Music and education at most schools go hand in hand. In a child’s academic career they will be exposed to music and fine arts that can se them on the path to excellence Though, some fine arts programs including band, orchestra, and other musical outlets seem to produce no effect in the classroom, many people have done studies that show the correlation between music and academic excellence. It is this involvement that leads to more successful students. Students who are involved in musical programs have a better rate of academic achievement because they are exposed to new skills, creative learning techniques and a healthy and positive mortal support.
As stated by Winston Churchill, “Without the arts, what is there to fight for?” the arts, especially music and visual arts are the base to society. Without one there is no need to improve. Students who have been exposed to music from early childhood and those who perform in band, choir or other programs are more capable at achieving more in their school careers and are more likely to bring about social change. This concept of band or some musical program to better a student’s academic achievement can provide skills that the child didn’t know they processed. “Band is an experience that has long lasting effect on students. Beneficial life skills such as leadership, team work, cooperation, and goal setting are learned in a motivating and supporting setting” (Band Director Scott Burgener of Mountain View High School 2009). An article published by The New York Times (1998), made the correlation of music at younger ages can promote better brain development. Student who performed or grew up with stimulating music could certainly achieve more in classes across the board. Skills like this...
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...helpful and friendly on my first day of high school, and that impression has lasted ever since.” (Drum Major, Mountain View 2009). It is this sort of “Family” that leads to students wanting to improve and excel. Like the drum major from Mountain View High School, many participants in other musical channels have the same beneficial experience.
In many communities, this sort of response in student is growing and growing. Participating in music whether it is in school or out of school has a positive effect on their academics. Through helping students learn in a new way, a health exposure to new skills, and a growing family of supporters a student’s academies scores and record are sufficiently better. It is through these things that many communities, locally and nationally, are able to witness the power music can have on a student and their academic achievements.
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.
Once this is accomplished, students gain personal pride in achieving this new skill. Music programs offer lots of chances for students to develop new talents, whether that is playing an instrument or singing a song. “Music programs in public schools help to foster a student’s sense of pride and self-confidence” (Hoffman 1), and with this newfound pride, students will develop more experience in other areas, like working with others and communicating with different people. Music plays an active role in student’s lives, and as core subject grades begin to rise, “music education remains a key component in a student’s academic success and in positive social and emotional growth” (Hoffman 1). Music forms dignity in a students abilities, offering to give the students a chance to develop their communication and social skills in a safe environment, and give themselves positive feelings about their accomplishments. Without music programs in schools, students will have less pride in their abilities and will not let them gain that safe environment to achieve these experiences with
There have been many studies done to find how music influences a child’s development. The College Entrance Examination Board discovered that students who took music appreciation classes had higher verbal and math scores than those who did not take the classes. (Stephens 2003) The U.S. Department of Education found that in 25,000 secondary schools, students who were highly involved in the music program did much better in math than any other students. (Stephens 2003) These studies and more have found that involvement in music increases chi...
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
Music education is important for several different reasons. Music is a very valuable resource for students and teachers alike. Research has shown that musical study improves a child's early cognitive development, basic math and reading abilities, SAT scores, ability to work in teams, as well as spatial reasoning skills (VH1, 2003, para4). Music helps students to achieve in areas of intelligence. “Feis, Revecz, the Pannenborgs, Miller, and others are unanimous in finding that musicality and high intelligence go together” (Mursell & Glenn, 1931, p. 20). Studies have shown that preschool children taught with music and songs have an average 10 to 20 points over those without, and by the age of 15 have higher reading and math skills. Another study showed that students that had taken a music appreciation class scored 46 points higher on the math portion of the SAT, and students who had music performance experiences scored 39 points higher than students without any music experience (Harvey, 1997, para13). Music impacts most other areas of learning. “The area holding the greatest prospects for transfer from music appears to be language arts.” (Hoffer, 1983, p. 46) It has been said that music helps concentration during reading. Music is an affective memory aide, because of its use of rhythm, rhyme and melody. Music for young children helps them to learn language because of the rhythms and patterns involved in learning the songs. The involvement of music in education can help to develop oral language skills, listening skills, and an increased vocabulary. Music can help the comprehension of language and basic facts (Dobbs, 1990, 341, 342).
