Early Music Lessons Boost Brain Development

Great article published by Sciencedaily.com on Feb. 12, 2013 —

"If you started piano lessons in grade one, or played the recorder in kindergarten, thank your parents and teachers. Those lessons you dreaded -- or loved -- helped develop your brain. The younger you started music lessons, the stronger the connections in your brain.

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A study published last month in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests that musical training before the age of seven has a significant effect on the development of the brain, showing that those who began early had stronger connections between motor regions -- the parts of the brain that help you plan and carry out movements.

This research was carried out by students in the laboratory of Concordia University psychology professor Virginia Penhune, and in collaboration with Robert J. Zatorre, a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University.

The study provides strong evidence that the years between ages six and eight are a "sensitive period" when musical training interacts with normal brain development to produce long-lasting changes in motor abilities and brain structure. "Learning to play an instrument requires coordination between hands and with visual or auditory stimuli," says Penhune. "Practicing an instrument before age seven likely boosts the normal maturation of connections between motor and sensory regions of the brain, creating a framework upon which ongoing training can build."

With the help of study co-authors, PhD candidates Christopher J. Steele and Jennifer A. Bailey, Penhune and Zatorre tested 36 adult musicians on a movement task, and scanned their brains. Half of these musicians began musical training before age seven, while the other half began at a later age, but the two groups had the same number of years of musical training and experience. These two groups were also compared with individuals who had received little or no formal musical training.
When comparing a motor skill between the two groups, musicians who began before age seven showed more accurate timing, even after two days of practice. When comparing brain structure, musicians who started early showed enhanced white matter in the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibres that connects the left and right motor regions of the brain. Importantly, the researchers found that the younger a musician started, the greater the connectivity.

Interestingly, the brain scans showed no difference between the non-musicians and the musicians who began their training later in life; this suggests that the brain developments under consideration happen early or not at all. Because the study tested musicians on a non-musical motor skill task, it also suggests that the benefits of early music training extend beyond the ability to play an instrument.
"This study is significant in showing that training is more effective at early ages because certain aspects of brain anatomy are more sensitive to changes at those time points," says co-author, Dr. Zatorre, who is also the co-director of the International Laboratory for Brain Music and Sound Research.

But, says Penhune, who is also a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development, "it's important to remember that what we are showing is that early starters have some specific skills and differences in the brain that go along with that. But, these things don't necessarily make them better musicians. Musical performance is about skill, but it is also about communication, enthusiasm, style, and many other things that we don't measure. So, while starting early may help you express your genius, it probably won't make you a genius.""

New Things Happening at The Academy

New Things Happening At The Academy

Motivation - For All Students

 We want our Academy students to always strive for progression. We help them achieve this with experienced, inspirational teachers as well as skill ribbons, goal sheets, and participation medals.  

Medals and Ribbons will be displayed shortly in each location.  Skill ribbons will be awarded to every student during Parent Observation in April and everyone that participates in our end of the year performances, will receive a participation medal. 

Watch for these display cases coming soon!  Copies of goal sheets will be emailed out to each class.  Goal sheets will be separated by 2 semesters and will be provided as a guideline for parents to see what their child will work on throughout the school year and what they have accomplished in each class. 

We can't wait for you to see how much your student learns throughout the year. 

Teacher Spotlight - Welcome Miss Michaela!

Our newest member of our team -Michaela McElwee. Michaela is a 2009 graduate of the UW-Milwaukee Dance Department. She has since worked in Cleveland, OH as a high school dance teacher and competitive hip-hop dance team coach. During the summer Michaela is the Dance Director at Camp Starlight in Starlight, PA, teaching hip-hop, jazz and contemporary. She moved to New York City August of 2011 where she was teaching hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, and jazz funk at multiple locations in Manhattan. She was also choreographing a number of different shows in New York City including off Broadway show "Garbage" and the touring production of "GleeNation". In April of 2012 Michaela accepted a job with Sports World China to teach dance and choreograph for kids and adults in Shanghai China in the expat community. There she was also dancing with a professional Hip Hop dance Company called Soul Dance and was featured in many different shows in Shanghai including China's Got Talent. Michaela has worked with dance artists in the past two years such as Jamal Sims, Shane Sparks, Luam, Bev Brown, Lil C, Brian Friedman, and Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo.

Welcome Miss Michaela!

An Interesting article from the New York Times Blog..........

Discusses Lifelong benefits to early music learning!!!  Don't forget we offer piano, voice, guitar, violin and a preschool music program Music FunTime

The New York Times writes....
"When children learn to play a musical instrument, they strengthen a range of auditory skills. Recent studies suggest that these benefits extend all through life, at least for those who continue to be engaged with music.  But a study published last month is the first to show that music lessons in childhood may lead to changes in the brain that persist years after the lessons stop.

Researchers at Northwestern University recorded the auditory brainstem responses of college students — that is to say, their electrical brain waves — in response to complex sounds. The group of students who reported musical training in childhood had more robust responses — their brains were better able to pick out essential elements, like pitch, in the complex sounds when they were tested. And this was true even if the lessons had ended years ago. 

“To learn to read, you need to have good working memory, the ability to disambiguate speech sounds, make sound-to-meaning connections,” said Professor Nina Kraus, director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University. “Each one of these things really seems to be strengthened with active engagement in playing a musical instrument.”

“If you get a kid who is maybe 3 or 4 years old and you’re teaching them to attend, they’re not only working on their auditory skills but also working on their attention skills and their memory skills — which can translate into scholastic learning,” she said.

