BENEFITS of MUSIC STUDY
(Some of the following information has been compiled from these sites.)

We would like to share with you some of the very important reasons that you should make music a significant part of your life and the life of your child. If you do not believe me, I have supplied the testimonies of many others. I hope you will agree with us!

Successes Accomplished Through Studying Music:
- Success in society
- Success in school
- Success in developing intelligence
- Success in life

Some Facts:

• A comprehensive series of skill tests were run on 5,154 fifth graders in all 75 of the Albuquerque, NM elementary schools. In EVERY SINGLE TEST AREA, kids who were learning to play a musical instrument received higher marks than their classmates. And, the longer the school children had been in the instrumental programs, the higher they scored.

• The American Music Conference reports that music-makers are more likely to go on to college and other higher education than non-music music makers...52% more likely.

• From USA TODAY, January 19, 1987: "Musical training can be a big help in getting to the top of business and politics, according to most congressmen and Chief Executive Officers of Fortune 500 companies. Ninety percent of more than 1,000 CEO's and congressmen interviewed by the McDonalds's fast food chain said playing a musical instrument as a child helped them develop "character and leadership skills."

• Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take risks. A little anxiety is a good thing, and something that will occur often in life. Dealing with it early and often makes it less of a problem later. Risk-taking is essential if a child is to fully develop his or her potential.

• A study of the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. This development of compassion and empathy, as opposed to development of greed and a " me first" attitude, provides a bridge across cultural chasms that leads to respect of other races at an early age.

• STUDIES HAVE FOUND that teaching healthy elderly people to play music decreases their anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Almost everything is involved in musical skill - physical coordination, mental concentration, memory skills, visual and aural ability. The entire brain is involved in making music.

• The ear is the first organ to develop in the embryo, and is fully functional by 18 weeks.

•  The planum temporale, an area of the brain which seems to be associated with language processing, is larger in musicians.

• The right hemisphere of the brain appears to be dominant in the perception of music, the analysis of geometric and visual space, and the production of dreams during REM sleep.

• Absolute pitch (the ability to match a personality to each sound) is found in 95 percent of children who started music study at age 4 or younger, but only among 5 percent of those who began between the ages of 12 and 14.

Piano study improves life skills!
Piano study is extremely rewarding. When a youngster learns the discipline required for accomplishment, it carries over to their adult life. We mention just a few of the benefits and skills obtained through piano lessons:

- Hand-eye coordination
- Concentration
- Memory development
- Self esteem
- Discipline
- Life-long appreciation and enjoyment of music
- Improve study habits