You’ve probably heard people say that listening to Mozart makes you smarter. Truth is that this claim, called the “Mozart effect,” is not supported by scientific evidence. Having your baby listen to Beethoven will not increase their IQ just as watching sports does not make you physically fit, but there are other mental benefits to listening or playing classical music.

However, in order to reap those benefits, the listener has to listen carefully, according to the Journal of Neuroscience. The examination of this connection between music and your brain is called music neuroscience, and it’s a growing area of study.

This relatively new field combines neuroscience, cognitive science and music education. Though there remain many unresolved questions about how music impacts brain development, music neuroscience experts believe that learning to read music and/or playing an instrument can have positive impacts on your child’s brain development, especially if they begin before age seven. Here are some of the development perks to reading and playing music:

• Your child’s speech perception and brain plasticity could increase due to the fast speed at which your child’s mind is processing music. Listening to notes and reading sheet music requires a faster processing pace than normal speech, so your child’s brain will eventually be able to process words more accurately and more quickly.
• Music tends to be more emotionally charged than speech. Instruments can deliver dramatic, sad and happy tones–to name just a few– and therefore emotional development and social awareness can occur at a younger age. This is due to the formulation of “grey matter,” which is responsible for processing and retrieving information and creating new neural connections. All of this leads to increased brain volume and a stronger ability to understand, recognize, control and express emotions at an earlier age.
• Think about the last time you really listened to a song, or watched a show or a live orchestra. A sole performer has to count beats, remember lyrics or steps and interact with the audience and other performers all at once. When your child plays an instrument, their brain has to manage and perform multiple tasks. This is good for a child because it increases their ability to multitask, employ spatial-temporal reasoning and problem-solve due to improved executive functioning skills.
• Go back to thinking about all of that chaos that happens on stage. You might be thinking, “Chaos? Every show I’ve ever seen looks organized to me.” That’s because successful orchestras or bands use great teamwork to turn potential chaos into what you experience: musical harmony and order. School sponsored and youth band programs provide children with an opportunity to develop strong teamwork and peer-to-peer cooperation, which improves their overall social skills. It teaches kids to work as a synchronized team while working well with others and taking direction from an authority figure.
• Sports are not the only activity that requires coordination. Playing an instrument requires hand and/or foot movement while absorbing other auditory and sensory stimuli. If your child begins playing an instrument at age seven, their fine motor skills coordination will be developed and refined early on.

Along with music neuroscience, music therapy is a growing field that utilizes music and serious meditation to heal and reduce stress. Though listening to classical music doesn’t have any proven scientific benefits (to our current knowledge), it can help de-stress children, especially those with ADD and ADHD, by synchronizing the two hemispheres of the brain with the right tempo. Music can also stir creativity and spark a child’s imagination.

Scientific laws aside, we’ve all experienced the soothing and intellectually stimulating benefits of listening to or playing music. Share this experience with your children. Introduce your children early to the world of music by signing them up for a weekly music class or encouraging them to sign up for music electives at school. Or perhaps you’d rather experience the positive mental affects of classical music in person. Why not take your family to listen to the sweet sounds of the concerto at Frederick Symphony Orchestra and experience the joys of music firsthand.