Music and Movement: a powerful combination for the developing brain

Music has been likened to a superfood for the brain. There was a phase when people believed that listening to Mozart sonatas would make you more intelligent(1). However, it has been shown that just listening to music is not what achieves the best results. Researchers that achieve good results with music and cognitive development have two things in common. There needs to be engagement with the music, and that usually includes some motor activity. It would appear that these two components promote changes in the brain. This article could focus on a range of elements, dance, playing instruments or singing, and much of that information is in Grandparenting Grandchildren. But, before any of those activities can be successful, children need to experience and develop the ability to copy a steady beat. So, the focus of this article is the importance of the beat.

I wrote an article many years ago, titled ‘I’ve Got Rhythm’. The article’s essence was that if you were taught to keep the beat, life would be easier as there are so many things that rely on keeping the beat. I have not changed my mind; in fact, two things have strengthened my resolve.

The first thing was an article that crossed my desk explaining research focused on the effect of copying a steady beat (2). This research made it very clear that there is a big difference between creating a beat and keeping it and the ability to copy a beat that someone else has generated. The British researchers found that children who were challenged when asked to copy a steady beat also had poor development of literacy skills. Motor rhythmic skills (the ability to move rhythmically) and auditory rhythmic skills (the ability to hear the beat) seemed to be linked with the development of language skills, in particular written language. American research (3) showed that the academic skills in children who learned to play a musical instrument were more advanced than those who did not. It is possible that the motor activities involved in playing the instrument are, in fact, what strengthens the neural pathways, which in turn increases academic outcomes. Thomsen and Goswami (2) found that motor delays and language delays were often linked, and music activities improved the outcomes.

The second thing that happened recently was an encounter with a music teacher. While these comments are anecdotal, I have heard them before from other teachers. One of his pupils has been to my pre-school music classes, and the teacher was amazed at how quickly the child had managed to pick up the physical skills need to play the instrument. I explained that the child had two things working in his favour. Firstly, he had been to my pre-school music classes, where he had been exposed to a wide range of musical activities that included movement skills. Secondly, his mother had asked me what she could do to help her child, and I told her about the need to move, “So make sure you go to the park everyday”, I said. She took that comment on board, and the change in her child’s physical skills was remarkable. He became a very efficient climber and can ride a two-wheel bike at 3 ½ years old. This all happened because the mother knew that movement is the foundation of all learning.

Music is one of three things that nurture the brain.(4) Physical activity, good nutrition and music have all been shown to be helpful in brain development. Children under two are laying the foundations in the brain and those over two years old are developing their brains based on these foundations. As adults, we are busy maintaining what we have. Music also provides enjoyment for many people, and when singing a song, or dancing to it, the repeated motor activities stimulate brain function.

Regular exposure to music allows children to learn to copy a steady beat, and this ability appears to have a beneficial effect on the foundations of brain development. You can read more about the benefits of music in Grandparenting Grandchildren as well as a range of activity ideas.

1. Rauscher FH, Hinton SC. The Mozart Effect: Music Listening is Not Music Instruction. Educational Psychologist. 2006;41(4):233-8.
2. Thomson JM, Goswami U. Rhythmic processing in children with developmental dyslexia: Auditory and motor rhythms link to reading and spelling. Journal of Physiology-Paris. 2008;102(1):120-9.
3. Fitzpatrick KR. The Effect of Instrumental Music Participation and Socioeconomic Status on Ohio Fourth-, Sixth-, and Ninth-Grade Proficiency Test Performance. Journal of Research in Music Education. 2006;54(1):73-84.
4. Misuraca R, Miceli S, Teuscher U. Three effective ways to nurture our brain: Physical activity, healthy nutrition, and music: A review. European Psychologist. 2017;22(2):101–20.