BENEFITS OF GIVING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS TO CHILDREN

Why give musical instruments?

Performing a musical instrument at an early age develops not only cerebral/cognitive benefits for the child, but also greater academic performance.

If listening to music in the womb promotes brain and personal development in the fetus, making music as children impacts personality and soft skills, research has presented great findings on the impact of music in childhood.

Benefits of playing an instrument in childhood presented by studies :

• Better pronunciation in a second language
• Highest IQ
• Greater reading ability
• Increased visuospatial processing (the ability to mentally represent, analyze, and manipulate objects)
• Exercise perseverance and discipline at an early age
• Enhances imagination and creativity.

How to select an instrument for a child?

Selecting a musical instrument for a child represents a research task and feeding on information from different sources, depending on the musical instrument desired for the child, the main selection focuses vary:

1. GUITARS

When making the selection, ideally it should be an acoustic guitar or classical guitar for the child's initiation:

Strings: they must have nylon strings, these being softer and do not hurt the child's fingers when playing them, while the steel strings are more rigid and will surely hurt the child's fingers in their initiation process.

Size: Guitar sizes depend and vary strictly on the age and height of the child.

• 4/4 or standard guitar: ages 10 and up.
• 3/4 guitar: from 7 to 9 years.
• Guitar 1/2: 5-7 years old.
• 1/4 guitar: 3-4 years old.

For electric guitar there are no nylon strings, nylon does not allow the sound to be produced by the amplifier.

Size: Available in electric guitar ages 7 or 6 and up.

• 4/4 or standard guitar: ages 10 and up.
• Guitar 3/4: 7 to 9 years.

The recommended guitar for children will always be the classical guitar and nylon strings.

2. VIOLINS

Violins for children are recommended according to their age and manufacture of the instrument:

Wood: solid wood and laminated wood.

• Solid wood: the construction of the violin is 100% made of wood and its sound is richer, it is ideal from an early age to accustom the child to the real tonalities of the violin. This fabrication is ideal for initiation.
• Laminated wood: its manufacture consists of a layer of wood and another layer of laminate, the sound changes compared to the original of the violin, given its manufacture the price decreases to the solid wood violin.

Size: Violin sizes depend and vary strictly depending on the child's age and height and arm measurement.

Violin Size Measurement (Cm) Average Age

Violin 1/16 35-38 cm 3-5 years

Violin 1/8 39-42 cm 5-6 years

Violin 1/4 43-46 cm 6-7 years

Violin 1/2 52-56 cm 7-8 years

Violin 3/4 57-60 cm 9-11 years

Violin 4/4 -60 cm 12 and up

Many parents want to buy a violin of a larger size in order to extend its duration. It is NOT recommended to purchase a violin of a larger size because it is forcing the child's learning and the ergonomics of the violin would not be correct according to his or her age. or its measurement.

3. PERCUSSION

In percussion, some instruments depend on their size or the price that is generated by the quality of the instrument and its components.

Quality: it is important to know the objective of why you want to obtain the drums for the child: hobby, classes, initiation into a musical career? According to the objective, the quality of the instrument varies.

Price: in the market there are brands and references for all tastes, according to the objectives set out above, the battery will be selected in a relationship: objective = quality = price.

Drumsticks: these accessories must be for children, the weight and size are created exclusively for better handling and performance in the child's musical process.

4. KEYBOARDS

The first thing to define when choosing a keyboard for children:

• Goals of the new hobby
• Budget
• Real needs
• Type of study and genre of focus

We have a whole blog talking about how to choose the keyboard for a child

Material of interest:

• Instrument for children at Ortizo Kids: https://bit.ly/2HhOi31
• Video: How playing an instrument benefits the brain according to Anita Coliins: https://bit.ly/2RZv4RL

Ortizo Musical instruments