How to set children up for success when they start learning music

Learning music improves children's ability to problem-solve, increasing their capacity for persistence and resilience.
 (Adobe Stock: Arlee)

By Ria Andriani

Learning music is good for everyone, especially children, whose brains are constantly developing.

Along with activities like sport, maths, learning languages and ballet, music has been shown to improve children's ability to learn, remember, problem-solve and acquire a whole host of other skills.

The start of the school year can be overwhelming for parents, carers and kids alike. But if picking up music is on the cards for you, here are some tips to make the journey as easy as possible.

Learning music is great for kids

Learning music teaches children important life skills, such as persistence and resilience, says Dr. Anita Collins, a lifelong music teacher and advocate.

"Persistence and resilience are mechanisms in the brain," Dr. Collins explains.

For beginners, learning an instrument or memorising a new song can be quite hard, slow-going and often riddled with a sense of frustration. But Dr. Collins says working through it is an important step in all learning processes.

"Persistence comes from the fact that it takes multiple goes to get something right," she says.

This is something kids and adults easily give up when they fail to complete a task on the first go.

When you train your brain to solve multiple problems through different approaches: "the reward network throws an enormous amount of dopamine and adrenaline."

It makes you feel great and motivates you to do it again, Dr. Collins says.

Music also has flow-on impacts throughout a person's life.

"Playing a musical instrument helps children to succeed in so many other things," says ABC Classic's Music Class presenter Ed Le Brocq.

Moreover, learning music allows children to be more self-aware as it involves physical and emotional regulations.

"It's really important for young people to gain confidence in trying new things and mastering them," says Alice Gerlach, the CEO of The Song Room.

The Melbourne-based organisation partners with many schools across Australia, from metropolitan areas to regional and remote locations. They've seen dramatic benefits from the program.

"School absenteeism decreased by 65% on Song Room days," Ms. Gerlach says.

In research conducted by the organisation, they found after 12 months of running music programs in schools, "students achieved better grades in subject areas across the curriculum, including literacy and numeracy," Ms. Gerlach says.

Picking the right musical instrument

When it comes to choosing an instrument for your child, Dr. Collins has a couple of pointers:

"Pick an instrument that your child is attracted to, and that fits with your lifestyle."

It's more important to learn an instrument at all, rather than which instrument you learn, Dr. Collins says.

Your child might pick something based on how it looks, how it sounds or how it feels. Or they might take up singing.

When a student finds the right instrument, Dr. Collins describes the experience similar to the feeling of falling in love.

This love or connection with the instrument can be important especially when their motivation to practise starts to flag.

Dr. Collins says it's important to consider an instrument that works for the family.

"Musical instruments go straight from a classroom into your lounge room," she says.

However, Le Brocq cautions that parents need to respect their child's choice. He always wanted to play the cello but was given a violin as a child.

Ed Le Brocq wanted to play cello as a child, but was forced to play the violin instead.
He picked up the cello as an adult. (ABC Classic: Matthew Lorenzon)

"My mum didn't trust me," Le Brocq says. "I couldn't stand the violin, but then it led me to the viola," he says.

Le Brocq eventually transferred to the cello, but as a music teacher, he strongly believes it's more important to choose an instrument that's right for the child, not the parent.

First published at ABC News, February 4, 2025

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