Music Activities Essay

Are extra-curricular and co-curricular activities needed in a school environment? Do they serve any purpose in the learning spectrum of school? Many individuals believe school is a place strictly for learning, nothing more. Yet, they have an abundance of different sports and activities offered. These activities are financed by public schools and are offered as something else to engage in. Although others do not agree, learning is affected by extra-curricular and co-curricular activities, such as music, in a positive way. Music programs can give students’ meaning, involvement, create positive feelings, give new opportunities, increase students’ community engagement, and can also improve students’ academic achievements. “For years the music education

Kristen Pellegrino, an assistant professor of music education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, has a Ph.D. in music education, M.M. in violin performance, and a B.M. in music education and applied violin. ("Kristen Pellegrino, Music Education.", 1). As she elaborates in her journal, music programs can offer a sense of meaning to students partaking in these programs. She talks of how numerous scholars address the connections between the well-being of students and music making. Pellegrino says, “Stefanakis has written about music as a ‘holistic way in which we come to know ourselves and our relationship with the world’” (Pellegrino, 83). To explain further, comprehension of the world around us is heightened when engaged in music programs. Giving students a comprehensive perspective of the world also gives them the understanding they need in life. Being part of music programs that achieve this make many students feel involved, purposeful, and needed. “Music experiences create a sense of meaning and coherence in life” (Pellegrino,

These musical experiences can lead to an abundance of other positive feelings within individuals. She expresses how music can affect and increase peoples’ awareness of feelings (83). Pellegrino states in her journal, “She [Dolloff] describes feelings of ‘utter joy’ while music-making, observing that ‘music and music making [are] ripe, with emotions and emotional potential’” (Pellegrino, 83). In the same way, music can affect our moods, “We all know how greatly music affects our feelings and energy levels! Without even thinking about it, we use music to create desired moods-- to make us happy, to enjoy movement and dance, to energize, to bring back powerful memories, to help us relax and focus” (Brewer, 1). These feelings are often common within students, or other individuals, that participate in music programs. Music programs can introduce music with concepts that trigger frequent emotional feelings in those who engage in these