economically challenged communities in Gwynedd take part in the scheme, from nursery age through primary school. The team behind Codi'r To has been working on music projects in the area for several years and recently adapted a <a href="https://www.sistemaeurope.org/What_is_El_Sistema">Venezuelan programme</a>, El Sistema, which seeks to achieve social change through music, and improve educational and well-being outcomes for children. </p>
<p>These sessions take place during the school day at no cost to the participants. Professional music tutors work with the children and teachers, giving them the opportunity to learn to play brass and percussion instruments. They can then play in the school orchestra or samba group. Codi'r To also works to bring live music to the community, and create opportunities for the pupils to perform in public.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241033/original/file-20181017-41140-904oqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Codi'r To musicians on stage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eira Winrow</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Our work was focused on producing a <a href="http://cheme.bangor.ac.uk/documents/Codi'r%20To%20(English)%20.pdf">social return on investment evaluation</a> of the programme. This measures a wide range of benefits, including social, environmental and economic factors. It identifies benefits for participants as well as those who may be directly affected by the results – the family members, wider school, local community and Codi'r To itself.</p>
<p>After identifying the cost of setting up the programme, the yearly running costs and putting a value on the time and other inputs from all of the stakeholders, we calculated the social value of every pound invested in it as a ratio of almost 1:7. Surprisingly, only 48% of the social value generated by Codi'r To was for the pupils. The other 51% of the social value was for family members of the children taking part. This percentage was driven by parents telling us that Codi'r To brought them closer to the community. The remaining 1% of benefit was divided between the wider school and the community.</p>
<p>We based this social value on findings that showed children’s confidence was raised (which we gave a proxy value of £238 per child), their behaviour improved at home (£711 per family) and in school (£132 per child), and that they were more engaged with the community. Teachers and the wider school benefited from more harmonious classrooms (£149 per classroom), improved behaviour and better relationships between the pupils (£419 per school). Families felt that they were more a part of the community (£2,925 per person) had better relationships with the school (£10.74 per hour of contact) and experienced better behaviour from their children at home. </p>
<p>Despite these varied benefits, Codi'r To depends on charity funding and<br>
children <a href="https://www.wbs.ac.uk/wbs2012/assets/PDF/downloads/press/Warwick-Commission-Report.pdf">from low-income familes</a> are less likely to find careers in the arts and creative industries, and less likely to be involved in after school clubs which include the arts or cultural elements too. Going forward, charitable programmes such as Sistema Cymru’s Codi'r To may be the only chance some children have to experience music and creative activities. </p>
<p>Hans Christian Andersen once said: “Where words fail, music speaks.” Perhaps it’s time for less talk and more action when it comes to getting children involved in the arts. The value of schemes like Codi'r To clearly speak for themselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104181/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eira Winrow receives PhD funding from Health and Care Research Wales. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rhiannon Tudor Edwards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For every £1 invested in a north Wales community music programme, researchers saw as much as £6.69 created in social value.Eira Winrow, PhD Research Candidate and Research Project Support Officer, Bangor UniversityRhiannon Tudor Edwards, Professor of Health Economics, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/867762017-11-06T19:21:01Z2017-11-06T19:21:01ZHow to use music to fine tune your child for school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193116/original/file-20171102-26438-11r0st4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Babies start their musical development in the womb.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can music actually make us smarter? Research suggests that from as early as 16 weeks of pregnancy, when auditory function is forming, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4768527/">babies begin their musical development</a>. Their early adaptive exposure to sounds, including those familiar sounds of parents’ voices, enhance extraordinary processing skills. </p>
<p>Neuroscience teaches us that a child’s <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_merzenich_on_the_elastic_brain">brain is plastic</a>. By this, we mean it is malleable and has the ability to change. The first year of life, more than any other year, will see the most rapid change in brain size and function as all the sensory receptors activate. Intriguingly, neuro-imaging <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference/RC2013/6august/8/">shows</a> that music alone turns on large sectors of a child’s brain, opening <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueqgenARzlE">crucial neural pathways</a> that will become the highways and byways for every piece of information the process. </p>
