{"id":60111,"date":"2016-02-01T00:09:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T08:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=60111"},"modified":"2016-02-01T00:09:16","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T08:09:16","slug":"ivory-keys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/60111","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Harmony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tI recently shared<\/a> a titch about the sweet, sweet harmony reigning in our home since both of my girls started music lessons in September. But I was\u00a0skeptical about squeezing a piano into our tiny living room. A piano is generally a big-ticket item, and I really, really want to instill an appreciation for frugality\u00a0in my children.<\/p>\n

Well, it turns out I know a guy who knows a guy who is a professional tuner by day, and he gave us a great deal on a 1950s Kimball that\u2019s in super good shape. Not excellent shape, which is perfect for me, because I’m happy to give it a little cosmetic love. So with plenty of encouragement from a music teacher that I am thankful to have in the girls’ lives, my hubby and her hubby carefully hauled it up our front-stoop stairs and into our living room.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Here’s what the experts say: Playing an instrument is the brain\u2019s equivalent of a full-body workout, especially for children. Learning to play an instrument develops physical attributes in the fine-motor-skills department for sure, but research is now showing that learning an instrument aids in emotional and behavioral maturation as well. That means the little ones are honing their attention skills, managing their anxiety, and gaining control of their emotions, because playing an instrument actually thickens the parts of the brain used to fight depression, aggression, and attention problems.<\/p>\n

In school, music-makers generally understand math and science concepts more easily. By learning about note lengths and how they relate to the whole piece of music, students exercise the part of the brain that processes proportional thinking, and that kind of thinking is required to understand math and science at higher levels. It also improves spatial-temporal reasoning, which is the ability to see disassembled parts and mentally put them back together.<\/p>\n

Wow, all that from a little ivory tickling. The results I’ve seen in the short time we’ve had our piano are rather astounding. The girls even\u00a0play it while they brush their teeth! To say the least, they are appreciating it far more than I ever dreamed. This year, I\u2019m anticipating a year filled with sweet, sweet harmony and music.<\/p>\n

\"\"

American Trade Cards, Boston Public Library via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently shared a titch about the sweet, sweet harmony reigning in our home since both of my girls started music lessons in September. But I was\u00a0skeptical about squeezing a piano into our tiny living room. A piano is generally … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meg_girls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}