Much too often in America today, modern music and art programs in schools are perceived to many as extracurricular activities rather than important subjects that are vital to a students learning and skill development. The truth of the matter is that encouraging music and art education in public schools has a much larger impact on student’s grades, academic performance, and the economy than the majority people realize. Within the next year city school budgets will be dropping by twenty five percent, and despite the fact that music and art programs have been showing a dramatic contribution to student’s learning, this substantial drop in funding for the programs will lead to no dedicated money for art or music programs (Mezzacappa). There is no doubt that a cut in funding for art programs will take a huge toll on students overall grades and test scores. Research has found that the studying of music and art facilitates learning in other subjects and enhances children’s skills in other areas (Brown). Furthermore, providing students with a creative outlet can do great justice in reducing the stress from many other classes and even offer insight for students in possible career paths involving the art field. The art industry today currently supports 4.1 million full-time jobs (Dorfman). By increasing the funding of music and art programs for students preschool through twelfth grade we can see a dramatic increase in the education of children across the United States, assist with skill development in young students, and greatly benefit the economy at the same time.
Brown, L. L. (2012, May 25). The Benefits of Music Education. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
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...
...hrisen adds that those inborn capacities need to be reinforced, practiced, celebrated, which can be done at home or in a more formal music education setting. Research has found that learning music facilitates learning other subjects and enhances skills that children inevitably use in other areas. The students in the study who received music instruction had improved sound discrimination and fine motor tasks, and brain imaging showed changes to the networks in the brain associated with those abilities, according to the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that supports brain research.
Band requires dedication and discipline. Participating in band helps students to develop the skills they will need to succeed in life. Some of the skills include problem solving, decision making, teamwork, building self-confidence, self discipline, and responsibility (MusicforAll). In band nobody gets left behind. Unlike in sports if someone can not play as well as others they are not benched instead they have to work harder to play with the others in the group. Participation in band also brings the students together by a creative drive (Intolubbe-chmil). There are many other benefits to participation in band including social skills, a sense of belonging, a sense of accomplishment, cooperation, and commitment (Hallam 2). Participating in bands also helps to develop trust, respect, compromise, and the ability to negotiate (Hallam 10). Students who are in band are constantly using their memory when performing which helps them to memorize things at a quicker rate (Nafme). Playing in a band develops the students language and reasoning skills (Nafme). Those who participate in band are more likely to learn to improve their work
“Every student in the nation should have an education in the arts.” This is the opening statement of “The Value and Quality of Arts Education: A Statement of Principles,” a document from the nation’s ten most important educational organizations. The basic message is that music and art programs in the schools help our kids and communities in real and substantial ways. There is an abundant amount of facts and information that supports this statement. The benefits of arts education can be narrowed down into 4 basic categories: success in developing intelligence, success in ...
In today’s world, education is changing; the immense focus on testing is suffocating the knowledge that every student has the potential to gain. One would assume that with this increased focus on tests, it would be obvious to fund the arts since, “Arts and music education programs are mandatory in the countries that rank consistently among the highest for math and science test scores, like Japan, Hungary, and the Netherlands” (11 facts). This shows that music helps support the subjects that are prevalent on these tests of such importance. It is evident that, not supporting the arts is not supporting math and scienc...
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake”. Music is almost as old as the human race and is as much a part of it as anything. So why would anyone choose to get rid of it? An Increasing number of schools across the nation are deciding to cut music education programs. This includes band, orchestra, choir, and general music classes. In 1991, 55.4 percent of public school eighth-graders took part in music classes at school. In 2004, this figure was just 49.1 percent. Money plays a huge role in this statistic: “...when funds are scarce, arts courses are usually the first to be dropped from a school’s curriculum” (“Arts Education”). While many argue that music education is an unnecessary cost for schools, it improves student’s overall well being.
Without music, most people would have a sense that something is missing. Not all students are in band, but one way or another, weather they realize it or not, their schools band is most likely an important part of their school experience. Music makes the world a brighter place. People everywhere like listening to other people play music of some sort or another, by people they know personally or someone they have never met in there life. With out a well funded band it makes it harder for band students to enjoy playing music, and it makes it harder for the people who enjoy listening to them, have that opportunity to hear them
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.”