Building Baby's Brain: The Role of Music
By Diane Bales, Ph.D.

"Researchers believe that musical training
actually creates new pathways in the brain."

Music has a powerful effect on our emotions. Parents know that a quiet, gentle lullaby can soothe a fussy baby. And a majestic chorus can make us swell with excitement. But music also can affect the way we think.

In recent years, we’ve learned a lot about how the brain develops. Babies are born with billions of brain cells. During the first years of life, those brain cells form connections with other brain cells. Over time, the connections we use regularly become stronger. Children who grow up listening to music develop strong music-related connections.

Some of these music pathways actually affect the way we think. Listening to classical music can improve our spatial reasoning, at least for a short time. And learning to play an instrument may have an even longer effect on certain thinking skills.

Does Music Make Us Smarter?
Not exactly. Music seems to prime our brains for certain kinds of thinking. After listening to classical music, adults can do certain spatial tasks more quickly, such as putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

Why does this happen? The classical music pathways in our brain are similar to the pathways we use for spatial reasoning. When we listen to classical music, the spatial pathways are “turned on” and ready to be used.

This priming makes it easier to work a puzzle quickly. But the effect lasts only a short time. Our improved spatial skills fade about an hour after we stop listening to the music.

Learning to play an instrument can have longer-lasting effects on spatial reasoning, however. In several studies, children who took piano lessons for six months improved their ability to work puzzles and solve other spatial tasks by as much as 30 percent.

Why does playing an instrument make such a difference? Researchers believe that musical training creates new pathways in the brain.

Why Classical Music?
The music most people call “classical”--works by composers such as Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart--is different from music such as rock and country. Classical music has a more complex musical structure. Babies as young as 3 months can pick out that structure and even recognize classical music selections they have heard before.

Researchers think the complexity of classical music is what primes the brain to solve spatial problems more quickly. So listening to classical music may have different effects on the brain than listening to other types of music.

This doesn’t mean that other types of music aren’t good. Listening to any kind of music helps build music-related pathways in the brain. And music can have positive effects on our moods that may make learning easier.

What Can You Do?
Parents and child-care providers can help nurture children’s love of music beginning in infancy. Here are some ideas:

Play music for your baby. Expose your baby to many different musical selections of various styles. If you play an instrument, practice when your baby is nearby. But keep the volume moderate. Loud music can damage a baby's hearing.

Sing to your baby. It doesn’t matter how well you sing! Hearing your voice helps your baby begin to learn language. Babies love the patterns and rhythms of songs. And even young babies can recognize specific melodies once they’ve heard them.

Sing with your child. As children grow, they enjoy singing with you. And setting words to music actually helps the brain learn them more quickly and retain them longer. That’s why we remember the lyrics of songs we sang as children, even if we haven’t heard them in years.

Start music lessons early. If you want your child to learn an instrument, you don’t need to wait until elementary school to begin lessons. Young children’s developing brains are equipped to learn music. Most four- and five-year-olds enjoy making music and can learn the basics of some instruments. And starting lessons early helps children build a lifelong love of music.

Encourage your child’s school to teach music. Singing helps stimulate the brain, at least briefly. Over time, music education as a part of school can help build skills such as coordination and creativity. And learning music helps your child become a well-rounded person.

Selected References:
Fagen, J., Prigot, J., Carroll, M., Pioli, L., Stein, A., & Franco, A. (1997). Auditory context and memory retrieval in young infants. Child Development, 68, 1057-1066.

Rauscher, F. H., Shaw, G. L., Levine, L. J., Wright, E. L., Dennis, W. R., & Newcomb, R. L. (1997). Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning. Neurological Research, 19, 2-8.

Viadero, D. (1998). Music on the Mind. Education Week, April 8, 1998.

Wallace, W. T. (1994). Memory for music: Effect of melody on recall of text. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 20, 1471-1485.

Part of the "Better Brains for Babies" Collaboration.

Supported by the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences "Strengthening Georgia Families and Communities" Initiative. The University of Georgia, a unit of the University System of Georgia, is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action institution. The University does not discriminate with respect to employment or admission on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap or veteran status. If you have a disability and need assistance in order to obtain this fact sheet in an alternative format, please contact the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at (706) 542-7566.

Diane Bales, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and Human Development Specialist, Department of Child and Family Development. Reprinted with permission from the University of Georgia. Bales, D. (1998). Building Baby's Brain: The Basics. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, College of Family and Consumer Sciences.