Ask Alice - On the benefits of music lessons, with classical music ...

Alice,

I don't have answers on the subject of whether or not music lessons are a waste, but I have a certain amount of experience. When Richard was playing electric guitar in a garage band (He picked up guitar very quickly after eight years of viola playing), he grumbled, 'I wish we had somebody who could play the keyboard.' Then he stopped and said, 'Wait a minute. I studied piano for six years. can play the keyboard.'

Then there's Matt who quit piano after five years of lessons and a huge amount of grumbling. About four years later, during his stint as drummer for a band, it occurred to him that two of the other members were very skilled pianists. So when they left for college, he arranged to take one kid's space with the local piano teacher. In the next month he made great leaps and was suddenly very good.

Anyway, last time I counted, I have hauled my five kids to of the physical and the emotional connection to the greats (Beethoven especially) is like nothing else.

If I was Obama, every kid in the country would have compulsory music lessons until university -- all they'd be able to choose would be the instrument. Result? Less crime, youth boredom, fewer gangs, a greater ability to concentrate, proof that hard works pays off and a different society. (As for orchestras and opera companies: they would boom!)

G F Henley, California that they could. Hearing just a few measures of Mozart's music can improve memory and boost learning abilities, according to a recent study at Stanford University in California. Researchers have discovered a molecular basis for the music's mental benefits. Classical music has been found to reduce a hormone known as cortisone that adds to stress. It is believed this style of music enhances relaxation by freeing the appropriate neurons in the brain. Music can help reduce both the sensation and distress of chronic pain and postoperative pain. It can even reduce chronic pain from a range...

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