<p>We’d all love to think our children will grow up intelligent, blissfully free from academic struggle. Truth is, the learning journey is speckled with challenges, and each child will have a unique intelligence and learner disposition. One thing we know is that parental involvement in cognitive stimulation from the earliest years will help form solid foundations that underpin a more successful schooling journey. </p>
<p>So, what can parents do to prepare young learners for school?</p>
<h2>Sing like no one’s listening</h2>
<p>Singing nursery rhymes to your child, however old fashioned you may think it is, will get them off to a flying start. Children become particularly responsive because <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4768527/">reciprocal communication </a>occurs as they begin to mimic you - pre-empting certain sounds, tones or words that they recognise. Using pitch and rhythm in the rhymes and lullabies we introduce to our children will begin to create neural stimulation that develops the brain’s auditory cortex, transforming their ability to communicate. </p>
<h2>Bang on those pots and pans</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193123/original/file-20171102-26438-1rk48re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193123/original/file-20171102-26438-1rk48re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193123/original/file-20171102-26438-1rk48re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193123/original/file-20171102-26438-1rk48re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193123/original/file-20171102-26438-1rk48re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193123/original/file-20171102-26438-1rk48re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193123/original/file-20171102-26438-1rk48re.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>While it may fray the nerves, banging on the pots and pans is a fantastic way to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-music-education/article/timespace-structuring-in-spontaneous-play-on-educational-percussion-instruments-among-three-and-four-year-olds/47CE835FBF1B938421EDBD4FF74F737A">improve spatial reasoning</a>. With background music blaring, children first develop the coordination required to hit the metallic targets, and as their sensory cortex develops, they begin to keep in time. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1196/annals.1360.015/full%20shows">Research</a>shows that spatial reasoning, along with a sense of beat and rhythm (which invariably includes an aural and tactile sense of measure and counting) will enhance mathematical abilities.</p>
<h2>Join a children’s music group</h2>
<p>Early childhood music-based playgroups offer a unique learning context for children. The songs and activities employ beat patterns, movement, repeated chorus lines and echo singing to engage with young participants. The cerebellum at the base of our brains is responsible for movement and balance, and interestingly, is where <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3227856/">emotional reactions to music form</a>. Universally, early childhood educators use rhyme and song to teach children how language is constructed, and with good reason. Movement, foot tapping and dancing to a beat are also good ways of developing the brain’s motor cortex.</p>
<h2>The ‘Mozart Effect’</h2>
<p>There is a popular hypothesis that listening to Mozart makes you smarter. The <a href="http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/lerch1/edpsy/mozart_effect.html">“Mozart Effect”</a> refers primarily to a landmark study in 1993, where participants listening to Mozart’s music (rather than to relaxation music or silence) achieved higher <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9280.00345">spatial-temporal results</a>. Importantly, spatial-temporal reasoning is crucially active when children are performing science and maths tasks. Listening to music in any capacity induces endorphin production in the brain, causing improvement in mood and creative problem solving.</p>
<h2>Learn an instrument</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193124/original/file-20171102-26448-1pdmvll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193124/original/file-20171102-26448-1pdmvll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193124/original/file-20171102-26448-1pdmvll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193124/original/file-20171102-26448-1pdmvll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193124/original/file-20171102-26448-1pdmvll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193124/original/file-20171102-26448-1pdmvll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193124/original/file-20171102-26448-1pdmvll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Many parents wonder when a child should start learning their first musical instrument. Importantly, instrumental tuition is not about producing the next Mozart or Delta Goodrem. Music lessons, for even the briefest of periods, are enjoyable and establish a life-long skill. It has also been noted that musicians’ brains develop a <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/10/3019/tab-figures-data">thickened pre-frontal cortex</a> - their brains are actually bigger. And this is the area of the brain most crucially involved in memory. One thing researchers and music educators endorse is the amazing impact it has on the development of executive functions <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/19/3/712/436400">such as working memory, attention span and cognition</a>.</p>