Now Ms. Parbery-Clark and her colleagues can look at recordings of the brain’s electrical detection of sounds, and they can see the musically trained brains producing different — and stronger — responses. “Now I have more proof, tangible proof, music is really doing something,” she told me. “One of my lab mates can look at the computer and say, ‘Oh, you’re recording from a musician!’ ”
Many of the researchers in this area are themselves musicians interested in the plasticity of the brain and the effects of musical education on brain waves, which mirror the stimulus sounds. “This is a response that actually reflects the acoustic elements of sound that we know carry meaning,” Professor Kraus said.

“We want music to be recognized for what it can be in a person’s life, not necessarily, ‘Oh, we want you to have better cognitive skills, so we’re going to put you in music,’ ” Ms. Parbery-Clark said. “Music is great, music is fantastic, music is social — let them enjoy it for what it really is.” "

Register Now for Music lessons at our Oak Creek or Franklin location.  We offer piano, voice, guitar, violin, and Music Funtime for preschool students!
414-768-0101 or stop by Oak Creek or Franklin to register!

Why it is Important to Perform

One of the big highlights of being a part of our studio is being a part of our Winter and Spring Showcases. We provide students with an exciting performance experience through our show. It's a chance to shine in front of family and friends that they anticipate with nervous excitement. The showcases and recitals offer our students a professionally directed performance that allows them to present to their families and friends the results of a year's hard work, dedication, and progress. A big part of the training process includes learning through performance. The experience helps build self-esteem, self-assurance, and contributes to a sense of confidence. Although performance opportunities can help prepare some students for a possible career in dance, they also contribute to children's success in non-performing art activities. That onstage experience can result in better in-school presentations, improved social skills, and strong interview skills for future college or job opportunities.

www.OakCreekPerformingArts.com
www.FranklinPerformingArts.com

Call us today!  (414) 768-0101

Dance, Music, & Acting Classes in Oak Creek & Franklin, WI.

The Academy of Performing Arts opens a Second Location in Franklin, WI!

After seven years of operation, The Academy of Performing Arts in Oak Creek is expanding to a second location in Franklin. The current studio will remain in Oak Creek at 9160 S. Pennsylvania Ave. and is opening a second studio at 7221 S. 76^th St. in Franklin.  The Academy will be located in the Franklin Centre. (Pick ‘N Save strip mall, between GNC and Lectric Beach Tan)

The Oak Creek location has over 800 student enrollments on a weekly basis, with almost 150 of their students from the city of Franklin.  This was an obvious choice for a second location. 

This second location has 3,700 square feet of space.  Their sq. footage will allow for two dance rooms, a Fine Arts & Academic Preschool, two music rooms, dancewear and music retail in the lobby, and one multi-purpose room.  After the existing space is remodeled this May, it will consist of professional floating dance floors, one way observation windows for parents to see in, but keeping the students from being distracted, and live video feed of instruction in the waiting area.

The Franklin location will start registering online at www.FranklinPerformingArts.com on June 1^st.  The Academy anticipates classes to fill up fast, as many of our existing customers switch to a more convenient location.   An open house date will soon be announced with an approximate date in August once remodeling is complete.  They will officially opening the doors for business in September 2012.  Many of the Academy’s existing teachers will be working at both locations.

The Academy will offer dance classes for ages 2 and up in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, poms, & contemporary.  Music lessons will consist of private piano, voice, guitar, & violin.  A Fine Arts & Academic Preschool will be offered for children ages 3-5 years old.  Music FunTime will also be offered for ages 18 months and up.  This is a group music class where children sing, dance, jump & play instruments.  This innovated new program, geared from the Johns-Hopkins Research that children 7 and under can learn to read music notation and symbols, eventually, learning to play instruments.

For more information, you can log on to www.FranklinPerformingArts.com or call the Academy at (414) 768-0101. 

Are Your Kids Getting Enough Exercise?

Read this great article from www.Parenting.com.  Dance is a great way for your child to get the exercise he/she needs.  For information on our classes, you can check out our website at www.OakCreekPerformingArts.com.

 

“Is Your Kid Active Enough?

You can't plop a 2-year-old on a treadmill and measure his heart rate, or ask a 4-year-old to do push-ups -- but you can get a good idea of whether your child is getting enough exercise by answering these questions.

Outside time: Playing in the sandbox counts as much as tooling around on a trike. Outdoor time can be broken up. For example, if one morning she runs around in the backyard for 20 minutes, and then that afternoon she spends an hour at the playground, write down 80 minutes for that day.

Structured physical activities: This refers to adult-led activity -- anything from games at preschool (check with the teacher) to soccer, gymnastics, or movement classes.

Unstructured physical activities: Play that's not adult-led, both indoors and out -- such as dancing, climbing on the jungle gym, swinging, splashing in the pool, even digging in the sandbox or simply running around.

Sedentary activities: This category includes screen time (TV, computers, video games), as well as reading, coloring, and doing puzzles. Note when your child is just sitting, and jot down for how long each time.

Measuring Up

Compare your findings with these activity goals:

"Research shows that if a preschooler has plenty of opportunities to be outdoors, he'll be more physically active," says Faigenbaum. And yet some kids get only 10 to 15 minutes of daily outdoor playtime, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), 2-year-olds should get at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity each day; kids ages 3 to 5 should get at least 60 minutes of structured activity each day.

According to NASPE, toddlers and preschoolers should get a minimum of 60 minutes and preferably several hours of unstructured physical activity daily.

NASPE also recommends that toddlers and preschoolers not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time. This doesn't mean that reading or doing crafts is inferior to peewee soccer; it does mean that there should be a healthy balance between sedentary activities -- especially screen time -- and physical ones throughout the day.”

If you are looking for activities for your child to stay active, consider our dance classes.  We offer ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and poms.  We have something for everyone!  Check us out today!  www.OakCreekPerformingArts.com  We are registering now for summer and fall!