Play the piano and boost your IQ

From Beethoven to Rachmaninov and Chopin in between, piano has always been an instrument that has stood the test of time for its versatility and beautiful sound. Playing piano has another advantage that is even greater than the music itself in the fact that it is good for your brain and can increase your IQ level.

In no other human activity does memory, complex integration and muscle coordination surpass the achievements of a skilled pianist.

Here are some interesting facts on the advantages that playing piano has for a child’s development:

• Children who have taken three years of piano instruction have significantly higher self-esteem than children who are not enrolled in piano lessons.
• Students who received piano lessons scored 34 per cent higher on tests indicating that music enhances higher brain functions required for engineering and science.
• Studying the piano before the age of seven can help boost connections between motor and sensory regions of the brain.
• After nine months of weekly piano lessons young students IQ’s rose nearly three points higher than those of their untrained peers, according to the University of Toronto Study.
• Piano instruction dramatically enhances a child’s abstract thinking skills.
• Piano is one of the only instrument that require the use of all ten fingers. This initiates the primary motor cortex, prefrontal cortex and cerebellum of the brain into action.

Advantages of playing piano:

• Increases focus and attention.
• Promotes a sense of balance and relaxation in life.
• It boosts pattern recognition.
• Enhances spatial organisation and sharpens a variety of other cognitive abilities.
• It also improves verbal intelligence and executive function.
• Increases self-esteem.
• Refines motor control skills.

Source: www.encorelessons.com