I have been teaching and working with children and adults for over 23 years and must admit I have been fascinated with the whole process of how we learn and succeed at music. I have always taken a research approach to my teaching as I feel it is the best way to improve results based on facts rather than assumptions. I also actively seek out new research done by credible people in the area of education. The following Youtube video is an example. The video discusses how new borns learn language from day one (or even earlier). Although not mentioned in the video my research has shown that learning music works in much the same way. Music really is just a language. In the video the presenter talks about how our brains in the first year of life do not discriminate different spoken sounds but gradually employ filters that allow us only to hear the sounds of the language/s we hear around us. This explains why it becomes increasingly difficult as we age to learn new languages. I believe music is the same. If a child is exposed to people playing real musical instruments in the home they become more attuned to them and therefore are more adept at learning music. There are of course exceptions to this but not as many as one might think. Mozart and Tommy Emmanuel are both examples of musicians who had musical parents. Take a look at this video if you have time and especially if you plan on being a parent.
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