The gift of music, and how keeping a beat might help with cognitive development
Music is magical. It has the power to move us to joy and sorrow, to bring back memories, to make us move and dance and to let us sing out loud – whether we’re alone or not. Many occasions in our lives are accompanied by music, and a song can bring us back to a particular moment in time. But does it also play a part in your child’s development?
Your child will have been hearing the music they’re surrounded by since before they were even born, and as they’ve grown you might have noticed they have a preference for certain songs or rhythms. They may even be enjoying singing along, or making up their own words, to favourites.
There has long been an interest among scientists, and parents, in how music can be beneficial to child development.
This is a large and complicated area of study, as it can be difficult for researchers to pinpoint what exactly is (or isn’t) directly impactful on development over time when children are exposed to so many different experiences as they grow.
We explored one specific claim in our article Does listening to classical music make your toddler more intelligent? (Spoiler: it does not!)
This doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits for your child’s development from listening to music, they simply might not be the ones we imagine when we press play.
A review paper published in 2017 analysed 46 peer-reviewed papers about the impact of music (particularly making music) on child development. The paper’s analysis suggests there are likely to be some developmental benefits to music being part of children’s education, but that the existing research was not conclusive, so it is an area in which further study would be beneficial.[1]
More recently, a 2019 study[2] looked into how learning music can support children’s executive function skills. These are a set of cognitive skills that include planning, problem solving and impulse control.
Previous studies have shown a link between learning about music and improved executive functions, and this study wanted to dig deeper into what it was about the music that might have this effect.
They found that children in the experiment whose music classes focused on rhythm (rather than pitch) showed significant progress when it came to inhibition (managing their impulses). More studies are needed into exactly why, and how, this is happening, but it shows the importance of enjoying the rhythm of music.
So, what does that mean for your child (and you)?
Most of all, it means that enjoying music is something to encourage and nurture in your child. Whether they prefer dancing and drumming along to some classic rock, twirling and keeping time with a musical number or clapping along to nursery rhymes – getting into the rhythm will be beneficial for your child’s development.
Remember to think about the rhythm, as well as the tune or the words, and make sure you and your child spend plenty of time dancing, jumping, swaying and clapping to songs you both love.
Encourage them to play ‘drums’ on boxes, tables and even their own knees to practise keeping a beat, and know that you are not only creating joyful moments but supporting their cognitive development too.
References:
[1] Dumont E., Syurina E.V., Feron Frans J. M., van Hooren S. (2017) ‘Music Interventions and Child Development: A Critical Review and Further Directions’. Frontiers in Psychology. 8:2017 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01694
[2] Frischen U., Schwarzer G., Degé F. (2019) ‘Comparing the Effects of Rhythm-Based Music Training and Pitch-Based Music Training on Executive Functions in Preschoolers’. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. 13:2019 DOI=10.3389/fnint.2019.00041