Is Your Child Struggling in School? Get Him (Or Her) Music Lessons

This is counterintuitive, I know. Our natural response to seeing our child struggle is to find a way to help, not to add to the burden. If a child is struggling, why should we risk setting them up for failure in music lessons?

The answer is simple. Playing music has been discovered to have a direct and almost immediate effect on the brain of the student. That's right. Music lessons have been shown in a German study to have a significant impact on the way the brain functions after as little as five weeks!

What they found, when comparing a group of students taking music lessons with a control group that was not, was that students who had taken as few as ten music lessons over a five week period exhibited a significant ear to hand link.

So? What's the big deal? Life doesn't make much use of ear to hand connections unless you want to play an instrument by ear (I've always thought that provoked a strange mental picture ? imagine the ears you'd have to have to play the trombone!). The significance is two fold. First, it means that music lessons lead to brain development which ultimately means that music lessons have the effect of giving the individual that is taking the lessons improved brain function from which to draw in the rest of his or her life. Second, (and I saved the best for last) the ear to hand brain connection from music lessons is significant because researchers in Hong Kong took the study one step further and tested a group of students with music lessons and a group without music lessons for verbal memory and found that the group that was taking music lessons outscored their nonmusical peers by a significant margin.

It gets better still. The same groups of students were tested a year later, even after some of them had discontinued their music lessons, and found that they still outscored their nonmusical peers in verbal tests!

The moral to that story is get your child (or even yourself) into music lessons if you want your child to have every advantage possible in life, because these are only two benefits that we know of, but there are bound to be far more yet to be discovered.

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and products such as DVD's, CD's, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He can be reached at http://www.chordpiano.com. He is the author of the popular free 101-week e-mail newsletter titled "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Piano Chord Progressions" with over 56,650 current subscribers. Those interested may obtain a free subscription by going to http://www.playpiano.com

---

Google News Updated : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:07:34 GMT Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage - New York Times BBC News Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage New York Times - 49 minutes ago By FRANK RICH SARAH PALIN makes John McCain look even older than he is. And he seemed more than willing to play that part on Thursday night. An Apostle of Alaska Newsweek 'Sarah Palin Is Wasilla': Town Stands Behind VP Pick ABC News Wall Street Journal - The Associated Press - Los Angeles Times - The Observer all 1,411 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:18:29 GMT Jenkins: Murray willing to play the spoiler - San Francisco Chronicle BBC Sport Jenkins: Murray willing to play the spoiler San Francisco Chronicle - 23 minutes ago (09-06) 18:24 PDT New York -- Andy Murray must feel very alone just now. He's a long way from his native Scotland. He's carrying the hopes of British tennis, but the London press would really prefer him to be English. Federer beats Djokovic to reach US Open final The Associated Press Split stadiums for US Open semis ruffles crowd International Herald Tribune The Star-Ledger - NJ.com - Bloomberg - Independent - New York Times all 486 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:44:27 GMT Dodgers overtake first place - MLB.com The Associated Press Dodgers overtake first place MLB.com - 2 hours ago By Michael Schwartz / MLB.com LOS ANGELES -- Manny Ramirez's five RBIs propelled the Dodgers into first place in the National League West for only the second day all season Saturday after a 7-2 win over the D-backs at Dodger Stadium. Ramirez, Billingsley lead streaking Dodgers into first place The Canadian Press Dodgers move into first place Los Angeles Times The Associated Press - Sports Network - AZ Sports Hub - National Post all 679 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:14:26 GMT Gates outacts Seinfeld in Back To The Future - CNET News Seattle Times Gates outacts Seinfeld in Back To The Future CNET News - 2 hours ago Which is why Crispin Porter Bogusky, the agency responsible for the otherworldly new Microsoft TV spot featuring the clowning Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, is already happy. Microsoft's Renewed Vista Strategy PC World You Thought Vista Was Bad? InformationWeek Ars Technica - New York Times - CRN - Macworld all 514 news articles Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:01:52 GMT Report: Samsung working to acquire SanDisk - San Jose Mercury News Report: Samsung working to acquire SanDisk San Jose Mercury News - 9 hours ago AP Samsung was reported Friday to be considering buying Milpitas-based SanDisk, whose revenue has diminished and stock has plummeted in recent months due to the saturated flash-memory market. SanDisk Shares Soar on Samsung Interest BusinessWeek SanDisk Shares Surge as Samsung Considers Acquisition (Update3) Bloomberg New York Times - Forbes - IntoMobile - Financial Times all 424 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:19:13 GMT Movies opening this week - San Jose Mercury News Canada.com Movies opening this week San Jose Mercury News - 5 hours ago By Mercury News "Burn After Reading" (R): The Coen brothers follow "No Country for Old Men" with a dark comedy about two inept gym employees who get hold of a CD-ROM containing a CIA operative's memoirs. Toronto Review: The Coen Brother's Burn After Reading First Showing Pitt Rocks to Madonna FOXNews Reuters - Newsweek - Entertainment Weekly - People Magazine all 213 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:56:32 GMT European space probe completes asteroid fly by - Reuters BBC News European space probe completes asteroid fly by Reuters - 11 hours ago BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Space Agency obtained on Saturday the first images of an asteroid 360 million km (224 million miles) from earth, part of a space mission which scientists hope will help them understand the origins of the planets. Rosetta spacecraft takes asteroid photos United Press International Spacecraft flies by remote asteroid, camera stops The Associated Press Taipei Times - Sky & Telescope - Detroit Free Press - Slashdot all 571 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:13:31 GMT Rss Feed Reader Increase Website Traffic

