Tag: LearningMusic

Musically Gifted

Posted on by andrew

Grace Cheng (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

Learning music is one of the most beautiful things anyone can do. Music is beneficial for human health.  The practice of learning a musical instrument offers countless benefits for people in terms of multifaceted development. Performing music has a positive impact on the human brain. Playing music keeps the human mind active, and the creativity and concentration required sharpens it

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The study of music touches on all aspects of learning. These are the psychomotor, cognitive and affective components. The psychomotor element of music education emphasizes the development of mechanical skills in playing instruments. The cognitive portion focuses on the acquisition of musical knowledge. The affective component emphasizes the appreciation of music. Music also stimulates language development and develops collaborative skills. Furthermore, it enhances logical thinking, hand-eye coordination and listening capabilities.  

 

Skills Learned from Music

 

  1. Language and Reasoning Skills 

 

Children who receive early musical training will develop areas of their brains related to language and reasoning. Music develops the left side of the brain, which can affect how information is imprinted on young minds. As children learn their instruments, they gradually become accustomed to the nuances of a variety of sounds. In this way, their ears are trained to recognize the subtleties of speech and language.

 

  1. Muscle Development and Coordination

 

When children play instruments, they can use their entire body to maintain rhythm. Musical instruments can also develop motor skills that involve coordinating different parts of the body simultaneously. You can develop excellent hand-eye coordination while playing musical instruments.

 

  1. Problem Solving

 

Music is not always a simple subject. There may be difficulty in reading the score, executing a complex technical section or determining motivation. You will discover that there are ample opportunities to come up with creative and unique solutions to musical challenges.  

 

  1. Creativity

 

You can express yourself creatively by playing music. Your approach to and interpretation of music is unique to you. It can help shape your identity as a creative individual. It is this creativity that will shine through in other areas of your life as well. 

 

  1. Social Skills

 

When you play music in a group, you must learn to work together toward a common goal, manifesting tolerance, patience and encouragement with your peers. Music can help you develop social connections with other people.   

 

  1. Spatial Intelligence

 

Studying music can provide students with the opportunity to develop spatial intelligence, which will enable them to form mental pictures and perceive the world accurately. It has been demonstrated that pitch and rhythm have a significant impact on spatial reasoning skills.

 

  1. Emotional development

 

Individuals often develop their emotional maturity while developing empathy for other cultures through learning music. They also tend to have a higher sense of self-esteem and a more effective ability to cope with anxiety. Feeling the emotional power of music and engaging in the practice of expression enables one to better recognize the emotions inside oneself.

 

  1. Discipline

 

Learning an instrument can teach us important lessons about discipline. You will have to set aside time for practice and rise to the challenge of being disciplined to master the playing of an instrument.

 

  1. Thinking On the Spot

        

Music requires you to make numerous split-second decisions over and over. This requires you to think quickly on your feet. Over time, you will become extremely adept at detecting small mistakes and surprises in the music, while adapting to unexpected outcomes.

 

  1. Coping and Stress Management

 

Practicing music offers you an outlet that you can turn to when dealing with stress or other challenging situations. The act of playing music is also very therapeutic. The ability to cope through music is a valuable tool that can assist in balancing out life’s many difficulties.

 

Are you interested in learning music? Cross-curricular and lifelong skills await you as music’s valuable benefits.

 

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Grace has an accounting and finance background. She enjoys reading, writing, listening to music, watching movies and playing sports.

A Crescendo

Posted on by andrew

Cristina Cresecenzo she/her, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

 

We have come to know rhythm as the beautiful synchronized sound that takes form in music and plays through our ears to bring about a plethora of emotions. However, what if we tried to convert a rhythm into the form of our daily lives? I have meditated on the idea and come to the conclusion that since life itself is not perfectly balanced we will have to create a whole new rhythm for ourselves. Luckily, music of modern days has strayed away from conventional formats by testing out new instruments, beats and sounds, even going so far as to sample something we use everyday like a light switch to create something completely unique. 

 

Therefore, I have no doubt we can invent our own melody to glide us forward and make each day a little easier. Before I finally focused my thoughts, I personally believed that I had no rhythm in my routine and instead I was just floating around aimlessly but I know now that this is not true. I heavily rely on the music playing in my headphones to temper my thoughts and help me with my decisions. It might sound silly yet every song I have heard has been written from the experience of someone else. The artist and I may not be exactly the same but there are always lyrics I can connect with. There have been instances in which I am listening to a song for the first time and the words feel as if it was meant specifically for me to hear; in those two to five minute intervals I know I am not alone.

 

I trust these voices to be my joy, anger, sadness, and comfort because they have chosen to spill the secrets of their hearts to the entire world to hear and I am one who believes we can learn from one another. I am not saying we should follow every piece of advice music gives us, what I am saying is that music is there as  an inspiration for you to examine your surroundings and think about the things you want to do next for yourself. This may sound overly sentimental but our lives are symphonies only we can conduct and if we were to copy the notes of others all we would hear is a constant echo and there would be no real progression towards our final crescendo. On that note, it makes me think of my last name, “Crescenzo” which in Italian stems from the word crescendo to mean to thrive and prosper. Thus, I can’t help but feel that the name I have bore since birth is challenging me to do just that. So, like a crescendo, the loudest point within a musical piece, the rhythm of my heart has to make the same loud impact in tandem with the things I choose to do in this lifetime. 

 

Nevertheless, I have stayed firm in my conviction to do things my way just like the songwriters of today who do things differently than the musicians of past eras. I know the flow of my rhythm is anything but synchronized and yet I wouldn’t want it any other way and I don’t think anyone else should strive for their steps to be perfectly in sync because that would only make for a boring tune. 

 

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Cristina Cresecenzo (she/her) an aspiring writer who strives towards having her writing spread awareness to a range of topics but most importantly disabilities and mental health and she hopes Low Entropy is the first step to that journey.