Like I said in my previous post, many parents are wondering about the true effect of exposing their children to music. Many are trying to figure out the best time to expose their children to an instrument, such as the violin. Again, I cannot provide you with a precise scientific answer but I personally think that children can benefit more when they are exposed to music as early as possible – even before birth!
Here’s an excerpt taken from the book, “The Mozart Effect for Children“, written by Don Campbell (pp. 19 – 20 of the 2000 edition):
“The Do Re Mi’s of Fetal Development
Violinist Joanne Bath was completing her master of music degree at the University of Michigan when she learned she was pregnant with daughter Pamela. The news was most welcome, and Joanne still recalls the joy with which she combined her preparation for her final violin recital with her preparation for childbirth. The day of the recital arrived during the seventh month of Joanne’s pregnancy. It was a celebratory experience, as she and her musician husband, Charles, performed, among other works, sonatas by Cesar Franck and Aaron Copland.
Many years later, Pamela followed in her mother’s footsteps, performing her own master’s degree recital on the violin. ‘She chose two of the pieces her daddy and I played in my recital: the ones by Franck and Copland’, Joanne told me. ‘She said they seemed so easy to learn, as if she instinctively knew them. She did not realize that she had heard them so much before birth.‘”
As proven by several scientific studies, we are now certain that children, even an unborn child, are capable to listen and sense what is happening around them. And because of the vibration of the womb through music, the fetus is able to “feel” the music through her body. Although the ears are not yet fully developed in the first few weeks of life, this does not hinder an unborn child to hear the music being played outside the womb. “Your baby ‘feels’ sound – including and especially the sound of your voice – for months before she ever hears it.”, says Don Campbell.
Parents have the opportunity to give their children the full benefits of music in whatever way they can. It will never be too early or too late to do this. It is the parents’ dedication and committment to music which would make a huge difference. Like the story of the violinist, Joanne Bath, learning how to play an instrument could be the first step in exposing your children to music. There are lots of options you can choose from – guitar, piano, ukelele and of course, the violin. Remember though, that many scientific studies, as quoted in Don Campbell’s book, prove that classical music is more beneficial to a child’s brain development.
Given the advanced technology available nowadays, you can always opt for the more convenient online violin lessons for any classical instrument. I chose to learn how to play the violin because it is handy as opposed to the piano or other bigger instruments. If you are interested to learn how to play the violin, click here to learn more.
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