Mia Laity’s interest in the violin was sparked by seeing a mariachi band perform in a supermarket when she was 2. Later that day, she donned a black hat and pretended to play with a ladle and a wooden spoon.
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children, particularly those who compose their own music. According to Stauffer, a strong sense of civic responsibility may be just one of many benefits that music education imparts to children and young adults. This, she acknowledges, changes the question from, “Does music make you more intelligent?” to, “How is music good for you?” “We don’t really say that music makes you smarter,” Stauffer explains, “but we do know that engagement with music is good for you cognitively. Every time you’re learning something in a different way (and music is its own unique way of learning) you’re using parts of your brain that might not otherwise be engaged. And every time you do that, the kind of neural pathway or the cognitive connections that you make in your brain
are then open for other kinds of learning that last throughout your lifetime. So it’s not that music makes you smarter, but music is really good for your brain.” Some advantages are obvious. Short- and long-term memory, concentration and attention are all strengthened by music instruction. Beyond that, a recent report released by The Dana Foundation, “Learning, Arts, and the Brain,” indicates that music training enhances children’s geometric understanding and potential for early language development. “One of the central predictors of early literacy, phonological awareness, is correlated with both music training and the development of a specific brain pathway,” it reports. Ensemble performances can extend music’s benefits even further. “Society in general latches onto sports and the teamwork and the discipline of being an athlete,” Thomas says. “But in reality, some of those same skills are used in music.” The flexibility a person develops from performing and interacting with other musicians, Stauffer adds, not to mention problem solving, are valuable skills, no matter what a person does later in life. The classic garage band is a particularly fascinating example, since its members both create and play together. “They’re really interesting little groups to study,” Stauffer says, “because they learn how to work together to make their own music, so it’s a highly creative enterprise, and it’s being created by the group.” Because musicians play to entertain others as much as themselves, their ability to work with people pays off when they need to engage an audience. Laura Breeden, the director of education and community partnerships for the nonprofit organization From the Top, which spotlights young musicians through radio and other outlets, recalls a particular occasion when she took Sebastian Baverstam, a teenage cellist, to perform in front of several hundred third- through sixth-graders.