Sharing musical instruments not always healthy for kids
Attention budding trumpet and saxophone players. Clean your instruments! That’s the warning from Oklahoma State University researchers who examined brass and woodwind instruments shared by school students and found they were germ-laden and acted as potential “reservoirs of disease.” Micro-organisms linked to asthma, skin infections and other illnesses and allergies were found on 13 instruments used by a small-town high school band, they reported in a study published in the March/April issue of the journal General Dentistry. More than half of the instruments, which included clarinets, trombones, trumpets, saxophones and oboes, hadn’t even been used in the previous month. (more)
Childhood Music Lessons May Provide Lifelong Boost in Brain Functioning
Those childhood music lessons could pay off decades later – even for those who no longer play an instrument – by keeping the mind sharper as people age, according to a preliminary study published by the American Psychological Association. The study recruited 70 healthy adults age 60 to 83 who were divided into groups based on their levels of musical experience. The musicians performed better on several cognitive tests than individuals who had never studied an instrument or learned how to read music. The research findings were published online in the APA journal Neuropsychology. (more)
To read The Relation Between Instrumental Musical Activity and Cognitive Aging, click here:
Learning A Musical Instrument May Boost Life Long Success
Study shows Canadians who learned an instrument as a child reported higher levels of education; more than 2/3 believe it’s just as important as sports or learning a second language.
If you learned to play a musical instrument as a child you are more likely to go further in school, according to a new XM Canada / Leger Marketing survey. In fact, seven out of 10 Canadians who learned a musical instrument as a child said it has had a positive effect on their lives and half agreed that learning an instrument helped them do better in school. Interestingly, 66 per cent of Canadians say learning an instrument is as important as learning a second language. (more)
Majority of music teachers lack musical background: Survey
The panic hits late in summer, when teachers who can’t read a note of music suddenly learn they must teach the subject because there aren’t enough specialists to go around. That’s when Kevin Merkley starts throwing out lifelines. As music consultant for the York Region District School Board, he scrambles to find teachers musical mentors, or a quick hit of theory, or to steer them to the new year-long web course designed to help these musically challenged souls face the music. “The scary part is, without any musical background you could just photocopy sheets about music notation for the kids to fill in all year,” said Merkley. “But that’s like teaching kids the alphabet without showing them the joy of reading a book.” (more)
