Can music help make children smarter?

Music has a way of making our brains act and think. For example, if you were to listen to heavy metal, you may feel more aggressive and energetic, but if you were to listen to classical, you may feel relaxed and calm. A lot of people listen to music when they do homework, study, or work in general. This is because it can help them stay focused and attentive. Many people also listen to music when they work out. It helps them keep their focus. It gives a beat to work out to, a motivation to keep working, and even a time management system, depending on the duration of the playlist or song. Listening to music helps the memory, but playing does as well. Playing music helps our multitasking skills grow. Playing instruments like piano, bass, or drums call for multiple movements and for both hands, and even feet, to be doing multiple things at one time. By playing the instrument and practicing the art, we learn how to multitask. Evidence suggests that learning to play music enhances musical processing skills and benefits other cognitive abilities (Habibi, Damasio, Ilari, Sachs, and Darmasio, 2018). Music training is often used to enhance phonological awareness (Patscheke, Dege, and Schwarzer, 2018). It is in the first three years of life that a child is forming the brain connections that will lay the foundation for the speech/language, motor, and cognitive skills they will use for years to come. Through this magical world of creativity and play, children begin to learn and assimilate information about themselves and the world.