Throughout history music has played an important role in society, whether it was Mozart moving people with his newest opera or the latest album from the Beatles. Where would society be today without music? With schools cutting their music programs, the next Mozart may not get his chance to discover his amazing talent. Music programs are essential to education. To fully understand this one must understand how music helps the human body, why schools have cut music programs, and why people should learn music.
According to Laurence O’Donnell, “Music is thought to link all of the emotional, spiritual, and physical elements of the universe.” This proves that music is more than a simple class teaching random notes. It is a common denominator between mind, body, and learning. One scholar shows that music causes a response that can affect a person’s mood; this is directly related to how a person acts upon their emotional response to music. He later talks about how music can have a positive effect on memorization and brain function (O’Donnell). The Center for New Discoveries in Learning stated, “Learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using 60 beats per minute music” (qtd. in O’Donnell). Most of the music that follows these types of beats is classical music such a Mozart and Bach. This is the type of music taught in schools, thus, enhancing a student’s ability to learn.
Occasionally music is used as medicine. One scholar shows that music can lower blood pressure, speed up stroke recovery, help you fall asleep, and help relieve pain (Surprising Effects of Music). Many schools provide a challenging curriculum for their students. Music classes would give students a chance to relax. Research demonstrates that liste...
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...link between emotional, spiritual, and physical elements.
Works Cited
O'Donnell, Laurence. "Music and the Brain." "Brain & Mind" Magazine. 1999. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
Rhoden, Paula. "Humboldt School District Cuts Music, Library Programs." The Prescott Daily Courier. 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .
Severance, Scott. "Music: The Psychological Effects of Music." 1999. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. .
Sturrock, Carrie. "Playing Music Can Be Good for Your Brain." Featured Articles from SFGate. Hearst Newspapers, 17 Nov. 2005. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. .
"Surprising Effects of Music." 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. .
Van Harken, Joseph. "Budgets Cut Student Experience." CNN.com. 20 Aug. 2003. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. .
Many schools around the country are cutting their music program because of budget cuts in their counties. The arts for some reason are always the first to be cut; apparently the school doesn’t think they are essential to their students learning. Schools try to focus on the more important academic classes because of the high testing standards they must now meet. (Nesoff 2003) This is not just happening in poor school districts it is happening in large districts across the country including magnet schools for the arts: “When Albert Margolis and his wife attended the final music program for their son's kindergarten class in May, they were shocked when a teacher stood up after the performance and announced that the music program was cut indefinitely…Bathgate Elementary School in Mission Viejo in California's affluent Orange County, is a magnet school for the arts…” (Nesoff 2003) When magnet schools for the arts start cutting music you know there is a problem. The problem is the schools do not know the importance of music and the arts and how necessary they are for children to grow and become cultured in our society.
Mannes, Elena. "www.npr.org/2011/06/01/136859090/the-power-of-music-to-affect-the-brain." Mannes, Elena. The Power of Music to Affect the Brain. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011.
The position that is being argued is that music should stay in schools. This author is making the claim that music makes children excel in their education. This author uses many different sources. The author relies mainly on studies to back up his argument. The article is recent.
Many people do not realize the positive effect that popular music has on children. At a young age one of the breakthroughs for children is music’s benefit for language development. According to the Children’s Music Workshop, the effect of music education on language development can be seen in the brain. Studies have indicated that musical training develops the left side of the brain known to be involved in processing language and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. The relation between both music and language development can also have advantages children. Listening to music can also improve children test scores and IQ levels. Dr. Schellenberg found that a small increase in the IQs of six year olds who were given weekly vocal and piano lessons. This leads to the fact that music is very helpful when it comes to education. Professor Christopher Johnson revealed that students in elementary schools with better music education programs sc...
Music is a wonderful thing. I can listen to it when I'm lifting, when I need to sleep, when I want to get away. I can listen to it when I’m say, or angry of to make me happy. I can recall things when it comes to my favorite music. One thing I always wondered is how can music be such a multifaceted factor in making me feel these different ways, and remember like I do. How does my brain factor into all of this too. Since music is a major and constant variable in today’s society In this paper I will discuss these things and how music affects the brain when it comes to certain things; long and short-term memory, how it affects our moods, how our day is going, our health and rehabilitation, and even therapy for mental illnesses? This includes listening, performing, composing, reading, writing and any other activities like expressing one’s self through music.
