The Soundbops Blog

Why learn music theory? If you've read any of our previous blog posts, by now you should have a good understanding of the value of having musical experiences from an early age. Music can help children learn to read , as well as having strong connections with maths which also helps children's numeracy, and it can even be a great aid for children with...

Learning music in the early years can help children learn to read Music and language Neurologists have found that music and language share a processing network in the brain. Evolutionary anthropologists believe that humans developed the capacity to process music and rhythm first, and that this allowed the development of language.  Babies respond to sounds, rhythm and melody before they begin to learn language....

Music, literacy and neuroscience. Music, sound and language share a processing network in the human brain. Babies learn to process sound before they learn language, and respond to the rhythm and cadences of sound and speech. In other words, babies learn to process music before language, and apply the patterns of music to language. That's why toddlers have a melodic style of speech, and...

Where music and mathematics meet We’ve long recognized the links between mathematics and music. The Ancient Greeks saw the repetition – and the recognition - of patterns in both disciplines as the same interpretation of the world. Plato said that he “would give children music, physics and philosophy, but the most important is music, for in the patterns of the arts are the keys...

...and why music is good for their development. My son has a playlist of favourite tunes. They have a common theme: songs that are either annoying at once, or that very quickly become annoying. Two particular favourites are Baby Shark and Old MacDonald .  It's not just Gabriel - 5.1bn viewers have 'enjoyed' Baby Shark on YouTube. Why do so many children like such...

What's the right age to start music lessons? The most important thing to bear in mind is not to start too early, nor too late. The sweet spot for a child learning a musical instrument and to read music is between 5 and 9. But that doesn't mean that learning and enjoying music shouldn't start earlier.  All children enjoy music. And all children benefit...