Latest Posts  •  October 9, 2019

A new study shows what we observe every day at Modern Music School: music lessons promote the exact skills psychologists and educational experts highlight as the key skills for a successful, balanced and happy life.

Guitar Center, a leading retailer of musical instruments and lessons, commissioned the study through an independent researcher. They asked parents of adolescent children ages 7-17 how they perceived their children’s level of self-regulation, self-determination, and engagement with personal learning environments to enhance their learning since they started with private music lessons

The results are consistently positive. The study finds that learning and playing music has benefits that go far beyond learning a musical instrument.

For example, regular music lessons help develop the following skills:

Encourage patience and resiliency in problem solving: Eighty-five percent of parents perceive that their child has a greater ability to keep working until they finish a task, even when they think that the task is difficult.

Teach time management: Sixty-eight percent of parents perceive that their child improves their ability to finish tasks on time, and that their child has a greater ability to use a tool, such as a planner or calendar, to keep track of what they need to accomplish.

Build self-awareness: Eighty-three percent of parents perceive that their child has a greater ability to welcome feedback on their work for the purpose of improving.

Build self-motivation: Sixty percent of parents perceive that their child has a greater ability to self-monitor and limit their screen-time use because they know it is good for them.

Instill prioritization skills: Seventy-one percent of parents perceive that their child has a greater ability to self-monitor their screen-time because they know it gives them more time to do things that are important to them.

(https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/85-percent-of-parents-perceive-children-who-participate-in-music-lessons-are-better-able-to-problem-solve-and-manage-their-time-guitar-center-research-study-finds-300912109.html)

At Modern Music School, we design music lessons with benefits that go far beyond learning a musical instrument. Our International Education Manager, Sebastian Quirmbach, has already written about it in his article “Learning music is learning life skills!“:

“At Modern Music School, we approach music lessons holistically. We don’t center our lessons on learning an instrument as fast, effectively and regimentally as possible. We think more broadly about the effects learning music has on our other skills, like motivation, concentration, resilience and creativity.

Our music lessons address and promote these skills. We make sure we’re providing students with inner resources they can draw on for the rest of their lives – in their home, school and work lives. In this way, music lessons become specialized-skills training on all levels.

Someone who’s learned to push through difficult phases of learning on their instrument will show more resilience in real-life situations. Someone who’s able to set clear goals for the next band practice will be able to set reasonable goals in school and at work. If you’ve learned to love a difficult task, you’ll be able to approach any task with a similar optimistic enthusiasm. And if you’ve been able to tap into your emotions through music, you won’t need any extra help with emotional intelligence and expression later on in life.

The longer we play an instrument, the greater the benefits, for the rest of our life! Learning music is learning life skills.”

Especially in times where more and more parents, researchers and tech advocates realize that less screentime supports the healthy development of children, private music lessons become a must.