Schlaug, Gottfried, Andrea Norton, Kate Overy, and Ellen Winner. Effects of Music Training on the Child’s Brain. The Musician's Brain. New York Academy Of Sciences, 2005. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. .
In 2011, schools with music programs had a 90.2 percent graduation rate as opposed to schools without these advantages only having a 72.9 percent graduation rate. Funding issues have generated controversial debates about whether or not music programs should remain in schools. Although critics say that schools’ limited funds should be spent on improving on the quality of education, statistics have argued for the other side. Providing music education in schools prepares students for the workplace, causes higher attendance and graduation rates, and increases test scores.
In most recent years, schools have been fighting to keep music programs alive in school systems across the nation. Some schools believe that due to budget factors, music should be cut out of the academic program, to save some money. But what is widely unknown is that schools that have good music programs do better in areas of math and sometimes reading. A high tech music program called Kodaly, was instituted into the schools of Hungary. If a person were to look at the school today, there are “…no third graders who cannot sing on pitch and sing beautifully” (Dickinson, 1993, p.1). Also, the students of the Hungarian schools academic achievement in math and science “ continues to be outstanding” (Dickinson, 1993, p.1). Another report shows that schools that spend 20% to 30% of their day on music (or the arts), have the highest academic achievement (Dickinson, 1993). One study was conducted involving first and second graders at two Rhode Island public elementary schools to show the effects of musical training on academic achievement. In this study, 96 children were used between the ages of 5-7 in eight first grade classrooms. Four of the classrooms were used as control classrooms, which received the standard amount of musical training; forty-five minutes of music that alternates weeks. The other four classrooms were called “test arts“ classrooms. These classrooms received an hour of music per week. After seven months of this training, the students were all given a standardized test. It was then concluded from the tests, that 77% of the “test arts” classes “…were now at grade level or above in mathematics, as compared to 55% of those in the control groups” (MENC, #1). This clearly shows that if ...
Initially information for this topic was a bit difficult, but as I continued to research I was able to find the material I needed. Once I gathered my information it became easier for me to combine the material and write my paper. During my research I also found other topics dealing with music and the learning process, such as, does the music’s volume hurt or help the learning process, which type of music helps best with the learning process, and can the type of music change an individual’s mood.
Music and the Brain. (n.d.). Music and the Brain. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://tdlc.ucsd.edu/research/highlights/rh-music-and-brain-2011.html
Even when children learn music they able to listen, sing, dance, create movement. Listening to music draw out emotions, and playing music can be just like communicating emotions. Some people find this a very powerful experience. “ Music enriches the lives of students and should be considered a necessary part of education.”
Music has incredible effects on the brain and body! Ever since the beginning of time, music has been around. It can influence the way a person thinks and behaves, and also social interactions. Teens are more susceptible to this (Revatto 1). Music can be used in therapy by helping people with depression, and can even be a more natural way to heal the body (“How Music...” 1). In some cases, songs and melodies can help or make diseases worse. Music is a powerful thing and can affect your brain and many other things in your body in numerous ways.
Scientist has proven that humans have responded to music ever since birth. Elena Mannes, a brain scientist, has recorded the relationship with music throughout a human’s lifetime. Mannes even went far enough to say that the cries of babies just a few weeks old were discovered to have some intervals common to western music. She also states that scientists believe music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function. With this knowledge, she sees that music has so much potential when it comes to affecting the brain and how it works.One main area of the brain music can have a real effect on is neurological deficits (Mannes INT). For example, if a patient who just had a stroke occur and lost verbal functions, those functions can be stimulated by music. This is known as melodic intonation therapy and it could help patients regain speech. The human brain is split into two parts, the left and right hemisphere. The right hemisphere has been traditionally thought of to be the “seat of music appreciation.” However, the right side has not been proven for that role in any way (Joelving INT).
Weinberger, Norman M. “Music and the Brain.” Scientific American Special Edition 16.3 (2006): 36-43. Health Source- Consumer Edition. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Cooper, Belle. " How Music Affects and Benefits Your Brain."lifehacker.come. N.p., 11 22 2013. Web. 3