According to research, if a child is exposed to music in his early years, he is likely to be more intelligent than his musically unexposed counterparts! Yes, studies conducted in the United States have shown that children who studied music in school, scored better on SAT exams than children who did not choose music as a subject.

Intelligence

The more forms of music your child is introduced to at a younger age, the more his brain is utilized and stretched to greater levels. So can listening to music really make your child smarter? If statistics and research are to believed then yes, it can! The Mozart Effect, which has been given wide media coverage in the past few years, states that listening to classical music has a positive impact on your child's intelligence. How far you choose to believe the evidence is up to you, but there is definitely value in making children listen to music in their formative years, including when they are in the womb. And it is important to introduce your child to a varied environment that includes hobbies and extracurricular activities like music, to provide for his overall growth.

Discipline

Music inculcates a discipline in your child. Learning to play a musical instrument calls for focus and concentration. It also calls for tune, tone and voice recognition, which provides stimuli and encourages the brain to develop to a fuller potential.

Listening Ability

The more music your child listens to, the more likely it is that he will be a good listener.

Motivation

Certain kinds of music, their tune and their lyrics, can be incredibly motivational. Lyrics can lift you and cheer you up, help you feel better when you are down, and inspire you to achieve great heights.

Vocabulary

Similarly, it is easy for a child to increase his vocabulary through music. You may not be around all the time to speak to him, but if you just turn on the music when your child is around, and let the music play in the background, your child will subconsciously absorb everything that is being said. It will be a lot easier for you to explain the meanings of the words later on.

Don't play the same music all the time. If the only music your child listens to is the 'dhinchak' stuff in Hindi movies, it's not going to help much. Remember, children are first attracted to pop because they easily identify with the rhythm and enjoy the beats. In addition, their exposure to Indi pop is a lot more because it constantly plays all the time on the channels, and children, like adults, like music they are accustomed to hearing. So if you ensure that your child is exposed to various types of music, chances are that he will develop a better understanding of music.

Although you could start your child on music classes, a cheaper alternative would be to simply get your child a small music instrument that he will find easy to handle at a young age, like a harmonica or a Casio. This will encourage him to try and develop new tunes. As your child's interest and knowledge in music deepen, you could start sending him to a music class, where he can learn singing, or learn how to play an instrument of his choice.