Dahee Boo Boo 1

Ms. Limoso
EN 12
09 September 2014
Music as Fertilizer in child development
What does music mean to us? to you? It can be your hobby or it can be your
occupation. For some people, it is their way of expressing their feelings, their emotions.
There are more definitions of music and certainly, they are all right because the meaning of
music depends on how we accept it as. Music happens everywhere. Everything we hear is
music in different forms. To enjoy music, we use the sense of hearing. But unconsciously we
use other senses too. For example, in watching a grand concert of a famous orchestra, we use
not only sense of hearing but also the sense of sight. The arrangement of the orchestra,
identical movement of the bows of string instruments and even their clothes are intended and
planned perfectly to offer the audience pleasure to the eye. More relatable example can be
music videos of trending songs. Music video gives more color to the song by putting the
lyrics or the mood of it into an action. In playing musical instrument, we use the sense of
touch. Making your own music, your own sound is an interesting thing. Musicians put a lot of
time in choosing their instrument. Factors to consider are the size, the texture, the appearance,
the quality etc. I, as a violin player, know that in choosing violin, the first thing to consider is
the size. Having the right sized violin makes it more comfortable for the player to stay in one
position. Music is more than what we think it is.
Both my sister and I started learning music at very young age. I learned violin while
my sister learned piano which were the most common and suitable musical instruments for
our age. You can spot music academy anywhere in South Korea. Most of the students are of
age three up to thirteen or even above. It was not a big deal for me during that time but when
I thought about it, I got curious on the reason why Korean parents are obsessed in sending
Boo 2
their children to music academy to teach them how to play piano or other instruments. If you
ask them why are you sending your children to music academy?, you will probably get an
answer like I heard that children who learned musical instrument are smarter than those who
didnt. Do they really know the effect of music on children? Are they aware of the benefits
from leaning music and how they are obtained? You will be surprised about the things your
child can develop from music, and about the point that you never noticed these even they are
happening right in front of you. Although learning music takes a lot of time, effort, and
money, children of age 0 to thirteen must be exposed to music and learn them in order to
benefit better mental, physical, and psychological development.
Now the question is how does music affect childhood development? Lets arrange it
by stages of childs growth. The earliest stage when a child can get benefits from music is
when he or she is still inside the womb of his or her mother. They arent still fully developed
therefore, protected inside the womb. These infants in the womb dont have sense of smell,
sense of sight and sense of taste yet. They depend on touch, the warmth from the mother and
on sounds from the outer environment. Sounds they hear make them realize that there are
something beyond the place they are trapped in. Even after birth, these infants find comfort in
hearing what they used to hear inside their mothers womb. One interesting example can be
the crumpling sound of a plastic bag. Professionals say that it is similar to the sound they hear
inside the womb. So if infants start to cry, they produce crumpling sound of a plastic to stop
them. Music can also affect the mother whose health is crucial for the survival of the baby.
This will be further discussed in the effects of music in ones emotion.
Now that the baby is out of his/her mothers womb, he or she will have to learn a lot
of things. They have to learn basic skills which involves moving, speaking and thinking.
Boo 3
Music helps children develop basic skills needed for their future in a much easier way.
Parents dont have to force their children to learn but just by exposing their children to music
helps them in improving their verbal and non-verbal skills. Infants cannot move freely yet
since their limbs are still too weak to do that. The first thing they can do is making sound,
cooing. Remember that they had the sense of hearing since the very start. (Unless the baby
was unfortunately born deaf) They learn from what they hear and they try to imitate it. The
reason why babies learn words like mama or dede even before learning ABCs is because
they hear them often and know what these refer to. If you think of music and babies at the
same time, the first thing that comes to the mind is nursery rhymes. Why do little babies
place their attention on you when you start to sing nursery rhymes? Why do they enjoy them?
It is because they are different from what they usually hear. Babies learn fast when something
interest them. The song ABCs is also played in cheerful, cute yet simple tone for babies to
learn and to remember them. As they grow, they will start to crawl and walk. They can
develop motor skills by dancing and moving with the music. It can serve as an exercise for
them to gain more muscles and to digest their food properly.
When these babies reach age of 4 to 6, they will go to nursery school or kinder
garden where they will finally have social encounter with children of their age. By making
and playing music together, children learn teamwork and rivalry at the same time. Singing
together, dancing together, they learn to socially interact. They learn how to cooperate with
