You might have seen ‘Don’t Stop the Music’, a three-part documentary series which aired recently on ABC TV. In it, musical stars Guy Sebastian and James Morrison work with a disadvantaged WA primary school over several months, teaching students to play instruments and participate in musical experiences.

It’s an uplifting and joyous documentary, which brings home the very important point: Music education is good for children. The renowned music educator, Richard Gill, who passed away in 2018, agreed. “We learn music because it is good," he wrote in a Limelight magazine¹ article in 2013. “We learn music because it is unique. We learn music because it stimulates creativity at a very high level. No other reasons for teaching music are needed.”

Music education improves learning and brain function and provides creative outlets for children of all backgrounds. The Documentary Australia Foundation, makers of ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ even showed us that music can ‘temper disruptive behaviour’ in schools.

Neuroscientists have found correlations between musical education and language ability, IQ and attention span and focus². Learning and experiencing music also has positive effects on empathy levels, self-confidence and emotional resilience. And the benefits can kick in quickly.

One study³ showed that 90% of the children who participated in the musical training given by their researchers showed a remarkable gain in intelligence after only 20 days.

Richard Gill described it in Limelight in these terms: “Music is important for the following reasons: it is abstract, it doesn’t mean anything outside itself. Music does not describe. Music does not narrate. Music does not tell stories. Music evokes. Music suggests, music implies, and music opens up the mind of a child in an extraordinary way. This abstraction about music is what offers a child the chance to move into a really special way of thinking.”

At NAC, we understand the beneficial effects that a music education can have on the whole child, so we begin teaching and experiencing music right at the beginning of our learning journey, in both Preschool and Kindergarten.

With a focus on singing (which Richard Gill would approve of: he argued that singing should be the basis of all music learning) children can branch out to learn instruments, play in ensembles, sing in choirs, or be part of major musical performances.

Want to help your child fulfil their potential? Have them learn music.

Written by Jane McIntosh