Top 20 Reasons Why Children Should Study Music

Copyright 2006 Deborah Torres Patel

All you need to do is visit the kids audio/video section of your local CD shop and you will be bombarded with a multitude of educational enhancement products to buy. You may find Baby Einstein or Brainy Baby and an abundance of similar merchandise to make your child smarter. These types of goods can be a wonderful way to introduce music to your children before the age of three. However, nothing can replace private music lessons for a 3 to 9 year old.

The brain develops at a rapid rate between birth and three and is an essential window for the development of neurons. Therefore, encouraging musical exploration is an easy way to promote intellectual development.

Before the age of three, toy instruments can be an excellent introduction to the real thing and group musical play classes can prepare a child for later study. Singing at any age is highly beneficial and linguistic & musical awareness can begin as early as the fifth month of pregnancy when the fetal brain and ears are wide open to receive stimulus.

From the age of 3 years old, a childs brain circuits are mature enough to begin instrumental and/or vocal lessons. Voice is probably the most important instrument because singing is a tremendous gateway to confident communication and full self-expression.

The piano is usually the best musical instrument to start with because it does not require any specific fingering to play. However, children should choose instruments to play by the sounds they like. Kids will practice more if they like the sound of an instrument.

If your child chooses the piano, inexpensive electronic keyboards are a good way to begin because they are very affordable and portable. Many brands on the market today will display the notes on a digital screen while music is being played. These types of keyboards can greatly assist a child to begin to read musical notes and symbols. They also often have built in rhythm and song functions that make singing and dancing along with the music easy.

Since Howard Gardners Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1983 and Gordon Shaw and Francis Rauschers Mozart Effect in 1993, there has be much debate and research into whether or not music study can be linked to better academic performance.

You will find thousands of books, products, articles and websites discussing the advantages of studying music. For your convenience, the top 20 benefits reported for vocal and instrumental music study are listed below.

1. Music training has been linked to spatial-temporal reasoning skills. (I.e. ability to read a map, put puzzles together, form mental images, transform/visualize things in space that unfold over time, and recognize relationships between objects. These skills are often helpful in science, math, and chess.)

2. Musical symbols, structure, and rhythmic training utilize fractions, ratios, and proportions, which are all important in mathematical study.

3. Increases problem finding/solving, logic and thinking skills like analysis, evaluation and the linkage/organization of ideas

4. Optimizes brain neuron development & circuitry

5. Assists motor development especially coordination of hands, eyes and body

6. Expands multiple intelligences and helps students transfer study, cognitive and communication skills from subject to subject in any syllabus

7. Group orchestra or ensemble activities help promote cooperation, social harmony and teach kids discipline while working together toward a common goal.

8. Music augments memory. For example, most people learn their ABCs by singing them. Repeating a tune in a predictable rhythmic song structure makes memorization easier.

9. Singing is a great way to aid/improve reading ability and instruction. Karaoke is a perfect example. Children may learn a song by ear (auditory) but words on a TV or computer screen provide a simultaneous visual anchor.

10. In vocal music learning rhythm, phrasing, and pitch greatly enhances language, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary skills. This is especially noticeable when using songs in first and second language study.

11. Improves critical reading and writing

12. Raises test scores, decreases performance anxiety, and teaches kids how to handle/manage stress during standardized exams

13. Helps children channel unexpressed and/or negative emotions in a positive way

14. Boosts creative thinking

15. Reading music and performing memorized pieces help children to think ahead

16. Improvisation helps people to think on their feet

17. Solo performance is connected to self-esteem & self-efficacy. (concept of self capacity) Children learn to reach for their very best.

18. When kids prepare and consistently practice for recital or performance, they work to sing/play without errors. They generally apply similar determination and perseverance to many future endeavors academic or otherwise.

19. Improves understanding of homework and enables a higher levels of concentration

20. Children who study music usually have a better attitude, are more motivated and are less intimidated by learning new things

Strong music reading, writing notation, sight singing (solfege), music theory, literacy, and moving the body to music are solid, transferable skills. Learning is a two-way street. For example, one can assume that mathematics can also develop music. Academic achievement links positively with musical achievement and vice versa.

As early as the 19th century, the visionary Dr. Maria Montessori included music and arts into her worldwide school curriculums to greatly enhance and accelerate learning.

