The first few months of my son Jack’s life were rough. For him and me. For everyone in our home, really. As if breaking his femur at 4 weeks of age wasn’t enough, he neither tolerated my breastmilk nor the myriad of formulas we offered him in those early months. Poor kid’s bottom was burned constantly from endless diarrhea. Not to mention the discomfort that must have accompanied such tummy troubles. It seemed the crying would never stop – and who could blame him? He probably wished he could crawl back in my womb since life had brought him nothing but pain thus far.
The only thing that seemed to soothe him was my singing. I sang during diaper changes (there were a lot of those). He fell asleep to an entire concert of lullabies. I rocked and crooned through early evening colic. My voice might have bordered on hoarse, but my baby was transfixed – and money can’t buy the comfort it gave me to know that for those moments, music transcended his suffering.
The emotional benefits of music reach far beyond infancy.
Just as singing lullabies generated happy feelings and bonded Jack to me, research suggests that young children who participate in group music lessons similarly bond with one another. One study demonstrated that the bonding that occurs in kids making music together facilitates empathy and compassion. It’s no surprise that the phrase “in tune” can be applied to both music and relationships.
Another study suggests that singing releases endorphins as well as oxytocin, both of which play a significant role in our overall mood. One of my daughters, who’s seen struggles with depression and anxiety throughout her teenage years, discovered that singing in choir was a welcome reprieve from the stress of academics and social situations.
It’s not just the endorphins, either.
Studies of adolescents find that those who participate in music ensembles demonstrate higher self-esteem, optimism, happiness and perseverance. The sense of community that when groups of individuals participate in making music together can be a transcendent experience. It boosts mood and builds confidence in even the youngest of children but especially in adolescents, who need it so desperately.
I teach both private piano lessons and Let’s Play Music group music classes for young children. The general assumption is that private music lessons, with the increased one-on-one instruction provide a more efficient learning experience. However, my personal experience demonstrates that children learn even more efficiently in a group environment as they participate together in a musical activity. Doing so also benefits them socially and emotionally.
For instance, in my classes, children have the opportunity to play tone bells together. They learn to listen to one another in order to play in synchrony. They learn to listen even better as one student accompanies the entire class on the autoharp while they sing along. Private lessons are limited in their effectiveness in teaching students to listen to others.
Listening to others builds positive relationships and generates happy feelings among those participating.
Last week, two of my private piano students practiced a duet for the first time together. They had nailed their individual parts independently. But it wasn’t until they played them together that they were able to reap the joy of working together with another person to create something even more beautiful. That feeling of accomplishment could be seen on their faces as their two parts became a whole.
Making music together improves confidence and boosts mood, but so does performing a solo in a group setting. In my Let’s Play Music classes, the children have opportunities to echo various rhythms and melodic patterns. In one of my classes, there was one particular student whose ear was less trained than the others and he had trouble matching my pitch. As I had them echo my singing one-by-one, he got to hear the other children repeat me. Some of them nailed it. Others needed a couple of attempts. By the time his turn rolled around, he had heard the melodic pattern almost ten times. His confidence buoyed up by hearing his classmates, he matched my pitch almost effortlessly.
The look on his face was priceless. His experience watching his peers embodied him with the confidence to try and his success after doing so validated his efforts. Studies show that singing in social settings strengthens the connections we need with others for resilience. My student grew not only musically but emotionally, too.
I’m in the thick of the holiday season right now. It’s a time for giving gifts, serving others, baking goodies, hanging lights and decorating. But the holidays would not be the holidays without music. Nothing soothes the soul more than a holiday concert. The emotional benefits of music run far and wide – and one only has to participate in a holiday performance (as musician or member of the audience) to understand why.