<p>My girls were Suzuki violin students-we started partially as it was a concrete skill to learn while waiting for kindergarden the year they turned five. They were not always happy that we kept on with lessons, thought in a less disciplined way than was ideal. They progressed regardless, partially as I knew how to work with them, and by the time they got to 5th grade, they were very good (though not compared to the other Suzuki students), and enjoyed having leadership roles in school strings and youth orchestra. When I was a kid, my musical abilities were about my only source of pride-and I wanted them to have that sense of being able to do something very well. </p>
<p>They both got music scholarships at LAC, though one chose a school with more competitive music program and didn’t end up with the scholarship. They are enjoying college orchestra, lessons and quartet playing. It remains to be seen how much a part it plays in their future. But I have a hunch that at least one will probably always be an orchestral musician. </p>
<p>I have no clue whether it enhanced their intellectual abilities or not. They’re certainly not talented in math, though were good students, and liked the peer environment of orchestra. But as I said, we were not as carefully disciplined with music practice as would be ideal. Maybe the discipline plays into the math skill. </p>
<p>Gwen, I was the same way-terrible voice, and as a music major, had to take a voice class. Horrors! But a great teacher turned my voice around though, and the class is one of my fondest memories. It is REALLY sad that kids in this country don’t get solid vocal instruction in school-much of singing is a learned skill. </p>
<p>Fafnir, I miss my kid’s music too! Never realized how much till they played duets a bit over break.</p>
<p>My D studies piano and classical voice and does quite well academically, including in math. Took the SAT in spring junior year and did well, not stellar. She is usually an avid reader, but that summer she spent six weeks in an intensive summer music camp, studying voice, piano, theory and doing lots of rehearsing/performing. She returned home for a few weeks wanting to have a tutor to help her improve her SAT. She took the pre-test, and her scores on it were 50 to 80 points higher in each category BEFORE any tutoring. She had done no reading, no math, no writing all summer! Maybe music study made the difference? She did improve her scores a lot on the real SAT 2 months later. Didn’t study a lot for it, but did practice a lot of music!</p>
<p>It hurt me somewhat as I wasn’t able to take any AP science courses, along with it detracting from my other extracurricular activities. I was involved with marching/concert band as a first chair and section leader through junior year. I did several honors bands. I honestly wish I could have all that time back to focus on what I loved.</p>
<p>As far as my own life is concerned, I do have some music regrets. In 7th grade, at my junior high, you had to pick an elective. I chose band and began clarinet lessons. My other choice could have been typing, but who wanted that? I am now 56, and I would have REALLY used that typing skill in college, grad school, and now in the computer age. Funny, both of my kids, who studied piano for years, are excellent typists. Maybe that’s a non-academic byproduct of music study! By the way, I haven’t played that clarinet in 40 years.</p>
<p>fafnir–it’s not too late to pick up the clarinet again if you want to! See if there is a New Horizons Band in your area…they cater to people like you. (And me…I picked up the flute after years off.)</p>
<p>It’s not surprising that music and math go hand in hand, as they say. Much of note reading is just pattern recognition. </p>
<p>But there is more to music than just note reading, so if you don’t have the rest of the requirements (innate talent, a good ear, manual dexterity), you may not enjoy music enough to spend hours perfecting your playing. Or singing.</p>
<p>But it is good to know how to read…never can tell when it will come in handy.</p>
<p>S has played the piano since 3rd grade, oboe since 6th (active in band and youth orchestra) and taught himself to play guitar (acoustic, electric & bass). He is in that intense junior year in HS. We know that it’s a “good” day when we hear him playing music. It helps him to decompress. Not sure which came first (music, good student) but I do know that music has offered him a way to escape. He has no aspirations to be a professional musician but he will most likely major or minor in music. We are very thankful!</p>