The non-musical benefits of music lessons are vast and varied. And they stretch far beyond the ability to read music and produce a pleasant sound on an instrument. Music lessons are like weekly workshops where people learn important life and employment skills. They are also a time of personal development providing individuals with the time and space to learn how to deal with an array of different emotions and life situations. Music teachers become mentors gently steering and guiding students towards a life of success. But how can a thirty-minute lesson once a week achieve all this? Well, let’s break it down a tiny bit.
Learning an instrument is usually accompanied by an array of activities including opportunities to play in ensembles, perform and sit exams. With each of these comes a certain level of pressure that students must learn to navigate. The preparation process alone teaches students how to focus and concentrate. Not to mention let alone the intense concentration required during a performance.
During each lesson students, in order to make progress must also learn to deal with criticism. They need to accept the advice of their teacher, a person who is vastly more knowledgeable in the area of their instrument than the student. This produces adults who are considerably more willing to listen to other people’s views. It sets them up to be able to not only receive but to give criticism in a constructive and appropriate manner (Johnston, 2004).
Each performance involves a level a risk-taking. Will, I wear my emotions on my sleeve and play expressively even though the audience might not like it? Will I perform this piece by memory? Improvise a solo? Learning to take appropriate risks is rewarding and has a very high pay off for the individual.
Music being a highly subjective field also teaches the art of gracefully accepting the “referee’s” decision. Each exam produces a series of comments about the student’s performance. While the examiner is highly qualified they are still human. This provides students with the opportunity to learn that opinions are not truth or reality and that peoples’ decision may be respected whether we agree with them or not (Johnston, 2004).
The process of learning to create music is riddled with mistakes. Mistakes are how we learn – they are even encouraged. We make them so we learn how to deal with them in performance, how to accept them and not get frustrated. We learn not to let them rule our lives.
One of the important steps to growing up and maturely functioning within society is learning to become independent, self-motivated and tolerant of others. The relationship between student and teacher helps to impart and demonstrate the value of respecting your elders. If students don’t listen to and respect the advice of their teacher, progress becomes slow and far less enjoyable. Ensemble activities also require students to respect their peers, they learn to take turns and value other people’s ideas.
Ensembles also surround individuals with students who are both more advanced and less experienced than themselves, which is a humbling and inspiring learning curve. Students learn patience as they wait there turn to play and hear the reward of everyone playing together. They learn to conquer their fear by performing solos and become self-disciplined individuals who are diligent and ‘do’ instead of simply observing. The self-esteem and self-worth attained through these situations last a lifetime.
From lesson 1 to lesson 4570 and beyond, students are constantly problem-solving, exercising creative thinking, time management and project management. If this method of practice doesn’t work what can I try? What can I do to produce a better sound? How should I interpret the emotional content of this piece? They learn how to cope with deadlines. Performances and exams provide both long and short-term goals as well as opportunities to develop public presentation skills.
Instrumental lessons demand perseverance. It takes time and patience. Some concepts may be grasped quickly and with little effort while others take hours, months even years of practice to achieve. This imparts the principle of ‘working even when you don’t feel like it’ and demonstrates to students that progress is not always constant and linear; it is normal for it to vary drastically.
A huge aid to successfully navigating years of performing, exams and constructive criticism is the ability to maintain positive assumptions and thinking. Performers are encouraged to imagine positive outcomes and to visualize their performance in a positive manner. This helps manage performance anxiety and greatly affects the outcome of the event.
Instruments require vast amounts of coordination, timing and fine motor skills. Hands are required to operate independently of each other developing ambidexterity and the ability to control one’s posture and breathing is paramount to the success of many instruments.
Whether composing your own music or playing someone else’s, creativity and self-expression are at the very core of what musicians do. Musicians interpret music which expresses emotion that can’t be articulated through words. As musicians learn the art of self-expression their playing becomes unique, exciting and inspiring but more importantly the ability to express oneself contributes significantly to ones’ self-esteem, confidence and mental health.
Ideas flow through every piece of music but there is so much more than simply ‘musical’ ideas. Students get introduced to the important notion that there is more than one right way to achieve something and that nobody including themselves is perfect.
While the soul of music is not maths, it is mathematical. Music lessons consequently help teach maths, they also improve memory skill and introduce basic physics. Every student has to learn ‘how’ to memorise theory, technical terms (which usually aren’t in English) and entire pieces; these approaches can then be easily applied to other disciplines. Music has also been scientifically proven to be highly beneficial for the brain[1] and teaches active children ‘how’ to sit still and be quiet for designated periods of time while still being attentive – an imperative skill for concert going and valued by every classroom teacher.
Music lessons provide a safe space where peer interaction is encouraged and social skills are fostered. Playing in an ensemble requires communication, teamwork and collaboration. Individuals need to understand how their part functions with the larger ensemble and everyone learns to work towards a common goal.
The study of music also introduces students to the music of other cultures, which fosters open-mindedness. They learn to respect and draw from other culture’s ideas and traditions. This, in turn, develops empathy and compassion among students. Different becomes something to engage with and learn from instead of something to be judged.
Lastly, instrumental lessons are a means through which people can learn how to be good at something: break it down; start early; remain calm and focused especially when under pressure; critique your own work; persist; allow enough time; work when you don’t want to; listen to and respect your teacher and peers; and most importantly enjoy what you do. Music lessons impart a sense of craftsmanship and an understanding of the difference between work that is excellent and mediocre.
All instrumental lessons help to develop strong and healthy individuals who understand how to function within society. Participants are more likely to value the role of other individuals and understand how they come together to constitute a whole. The skills we teach last a lifetime. They are transferable to every area of life and the music we make brings joy to many.
[1] https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins
Johnston, Philip. ‘The Practice Spot Guide to Promoting Your Teaching Studio’ 2004.
https://www.parents.com/kids/development/intellectual/benefits-of-music-lessons/
https://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/twelve-benefits-of-music-education/
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