<p>Many schools are putting research into practice, and Queensland is leading the way with <a href="http://musicaustralia.org.au/discover/music-education/music-education-in-australia/">music taught in 87% of schools</a>. Immersion music programs, where all students learn an instrument for a one-year minimum, have become commonplace. The results speak for themselves. </p>
<p>Psychologists from a Californian University <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01616412.1997.11740765">conducted research</a> on pre-school aged children, and proved that those who had weekly keyboard lessons improved their spatial-temporal skills 34% more than those who didn’t. The benefits did not stop there. Children developed fine motor skills, reading, auditory recognition, resilience, and increased their memory capacity. All of these benefits of instrumental tuition bode well for the classroom journey ahead.</p>
<p>You may never have considered the impact of music on the development of your child’s brain, but it’s not too late to start. Just because you can’t sing, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Your little one’s brain is far more malleable during infancy, and there is a “window of opportunity” where <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2uhP2CBnaGwC&oi=fnd&pg=PP6&dq=huttonlocher+neural+plasticity&ots=O6g8TZherH&sig=pTZRW3KxoR3ijNIZODNBuWJrtoQ#v=onepage&q=huttonlocher%20neural%20plasticity&f=false">intervention is most effective</a>. If you engage your child in musical activities, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4768527/">then research shows </a>you are directly helping to fine tune them for success in later years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chelsea Harry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There a number of ways you can use music to shape your child’s brain for success, from 16 weeks gestation right up until they start school.Chelsea Harry, Academic Researcher and Music Educator, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/739782017-04-25T11:57:01Z2017-04-25T11:57:01ZHow electro and techno could help to revolutionise school music lessons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166619/original/file-20170425-25594-nzgm56.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many British children, the music they grow up listening to with friends, family, parents and relatives is often not reflected in school music lessons. So while their teacher is trying to get them to listen to Mozart, Bach or Beethoven, back home in their bedrooms the radio is often tuned into a very different station.</p>
<p>Improving access to classical music for children from deprived backgrounds has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/05/julian-lloyd-webber-music-school-birmingham">a priority for music education</a> and rightly so. Because there is no good reason why the daughter of a brick layer or the son of a shop assistant shouldn’t be enthralled by Mozart. </p>
<p>But it is likely that for a lot of these students, rather than Chopin or Vivaldi, they will be much more familiar with a musical education in hardcore <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-yZJk9O96g">electronic dance music</a> (EDM). </p>
<p>For these young people, this is “our music”, and overlooking this in school music lessons misses an opportunity to help these pupils engage with something they are already naturally interested in. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166627/original/file-20170425-12629-4sk645.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166627/original/file-20170425-12629-4sk645.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166627/original/file-20170425-12629-4sk645.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166627/original/file-20170425-12629-4sk645.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166627/original/file-20170425-12629-4sk645.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166627/original/file-20170425-12629-4sk645.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166627/original/file-20170425-12629-4sk645.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hardcore electronic dance music has great potential for student engagement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels.</span></span>
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<p>For a lot of these kids, they’ve grown up with this music – their aunties, brothers and friends are into it, too. And their parents were probably ravers in the heyday of “acid house” or the subsequent years when “happy hardcore” and other forms of harsh, repetitive EDM provided the soundtrack for the lives of countless young people.</p>
<p>School music lessons, however, very rarely even acknowledge the existence of such music within British culture. In many schools, coverage of dance music might stretch from the Galliard or the Pavan to Disco via the Viennese Waltz, but no further in most cases.</p>
<h2>Modern music making</h2>
<p>Serious engagement with rave and post-rave EDM in the classroom is rare in the extreme. Even your classic mainstream dance music seems to be way off the agenda in most schools. </p>
<p>This much was clear to me when I provided training on using DJ decks in music teaching for a group of <a href="https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/">Teach First</a> trainee teachers back in 2013.</p>