others. Did you know that music can also teach children to be obedient? When the teacher
teach children how to sing or dance, they become the model and demonstrate the act in order
for them to follow. As children follow the teacher, it gives them the thought that whatever she
teaches them must be followed. This way, they learn how to listen, how to concentrate and
how to obey.
Boo 4
It helps children develop creativity and imagination. According to David Hargreaves
who wrote the book, The Developmental Psychology of Music, creativity is one of the most
complex, mysterious, and fascinating aspects of human behavior. Music helps children
develop the ability to think beyond what is taught to them. It also encourages self-impression
which allows them to express their feeling and thoughts. It prepares them to face bigger
environment by developing open-minded-ness and flexibility.
One effective way of making your children associate with music is by teaching them
how to play musical instrument. Of course some better benefits follow. Letting children play
an instrument and continuously praising and encouraging them boosts up their self-
confidence. This way, children can overcome shyness, learn to explore new things, and
become socially active meaning that they can interact better with others. Learning how to
read musical notes is pretty much the same with reading books. It requires concentration and
understanding. It helps children practice fast reading skills and exercises their brain. Holding
musical instrument needs proper posture and good control of muscles and bones. It prevents
children from slouching. Being exposed to music, it also helps improve hearing system. This
way, children learn something called pitch discrimination, the ability to distinguish different
tones. (Including the volume and the level) There is also study that shows that music can
actually help improve vision but it is not explored further for validation. Those who play
instruments that require blowing/breathing need good respiratory system. Thats why those
who started learning at young age and practices win instrument up to old age, tend to avoid
smoking cigarettes. Those instruments also force you to breathe deep, which helps release
toxin and tension from your body.
Studies showed that children who learned musical instruments have greater academic
Boo 5
and non-academic performance than those who didnt. The following is the detailed
information about this study:
Schellenberg reported a positive correlation between music lessons and IQ in 611 year
olds, and showed that taking music lessons as a child predicts both academic performance
and IQ in young adulthood (holding constant family income and parents' education). In an
experimental study, Schellenberg also showed that a group of six year-olds who
received keyboard or singing lessons in small groups for 36 weeks had significantly larger
increases in full-scale IQ and standardized educational achievement than did matched
groups of children receiving either drama lessons or no lessons. Schellenberg argued that
music lessons function as additional schoolingrequiring focused attention, memorization,
and the progressive mastery of technical skill.
Music can also affect ones emotion, behavior and even personality. One good
example is the background music played in dramatic scene in a movie. Background music
adds more emotion to move the audience. Music can also provide relaxation and comfort, of
course, depending on the choice of music.
But this is not easy as we think. First of all, it costs a lot of money. Musical
instrument like violin is quite expensive. The cheapest one that can be bought in Philippine
must be around 3,000 pesos. And it is not the only thing that costs money. Other equipment is
needed too to maintain the good state of the instrument. Paying for lessons is another which
depends on who you get as a teacher. Thats why there are less opportunity for those who are
in lower class to learn musical instrument. Another obstacle is that it requires a lot of
endurance. Musical skills are not obtained in single night. It can take years to learn them.
Children need constant encouragement and support in order for them to learn music.
It is not only the teacher/instructors duty to teach your children how to learn music. Parents
attention and guidance is needed too in order for them to benefit all those things listed above.
Boo 6
Music is so naturally united with us that we cannot be free from
it even if we so desire. Boethius

Work cited
"Benefits of Music in Child Development." PEPS. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.peps.org/ParentResources/by-topic/development/physical/language-
dev/benefits-of-music-in-child-development>.

Buffer Social. 8 Surprising Ways Music Affects and Benefits Our Brains - - The Buffer
Blog. Web. 9 Sept. 2014. <http://blog.bufferapp.com/music-and-the-brain>.

Lock, C. Eat Smart for a Great Start Newsletter. turn-to-the-arts-to-boost-self-esteem PBS.
PBS. Web. 9 Sept. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/turn-to-
the-arts-to-boost-self-esteem/>.

"PaulBorgese.com | The Benefits of Music on Child Development." PaulBorgese.com | The
Benefits of Music on Child Development. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.paulborgese.com/report_benefitofmusic.html>.

Sacks, Oliver W. Musicophilia:Tales of music and the Brain. New York:Alfred A. Knopf,
2007.
Schlaug, G. PLOS ONE.. Practicing a Musical Instrument in Childhood Is Associated with
Enhanced Verbal Ability and Nonverbal Reasoning. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003566>.