According to a recent report by NPR, music doesn’t just feed the soul: it also enhances the physical body, especially the brain. A recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience discovered that kids who took music lessons for two years were better able to process language. This lead to an overall improved trajectory in school for the kids who participated in the study. But processing language isn’t the only benefit of musical training for the brain. Multiple studies have suggested that musical training in childhood results in higher IQs, spatial-temporal skills, improved test scores and the ability to speak more than one language.

According to the NYDailyNews, researches at the Boston Children’s Hospital found that early musical training enhances “executive functioning” in the brain. Executive functioning includes a host of brain activities critical to a child’s academic and social success, including problem solving, planning and other cognitive processes.

Children learning music are expanding their minds and gaining numerous skills that will help them in the future. Making music involves more than just the voice or fingers; by playing an instrument children tap into multiple skill sets, often simultaneously, such as using ears and eyes, as well as large and small muscles. Science Daily reports that according to a study by Concordia University and the Montreal Neurological Institute, children who start lessons earlier have a stronger connection between their motor skills and their brain activities – in other words, a more established relationship between the brain’s plan and our ability to carry out actions.

The best age to start music lessons? According to the Concordia study, between 6 and 8. Researches dubbed this period a “sensitive period” where music classes interact with brain development to result in long-lasting changes in motor abilities and brain structure.

Let The Royal Music Academy share the many benefits of musical training with your child. Sign up for your first lesson today.