Dale Zink Instrument Lessons

Woodwind pics

I was asked "how young do I start kids off at?" It was under the post about why people should take lessons and due to the length of the post, the answer got lost. So, the following is my reply if you missed it or can't find it: This is usually done on a case by case basis since children grow and mature and their interests develop at different rates, but as a general rule, I like to keep the lower end of the age range to around 9. This can change based on several factors including child's size compared to the instrument they want to play, their maturity, their desire to play, their parent's desire for them to play and everyone's understanding of the commitment that will be involved in beginning an instrumental journey. Also, if a child starts too much before 9 and 4th grade, they won't have a lot of external opportunities to play. Most school programs start around the 5th grade, so getting them started a little before that can give them a head start so they won't be so lost at the beginning of their school class. But, if they start too much before that, they won't have the school program to work along with and we'll have to work that much harder to keep them interested and find venues for them to display their talents. Again, it's not a huge issue, but the more we can get the kids involved in music in different locations (lessons, home, school), the more experience they get and the more they will tend to stay in it.

Why would anyone want to take musical instrument lessons? Unless you're planning on going into the profession, it doesn't seem to really be anything that the time should be wasted on, right? Wrong! The following is a list of reasons why it's important for everyone to take up an instrument:

It improves brain function and versatility which can lead to easier learning and better grades
It improves coordination through purposeful control of extremeties
It opens up the world of the Arts to those who haven't been involved
It can help with socialization by being involved with new groups and people
It can improve self-worth and help solidify a positive self-image
It can relieve boredom (for those of us with that problem)
It can provide a hobby for someone looking for one
It can relieve depression and change your attitude
It can help lift someone else's spirits
It can help heal the body and the mind

For Wind and Brass players there are additional benefits:
Increased oxygenation of the entire body which can lead to improved and speeded healing, lower blood pressure, improved mood, improved immune system, improved brain function and alertness and more

And that's just a sample of the benefits of being a musician. The sooner one gets started, the sooner these benefits can be realized. That's why it's so important for children to start early, so they can reap the benefits during their academic years. Many studies have shown that musicians are better students and, maybe more impressively, studies have shown that becoming a musician makes you a better student. With the studies that have found that musicians are better students, one could say that perhaps the type of student who is interested in music tends to be the type of student who makes a better student. But, when you see that there have been studies that have followed students who weren't involved with music and then involved them in music and found that there is significant academic improvement from before music to after music involvement, that shows the real benefit of music in a student's curriculum.

I believe that the benefits stem from two aspects of playing an instrument. The first is that playing an instrument stimulates both hemispheres of the brain. While learning the empirical information - the notes, the rests, the nomenclature, the markings, the fingerings, etc..., the left side of the brain is more active. While learning the interpretation, expression and musicality of music, the right side of the brain is dominant. This stimulation of both sides of the brain makes the brain more active, develops new neural pathways and makes the brain more efficient. This can lead to more creative solutions to problems than would otherwise be available, for instance, if a student has hit a roadblock in finding an answer to a problem via the logical side of the brain, a pathway to the answer could be arrived at via a pathway in the right side of the brain. Extreme instances of this are often referred to as outside-the-box thinking, but musicians tend to think in this manner on a more regular basis.

Of course since there is a wide range of brain configurations and levels of operation and efficiency, not all musicians will be wunderkinds, but there is evidence to suggest that being a musician will tend to make a person better than they would have been if they weren't a musician. And that is an amazing statement. There aren't many other activities that can make that claim. Sports activities can come close, but still don't provide the whole mind-body-spirit package that music provides. Even those sports or disciplines that do have a BODY-Mind-spirit impact, still don't usually stimulate both halves of the brain the way music does, which probably explains why there isn't a similar correlation between athletes and academics.

Since we mentioned sports, let's talk a little about the similarities between sports and music. Schools have these groups broken out into two very different categories. You may have heard of band members being called "band geeks". You probably have never heard the term "sports geek" or "sports nerd". Although, recently the word "geek" has attained a somewhat more positive connotation, so it's possible you may have heard the term "sports geek" bandied about to refer to someone who's really into sports, either in terms of participating or, more likely, keeping and knowing stats and trivia. But, in truth, there are more similarities between band and sports. They are both team based. There are competitions to determine who's the best team. They require dedication, practice and physical conditioning in order to excel at them. A physical injury can take out a player from a performance or competition. There are coaches, judges, groupies, fans, superstars, teams, team owners, divisions, etc. The main difference is the level of physical exertion, which in some cases isn't that big a difference. If you compare Tai Chi or billiards to a rock band performing on stage, the musicians might well be exerting more than either of the other two groups. Obviously, someone participating in the more traditional school sports of football or basketball would be exerting more than a chamber music musician. But, other than the physical exertion parameter, I would consider music to be a true sport.

In a related topic, I believe that participating in a sport or an exercise program would improve the ability of the musician to play better or longer. For instance, swimming, walking, running and other aerobic workouts increase lung capacity and endurance which assist in a musician's ability to play, especially instruments which require blowing air into them. Strength training of the upper body - chest, arms, shoulders, back and even the neck make holding an instrument for an extended time easier. These activities should be considered as desirable when entering into the field of music. Staying fit and healthy is as important to a musician as it is to a football player.