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Health and Beauty Tips for Your Brass: Keep It Shiny!

Did you know that the health and beauty of your... Read More

Learn To Play The Piano Better By Learning To Arrange Chords & Chord Progressions

Piano arranging is the process by which you take a... Read More

Sheet Music ? Violin and Other String Instruments

The violin is a bowed stringed instrument and is the... Read More

A Guitar Lesson To Help You Test Your Note Knowledge

In this guitar lesson we look at a great way... Read More

Micheal Jackson

I bet your wondering all about the Micheal Jackson Trail.... Read More

Memorizing Music - How Is It Best Achieved?

When memorizing music there are several things you can do... Read More

Playing The Violin Is For Everyone Who Loves Music

Every day musical instruments enrich the lives of people around... Read More

Vintage Guitar Collectors Can Still Find Deals

If you're a recent vintage guitar collector, the stories you've... Read More

Choosing a Jazz Band for Your Party

In many years of arranging jazz bands for all sorts... Read More

CD Review: Amber - My Kind of World

Pop/Rock Recording Artist Amber, who has scored seven #1 Billboard... Read More

An Interview with Angus Young of ACDC - Why He Plays a Gibson SG

Steven: Maybe more than any other guitarist ever, you're inextricably... Read More

So You Want to be President? Learn to Play a Musical Instrument!

President Harry S. Truman, the man in the White House... Read More

Review: The Bled - Pass the Flask

Released in 2003, Pass the Flask turned this little quintet... Read More

Recording Vocals at Home

Anyone who has recorded vocals to tape knows there is... Read More

The Dos and Donts of Getting Your Child to Love Learning an Instrument

We all know that music can be inspiring, entertaining, and... Read More

Music For Self Improvement

Would you like to pop in a CD and have... Read More

The Revolution has begun - and it will not be Televised The new Artist Development Paradigm

In reflecting on the world of the Music Business in... Read More

Guitarists...Are You A Victim and A Loser?

I was thinking today about THE most dangerous enemy of... Read More

Prepare for the Master (CD Mastering)

Many artists are still confused as to what goes on... Read More

How Many Chords Are There, Anyway?

Since chords (the main component of harmony) are one of... Read More

Killer Piano Playing Secrets of a Chord Addict!

I wish you could have seen me play the piano... Read More

What is Guitar Tablature and Can I Find It Online?

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments... Read More

5 Sure Fire Ways to Get Radio Play for Your ?Independent? Music!

You have to find radio airplay time if you're going... Read More

Right Hand Guitar Playing Tip

This lesson can open for you a secret of high-speed... Read More

Guitar Humidification

Problems with humidity can lead to heartbreak for the classical... Read More