Why Take Music Lessons

Besides the obvious... that learning to play a musical instrument is fun, can grow into a life-long passion, and provide a rewarding career... music lessons themselves have been scientifically shown to improve brain development, strengthen cognitive functions and neural processing capabilities like no other activity. Click below to watch a short yet fascinating video that explains the research in which subjects exposed to music lessons showed enhancements to multiple areas of the brain (from http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins). Researchers found that playing music, as opposed to just listening (which also had several advantages) combines linguistic and mathematical precision - associated with the left brain hemisphere - with the novel and creative content that the right hemisphere excels in. As a result, musicians exhibit enhanced memory functions, greater abilities to categorize and apply complex concepts, and higher levels of executive functions.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-collins When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play, and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout.

Just Google "how music lessons affect your brain" and you'll find a whole list of reasons to invest in music lessons.

"There's little doubt that learning to play a musical instrument is great for developing brains." This quote is from an article in Time magazine on December16, 2014, entitled This is How Music Can Change Your Brain. Even if children take musics class in school, this study found that "kids can't fully reap the cognitive benefits of a music class" without being actively engaged in the music and participating in the class. 

Why Take Music Lessons at St. John Music?

At St. John Music studios, students are FULLY ENGAGED in the music from their very first lesson. How?

  • St. John Music studios were specifically designed and built to provide a safe, secure and productive learning environment.
    • Our studio is located in a public facility on a main road (not a private home on some back street)
    • All music booths are centrally located, each with a viewing window in the door and video surveillance systems that are monitored and recorded to ensure maximum safety for students and teachers.
    • Music booths are brightly colored to provide a warm and cheery ambiance and sound-insulated to minimize distractions from outside noise.
    • The entire studio, including individual booths have atmospheric controls to provide air conditioning and exhaust ventilation.
    • We have three clean, private restrooms and a comfortable waiting area for parents and students.
  • Lessons are one-on-one with highly screened and qualified instructors. We are very selective about who we hire to teach. All of our teachers are very experienced, well known and respected by their colleagues and have been verified via background investigation.
  • We are making the most of current technology to provide the best tools to teach music. And we make every effort to improve as technology improves. This includes training videos and Ipad applications that make lessons fun, intuitive and powerful. As musicians ourselves, we know that the passion for music grows exponentially with the level of fun. We never knew it was good for our brains, we just loved doing it and we share that fun with our students.