I had mentioned that playing an instrument improved coordination. This is not to say that if you play clarinet it'll help you throw a baseball with more precision. Those two tasks use completely different motor skills. What I am referring to is that learning to play a, let's say, clarinet forces the student to move his fingers and hands in a specific pattern over and over again which improves his control over that section of his body. This increases movement in those appendages and, therefore, blood flow, which, in turn, improves flexibility and makes neural pathways that make controlling the hands and fingers easier and faster. This doesn't improve hand-eye coordination or body balance, but it does improve mind-body coordination with the hands.

For those children and even adults who are a little socially awkward, playing an instrument can force them to meet new people and be involved in new groups. When playing an instrument in a band, the new instrumentalist will likely meet the players in the band who play the same instrument, since he'll be sitting with them. He'll also probably meet the players from the other groups of instruments as well. If this is a classroom setting at school, it is possible that these students aren't in his other classes and this is the only opportunity to interact with them. Now, it's also possible that he has all of these students in all of his other classes, but if it's a big school, that's less likely. If this is an adult who's joining a community band, most of the people in the band will be unknown to him. This forces the musician to be involved with a whole new group of people who were previously unknown to him, thus expanding his social experience. If these groups play in a public setting, either a school recital or a community group performance, the musician may have an opportunity to interact with the audience afterward, thus, again, expanding his social experience. These interactions help improve the musician's confidence in public situations and even during one on one interactions. All these added social settings help improve the musician's ability to interact with people one to one and in groups, which is always a good thing to be able to do.

Once the musician has built an ability to play well, his self confidence while playing will grow. If he's given some solos and duets to play and has done well, his self-worth will improve. Part of his self-image will come from playing and he may even begin thinking of himself as a "musician". While this is certainly just one aspect of his life, it is no less important and can even take on one of the bigger factors in becoming a fulfilled individual.

Sometimes, especially in younger children, finding things to do to keep oneself occupied can be a problem, especially during the summer months. If someone is learning an instrument, this can help fill the time. Learning the facts and figures of music takes time and daily practice is very important, particularly for brass instruments, since keeping the embouchure (the way the mouth holds or forms around the mouthpiece) strong requires consistent time on the instrument. If someone is trying to find something to do, going and playing around on their instrument is certainly an option that isn't available to someone who doesn't play. Even if becoming a professional musician isn't on the table, playing an instrument as a hobby can provide an excellent way to pass to time pleasurably.

In addition to relieving boredom, playing music has the ability to change your disposition. Playing can make depression lift and can even make you happy. One of my orchestra members refers to our rehearsal time as her Thursday night therapy session. And that's not that far from the truth. If I'm tired or down or upset about stuff that's happened during the day, sitting down and playing something always makes me feel better. It even works when I'm sick. Playing always makes me feel better.

I believe a lot of the improvement in mood and physical feeling of wellness has to do with the breathing that's necessary for woodwind and brass players to play properly. A quick inrush of air which fills the lungs with oxygen is required first. Then that air is held in the lungs and released in a slow and controlled manner to produce the sound in the instrument. This keeps the oxygen in the lungs for a longer period than regular breathing and results in higher oxygen levels getting to the entire body. This causes improved brain function which, in turn, produces a better mood. The additional oxygen as well as the deeper movement of the chest activating the lymph nodes there helps improve the operation of the immune system. With the addition of the oxygen, the deeper movement of the chest, the slower exhalation of the breath and the calming effect of the music, the blood pressure is lowered. Now this can be counteracted by a highly active stage production in a live performance, but certainly during an individual practice session, the blood pressure would lower.

But feeling better isn't just for the player. Playing music for someone else can make them feel better, too. I've played at many nursing homes and hospitals. Almost without exception, everyone there has a smile on their face when I'm done. Whether it's due to the music itself or the music evoking an old memory. Who hasn't heard the stories about a patient who was unresponsive or who's memory was almost completely gone, but when someone played music for them, they would become aware of their surroundings and sing along and even remember words from songs their family had thought they'd forgotten long ago. Some doctors have even used music as therapy for those with mental illness and even physical brain damage. Now, obviously music can't cure brain damage, but it has been shown to alleviate symptoms and even create new pathways in the brain. It's just another tool that some doctors use to assist in helping their patients
I believe that God made the world and He made music, too, and He gave it to us as a gift. I believe that's why every human being has the ability to make music, whether by singing, humming, whistling, or playing an instrument with varying degrees of aptitude. I believe that music is one of the least corrupted of God's gifts to us and, as such, has an enormous power for good. Even as I say that, I realize that music is still under the same curse that everything else in the universe is under, which means that, as much as I love music, I haven't heard it in its undamaged form. So it can be even better. But even in the form we know it in, it still can heal both physically and mentally, it can change attitudes and minds and lives, it can bring joy and happiness and instill awe and love. I feel sorry for everyone who has never known the joy of making music or for whom it's been years since they have. I feel privileged to be counted among the group called "Musicians" and I want to bring as many people along for the ride as possible. So whether you learn from me or someone else is inconsequential. It's important that you and your loved ones can experience the pleasure of making music and the joy of making music instrumentally. Happy listening and happy playing.

Dale