<p>Teach First sees young graduates recruited into tough, under-performing, inner-city schools for their first teaching placements. And yet despite the strong prevalence of youth culture and niche music scenes in many of these cities – grime in London or bassline in Sheffield – none of these young teachers had seen such equipment used in the schools where they were on placements.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166624/original/file-20170425-27254-1yee0mr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166624/original/file-20170425-27254-1yee0mr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166624/original/file-20170425-27254-1yee0mr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166624/original/file-20170425-27254-1yee0mr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166624/original/file-20170425-27254-1yee0mr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166624/original/file-20170425-27254-1yee0mr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166624/original/file-20170425-27254-1yee0mr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Bassline in Sheffield.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/organiser/donuts-at-dq/">Facebook</a></span>
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<p>This was with one exception: one trainee admitted that his school had DJ decks but, disappointingly, he explained that they were never removed from the cupboard where they were gathering dust as “nobody knows what to do with them”.</p>
<h2>Face the music</h2>
<p>I, too, had little or no experience of using DJ decks when I became a secondary school music teacher in 2003. MC rapping was alien to me and I had never been much of an enthusiast of EDM. </p>
<p>But because of the inner-city character of the North East of England school I was working in, I soon realised that a large minority of the learners were passionate about a form of happy hardcore EDM known as “<a href="http://www.factmag.com/2014/09/04/geordie-shore-this-aint-introducing-makina-the-northeast-scene-keeping-the-hardcore-flame-burning/">makina</a>”. This is a <a href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/makina-the-youth-culture-phenomenon-taking-over-newcastle">sub genre of hardcore techno</a> – which originates in Spain. It is similar to UK hardcore, and it includes elements of bouncy techno and hardtrance.</p>
<p>The bulk of the pupils that were into this type of music at my school were considered to be some of the most disaffected and “at risk” learners. But I actually learned much of what I now know about DJing and MCing from these young people.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166623/original/file-20170425-12662-1jf286e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166623/original/file-20170425-12662-1jf286e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166623/original/file-20170425-12662-1jf286e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166623/original/file-20170425-12662-1jf286e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166623/original/file-20170425-12662-1jf286e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166623/original/file-20170425-12662-1jf286e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166623/original/file-20170425-12662-1jf286e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A makina rave in Newcastle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monta Musica Facebook</span></span>
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<p>I also made a little effort to learn from expert local DJs and MCs about this form of music-making and the attendant skills so that I could give it coverage in my lessons.</p>
<p>I have seen first hand the <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-boys-dislike-school-or-just-what-theyre-learning-23400">transformative effect</a> the use of DJing and MCing in the classroom can have upon learners. And yet the creative use of DJ decks coupled with MC rapping – an international musical tradition for around 40 years – is barely recognised as a musical discipline even in many of the inner-city schools. </p>
<p>Conversations with the large US provider of music education <a href="http://www.littlekidsrock.org/">Little Kids Rock</a> have indicated that a similar situation pertains across the US.</p>
<h2>Lost in music</h2>
<p>While this kind of music gets some coverage in <a href="http://yuaf.org.uk/">pupil referral units</a> and youth clubs, and some schools employ visiting specialists for extra-curricular learning, it is extremely rare to find it employed in mainstream classrooms for everyday lessons with the regular music teacher. But given the availability of more affordable technology such as “DJ controllers” and CD decks, this situation may hopefully begin to improve. </p>
<p>Making our classrooms relevant to students is vitally important, because if
school feels culturally alien and alienating – as indeed it does for a significant minority of typically inner-city youth – then as educators we are leaving behind a whole group of keen and passionate music lovers.</p>
<p>Engaging pupils with music they know and love is one way to make school feel more familiar and more welcoming. And it could even help to change a few <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/08/chavs-demonization-owen-jones-review">stereotypes</a> about what “types of people” listen to “what types of music” in the process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73978/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pete Dale has provided advisory consultation to Little Kids Rock in an unpaid capacity. </span></em></p>When the classroom is your dance floor.Pete Dale, Senior Lecturer in Popular Music, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.