Music for Life

As a Music School, we aren’t looking to create prodigies or to get kids into a career in music.  We are certainly open to these things, but our goals are more life-skills oriented.

What is real about Music Education?

There is a lot of cultural acceptance of Music Education and lessons as a strong foundation for children in life, but the benefits are seldom articulated in a way that we can understand in the modern world.  We know the standard lines that we refer to, such as “Music is good for the brain”, or “Music helps to develop hand-eye coordination”.  All of that is true, and we love referring to this video, which explains what the act of playing does to the brain:

That being said (and watched), there are the other specific things about music that we don’t describe well, but should.  Some of these things include and lead (=) to:

  • Playing in front of people or in concert = effective presentation skills for educational and professional settings (think interviews, seminars, presentations, etc.)
  • Communicating in a musical group = learning to listen, communicate, and lead effectively in social and professional settings (think peaceful, progressive, constructive, and successful approaches to working with others in any setting/environment, including home)
  • Developing and expanding confidence in the process of personal growth and exploration = confidence as an adult to pursue goals
  • Goal setting and achievement = Goal setting and achievement!

This really scratches the surface, but you can see that music lesson skills are truly life lesson skills.

The 11 year-old that is a natural

All of this notwithstanding, a little inspiration and watching for the sake of enjoyment is to be embraced whenever we can.  For some reason we revel in the magic of skilled youth, particularly prodigies.  And why not?  The brain and body are so complex, and through the miracle of randomness, some people do indeed find themselves with an astonishing and unexpected aptitude for not just a particular instrument, but a particular style.

Here’s a young gentleman playing jazz at the piano.  His playing is so natural, that you’d swear he’d not only been doing it since birth, but for decades.  You might want to protect your jaw, it’s going to drop!