“Music is the universal language of mankind.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Are you looking to get your student(s) into online lessons?
Music can play a crucial role in a pupil's development, and now with virtual platforms, students can study a wider breadth of genres with the teachers of their choice.
Here are 10 ways online music lessons offer an advantage to independently educated students.
Music Boosts Focus for Homeschoolers
Integrates gross motor skills
Releases feel-good hormones
Relaxes and relieves stress
Taking online music lessons can help to boost a homeschooler's focus in a variety of ways. Playing an instrument often requires gross motor movements, which encourage feel-good hormones to be released. Music also increases productivity because it’s been shown to reduce stress and increase relaxation. The more relaxed a student is, the easier it is for them to learn.
As Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid suggests, our basic requirements and emotional needs should be met before we try and tackle more advanced ideas- like history or math.
Starting Music Young Sets Up Students for Future Success
According to two University of Central Florida professors- Kiminobu Sugaya and Ayako Yonetani- music is easier to teach to young children. Learning music early makes continuing music easier as kids grow.
Here’s why:
“We are all born with more neurons than we actually need. Typically by the age of 8, our brains do a major neuron dump, removing any neurons perceived as unnecessary, which is why it’s easier to teach language and music to younger children. “If you learn music as a child, your brain becomes designed for music,” Sugaya says” (Your Brain on Music)
Students Keep the Comfort of Home
Sometimes, large in-person music classes can feel emotionally intense or intimidating. By starting with online music lessons, homeschoolers can keep the comforts of home while they explore a new topic.
Making music requires a large amount of vulnerability, so starting in a group setting can make students nervous, or even be a barrier to entry.
4. Outlet for Expression and Culture
“How beautiful would it be if our schools and our education program showed how music is a combination of many different cultures, and cultures are an expression of many kinds of music?
There’s a lot for our students, not only from a musical perspective but also from a global perspective and in showing them how they fit in as part of a bigger world” - Dr. Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education (Source: NAfME interview, July 2021)
Once students learn how to play, compose, and create music, they have a new outlet for their emotions and thoughts. As pupils grow into teens, they will have a productive method of self-soothing and expression.
Music can also be an excellent way to explore or celebrate cultures both familiar and unfamiliar.
5. Better Coordination
Strengthen cross-body connection
Hone fine motor skills
Developing cross-body motor skills and coordination is a major learning goal for young students. Music helps aid learners in developing gross and fine motor skills.
When I was studying instrumental music education, I learned that hand clapping and other rhythm exercises could strengthen the cross-body connection.
Anything that a student does that crosses the mid-line of the body can help their body awareness, and bi-lateral integration skills. It’s never to early to start music, because lessons can help students learn to hold a pencil, put on shoes, and coordinate other movements both large and small.
6. Music Aids in Developing the Language Center
Music lights up the same area of the brain as language does. Taking online music lessons can help improve speaking, reading, and comprehension skills.
Music and language both light up the area of the brain called the temporal lobe. According to the UCF article we looked at earlier, music is processed and interpreted on both sides of the lobe.
Other studies suggest that pitch processing and language are intertwined, and that tonal language and music are processed very similarly. So, if you want your student to learn a language like Mandarin, music lessons may be able to hone their ears to slight pitch changes. (The Relationship Between Music and Language).
7. Pupils Can Socialize and Get a Brain Break
Some homeschool parents are concerned that their kids don’t get to connect enough. Yet again, enter: music lessons! Whether students want to make music online with other musicians their age, or collaborate on a song with their instructor, making music is a great way to connect. By making music with another person, we take part in an act called ‘self-other-merging’.
Music lessons also offer a refreshing break from core subjects and standard-heavy areas of study.
8. Exposure to New Ideas and Technology
New pieces of technology like apps, different eras of music, and much more. Music and the arts is a seed that connects us to everything.
Through the study of music, homeschool pupils can learn about pieces of technology (think: digital audio workstations, music theory apps, virtual operas) and the arts (mythology, eras of arts) and even expand their knowledge of STEM subjects (sonic waves, fractions, and more).
9. Students get Customized Lessons inside their Wheelhouse
Online lessons offer versatility in regard to genres and lesson plans. With online music lessons in the homeschool setting, students can receive lessons that are tailor-fit to them. In group lessons that take place in schools, students can’t choose their own songs or follow niche rabbit holes that they are interested in. This is the beauty of online individual instruction.
The individualized attention students can receive virtually is next-level. As an online music teacher, I can attest that one-on-one virtual music lessons allow students to get exactly what they want out of musical instruction. Sometimes, local teachers can’t offer the genres students are interested in. But the internet allows students to study with teachers from across the country or world.
10. Easy Parental Involvement & More Efficient Student Practice
Have you ever wished you could listen in on your student’s instruction?
If you choose online, you can get involved with your student’s music education more easily. So whether you are folding the laundry in the other room, or are sitting on the piano bench next to your child, homeschool lessons make it simple and convenient to get involved.
More parental involvement in lessons means more clear communication between student and teacher- It also can mean students get frequent check-ins from an adult, so they have a better chance at retaining information that was taught during lessons.
Homeschoolers Benefitting from Online Music Lessons: Conclusion
To close, music education can help supplement learners' education in a variety of ways. So whether you are looking to expose your students to new ideas, boost their creativity, hone their motor skills, or help your students get connected in a community… consider online music lessons!
Still trying to figure out if virtual music lessons are right for your student?
Maestro Music is an online music academy specifically designed for homeschooled students. We will match students with top-notch instructors who will help pupils achieve their musical goals. All of our instructors are vetted professional musicians with a passion for helping the next generation of musicians.
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