How Does Music Benefit a Child’s Health?

Ilene (Lee) Morris, Catholic Health Music Therapist, shares insights into the power of music to improve children’s health and wellness. 

Q. What are the mental health benefits of music in children?

Although we like to think of childhood as a carefree time, growing up is hard work. Children experience the full range of human emotions before they have the tools to express, process and manage them. Music can play an essential role in fostering a child’s mental health by providing a means of self-expression.

The auditory system, where music enters the brain, interacts with important structures in the limbic system, which is involved in processing emotions and controlling memory.

Because music is a form of nonverbal language, creating music can be a way for children to express themselves in a targeted and non-threatening way. Sometimes, music can convey what words cannot.

A music therapist employs the ISO principle to guide a child to a more comfortable mood. The therapist begins with a music style that matches the child's existing mood and gradually changes key, tempo, tone, color, texture and other qualities to promote a corresponding change in mood.

Determining their auditory environment, such as deciding what songs to listen to and when, allows children a sense of control. This is especially important when they cannot control other aspects of their lives.

Specific music therapy interventions focus on anxiety reduction by incorporating slow breathing, relaxation, and/or guided imagery techniques with music listening or instrumental improvisation. A mental health self-care regimen can include listening to favorite music with positive and encouraging themes or a slow, comforting tempo to help mediate mood. 

Participating in a musical ensemble such as a band, orchestra, or chorus gives children a creative outlet and a sense of belonging and helps them develop self-confidence. Studies have shown that children involved in musical ensembles are likely to be more academically successful.

Q. What are the physical health benefits of music for children?

Music can positively affect children as they grow and develop. Music triggers a natural physical response from a very early age. When hearing a rhythmic beat, we may shimmy our shoulders, tap our toes, or bob our heads to the music. The impulse to respond physically to music can be so strong that we often do it unconsciously! 

This connection between our auditory system, which perceives the music, and our motor system, which controls movement, can be channeled to help children learn how their bodies move and reach physical milestones. Musical games such as “Freeze Dance” and “Musical Chairs” and action songs such as “The Hokey Pokey” and “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around” provide opportunities for children to be physically active in a fun, motivating context. 

Performing finger-play songs such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “The Wheels on the Bus,” as well as playing musical instruments, exercise fine motor skills. Dancing is another enjoyable way to move to music, stretch muscles, promote coordination, and build physical strength.   

Music allows a mind-body connection that helps children grow and develop essential skills.

Q. What do you mean by music therapy? Can you provide an example?

The American Association of Music Therapy (AMTA) defines music therapy as “the clinical & evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.” 

Music therapy interventions are customizable and dynamic and can address a wide variety of needs in areas such as physical, emotional, behavioral, developmental, cognitive, socialization, expressive, and educational. 

An experience is considered music therapy when goals are identified through an assessment process followed by a music-based treatment tailored to meet those goals. A music therapist oversees the treatment and monitors outcomes to ensure progress.

Q. What is an example of how you have seen music therapy improve a child’s mental health?

An example is an emotional health goal achieved with a child who is on the autism spectrum. He found it difficult to cope with his anger and frustration, often resorting to aggression. 

In his assessment with a music therapist, he expressed that he knows how to be calm but cannot remember what to do when upset. He has many strengths in the musical realm, including the ability to play melodies by ear on his keyboard and sing the lyrics of many songs from memory. 

Songwriting is a music therapy intervention that offers opportunities for self-expression, processing of emotions, and unleashing creativity.

The music therapist and the boy agreed to write a song together over the next several sessions to remind him of strategies to help calm himself. He listed eight actions, including “lie down,” “breathe slowly and deeply,” and “count to 10.” He pointed out that “eight is like an octopus.” So, the song featuring eight ways to calm down becomes “The Octopus Song.” The music therapist recorded the boy singing it, adding audio effects and loops he chose. 

Now, the boy enjoys listening to his creation over and over. The repetition enables him to recall all the words, reminding him of positive, effective actions he can take. This functions as a way for him to cope with his negative emotions when they arise and help prevent them from escalating.

Q. What other developmental skills in children can be addressed by music therapy?

Music therapy can enhance learning and skill acquisition in social, language, and cognitive abilities. 

Music is an attention-getter. Attention is a primary cognitive skill and building block of higher-order thinking. So, when a child’s attention level is optimized, learning through music can help the child understand and remember information more effectively. 

The structure of music significantly assists with processing and memory. Many musical pieces combine smaller units or “chunks” of sound.  An example is the "ABC" song.  The pauses in the melody divide a long list of 26 letters into more manageable chunks, which increases memory capacity.

Music experiences are also shareable, which benefits a child’s social skills. When listening to, singing, or playing music with others, children see themselves as part of a whole. For example, they might sing around a campfire with friends and family or sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at a baseball game. Children also develop social skills through listening, sharing, taking turns, cooperating, and following directions. Music therapy can help build those skills, greatly benefiting them into adulthood.

Music therapy also enhances language skills. Songs, especially those designed for children, often present key phrases in a refrain or other repetitive device, allowing children multiple opportunities to sing and master words and their meanings. Music supports language development through shared elements such as structure, expression, and rules. 

Experiencing the joy of music also exposes children to how notes (like words) are pieced together to form musical phrases (like sentences) with rhythm, pitch and timing, conveying additional emotion and information. The motivational factor of music encourages the child to engage in the musical exercise repeatedly, honing the child’s abilities each time.

The concept of repetition in music bears repeating! Repetition is critical to learning and being excellent at a skill, so pairing music with tasks gives children a pleasurable and rewarding context for trying and practicing new challenges.

What is Health & Harmony?

Health & Harmony is a collaborative effort between The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) and Catholic Health that engages, educates and inspires Long Islanders about the positive effects of music on their health. You can find events, workshops and customized playlists.