The Volunteer Projects (TVP)
Musical Outreach Programme

1. Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning.
Brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds.

2. There is a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things).
This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced math problems to being able to pack a school bag with everything that will be needed for the day.

3. Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions, rejecting outdated rules and assumptions.
Questions about the arts do not have only one right answer.

4. According to a number of recent studies, students who study the arts are more successful on standardised tests.
They also consistently achieve higher marks in secondary school.

5. Students of music learn good craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work.
These standards, when applied to a student’s own work, demand a new level of excellence and require students to stretch their inner resources.

6. In music, a mistake is a mistake; the instrument is in tune or not, the notes are well played or not, the entrance is made or not.
It is only through hard work and tenacity that a successful performance is possible. Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work.

7. Music study enhances teamwork skills and discipline.
In order for an orchestra to sound good, all players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance. They must also commit to learning music, attending rehearsals and practicing.

8. Music provides a means of self-expression.
Everyone needs to be in touch at some point with his/her ‘core’, with what he/she is and feels. Self-esteem is a by-product of this self-expression. By allowing a child to express themselves through music, they will grow to be more well-rounded individuals, in tune with their own emotions. Studies have shown that this has resulted in musicians living up to 5 years longer than non-musicians due to reduced stress levels.

9. Music study develops skills that are necessary in the workplace.
It focuses on ‘doing’, as opposed to observing, and teaches students how to perform, literally, anywhere in the world. Employers are looking for multi-dimensional workers with the sort of flexible and supple intellects that music education helps to create, as described above. In the music classroom, students can also learn to better communicate and cooperate with one another.

10. Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take risks.
A little anxiety is a good thing, and something that will occur often in life. Dealing with it early and often makes it less of a problem later. Risk-taking is essential if a child is to fully develop his or her potential. Performance at a young age increases a child’s confidence and the resulting public performances, encourages confidence in front of assemblies large and small.