Lorna Heyge, Ph.D., says: “While educational leaders turn to early childhood music because it promotes brain development, they will stay with music because of the joy and stimulation experienced in actual music making. Music learning requires total involvement-that is why it appeals so much to young children”

Licensing Music An Intelligent Step Towards Your Musical Career Goal

The music industry is flourishing in recent times and hence most of the individuals choose this field to gain fame and earn money. If you observe the current musical products that are being launched in the market, you will come across the fact that most of these musical pieces have either been copied from some other source or the older songs have been remixed to make a new version. Music licensing company acts as a medium through which the producers get a chance to choose an original product from wide array of symphonies. The artists who publish their products in the music libraries organized by these companies go for licensing music to assure the film makers that these pieces belong to them and nobody else.

When this remixing technique first came into existence, the listeners liked them a lot. But changing the old slow songs into hip hop type of music by remixing them, gradually became the trend of the music industry. The audiences who liked these products earlier started taking it in a negative way and the experts began to give negative comments. This, in turn, made it essential for the producers of multiple entertainment products to search for some original opus in the libraries offered by the music licensing company. These are the creations of commoners who struggle to become a renowned star in the music industry. These unknown artists, however, go for licensing music process before they publish their original musical pieces on the libraries.

The talented music artists always try to compose something unique. If you are among these composers, then always opt for licensing music process. Having a license and possessing a copyright ensures that the musical piece belongs to you. Nobody else will have the right to claim it as his own. Even if someone does, you can litigate him in a lawsuit. But, even if your music gets copied and presented as someone else’s creation, you would never be able to litigate the person in the court if you do not have a license for that creation. Thus, as soon as you create a composition, you must, first of all obtain a copyright on it. Music licensing company is the best source to help you in doing so.

The present group of audiences is smart enough to notice the defects of the entertainment industry. This is the reason that drives the producers of entertainment products towards the music licensing company. Once the unknown artists obtain a license for their lyrics or compositions, they publish it in the music libraries online. These are the sites that are visited very often by the film makers or TV commercial makers. Whenever any unique collection is required, the producers select the composition based on what their product sequence demands. Licensing music helps the artists obtain a license for their product and the producers use it on their behalf in case they place the composition of the same musician in their product.

Licensing music not only gives an opportunity to the producers to use the creation of someone else in their entertainment product, but also helps the budding artists in paving their path towards a successful musical career. Music licensing company, however, does not only help the film producers, but also the makers of TV commercials, websites, video games, etc. where music plays an important role.

Music Licensing Is A Great Way To Promote Brands

Can you think of every way individuals use music in the course of a day. The most common are MP3s, CDs, radio. But we also hear a steady stream of music in different commercials, in the background of radio commercials, when we are on hold during a call to bank, from music while relaxing in any restaurant or when the local band plays songs on Friday night at our favorite club. In every case, the lyrics writer is earning a music licensing fees. In addition to the income which these deals bring in, they extend and strengthen the musical brand with the cool music for brands and expose it to more number of individuals. The cool music for brands create a connection between the music and the service or product being promoted.

It is always advisable to hire a well known music licensing company, efficient in this job of promoting cool music for brands rather than promoting you. But for an unknown lyricist or one just starting to enjoy their success, a smaller music licensing company can offer better service regarding licensing their music.

Individuals must bear in mind that there is a difference between a music library and a licensing company. A music library merely adds-up the music of any artist to a large catalog database for potential users to peruse. A music licensing firm pro actively goes out and pitches their music specifically. This music licensing company charges a larger fee but it is worth paying.

Apart from use in TV commercials, TV episodes, movie trailers, and on films, music are also used greatly in video games also. Video games provide a great opportunity for placement of music. But it is essential to match the music with the commodity. For instance, a fusion jazz may work perfectly for any dinner club radio advertisement. While choosing any music licensing company do a good homework. Check to make sure whether they have any pending lawsuits or not for non-payment. Try to talk to other artists who have worked with this company involved in promoting cool music for brands. The artists must ensure they know exactly what they are signing while entering into the contract. Another essential thing to bear in mind is that individuals must never pay any kind of upfront fees. Reputable companies that provide assistance in licensing music never charge any upfront fees. These licensing music firms work on commission. These firms do not make profit until the artists do. Therefore if any licensing music firm asks money from any individual, it will be better not to go in any kind of deal with such company.

Web is the best place to find out several reputable music licensing companies. Selecting any company carefully will help you to avoid any future trouble. The utmost benefit of music licensing is that individuals can control use of their music. Once individuals opt for licensing music, they can have a legal right on their compositions. Anyone interested in using their symphony need to take their permission to use it. Artists can get a good amount of money by providing others the right to use it.