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The positive influence of playing music in youth
Why school fine arts programs should not be cut
Music and its effect on young people
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The Benefits of Music Education
Due to budget cuts, students all across America are missing an opportunity that could benefit them greatly. Many changes all across America are cutting the fine arts program out of schools. The fine arts program is incredibly important for a child. Children should be exposed to music at a young age to help them succeed as an adult. Music education should be properly funded so they can gain important knowledge and life skills in school.
Music benefits kids in multiple ways, and many people do not understand what music can do for a child. Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work (Phillips). When people make a mistake in music, it is a mistake! People will work harder to improve their mistakes and by the time they perform they know that they corrected that mistake and be happy with their performance, making them feel good about themselves. Music enhances teamwork skills and discipline (Phillips). In order for an orchestra to sound good, all the players must work together toward one goal, the performance, and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals and practicing music. Children who study a musical instrument develop discipline and teamwork (Hatch). Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning (Phillips). Learning and listening to music at a young age helps kids be more reasonable and better understand things more. There is a link between music and spatial intelligence (Phillips). This means that kids have the “ability to perceive the world accurately and form mental pictures of things”(Phillips). Students in art classes learn to think creatively and to solve probl...
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... It can benefit students in many ways. Music was not meant to be perfect. It was meant to release a person and free the soul. Music can bring people together and makes us, as human beings, better people.
Works Cited
O' Donnell, Laurence. “Music and the Brain.” “Brain & Mind” Magazine – WWW Home Page. Music Power, 1999. Web. 15 Dec. 2010.
Phillips, Carolyn. "Twelve Benefits of Music Education." Music Education Online by Children's Music Workshop. Childrens Music Workshop. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.
"Inappropriate Content in Music | Negative Effects." Media Awareness Network | Réseau éducation Médias. Media Awareness Network. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. .
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.
Fine arts gives students a chance to pour their hearts into something beautiful; a chance to be a part of something that is bigger than just themselves. Some schools are facing financial troubles with the current economy, and one of the first programs they consider cutting is fine arts. The removal of fine arts programs would be absolutely devastating to countless members of the community. Many students would lose their favorite class, in some cases the one class that helps them get through the day, and many teachers that truly care fir the students would lose their dream jobs. Fine arts should not be cut from schools; they build confidence, help with the application of other academic concepts, and even help to prepare students for their future work in the business world.
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.
“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.
Brown, L. L. (2012, May 25). The Benefits of Music Education. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent” (Hugo). During the Romantic era, Victor Hugo became one of the most well known French authors. Victor is typically known for his poetry and novels including Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Through his inspirational work, Victor told stories of love, loss, and beauty in the world. Victor believes one of these beauties is music because of its ability to create, inspire, and embody someone’s thoughts and emotions. This mentality towards music is why society integrates music into the school systems. While the progress made by each individual is circumstantial, varying music programs in K-12 school systems need to be heavily provided and encouraged.
The Importance of Arts Education Jane Alexander, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), once said, “Many children are missing out on something which gives their education context, gives their lives depth and meaning, and prepares them to be the future workforce.” This “something” that she spoke of is music and art education. Unfortunately, she is entirely correct. We are currently seeing a dramatic cut in arts education curriculum in our public schools due to the limited amount of time and funding. In many cases, budget cutbacks mean arts education cutbacks.
"Music and the Brain." Music and the Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. .
Did you know when schools need to make budget cuts, art and music programs are the first to go? Many schools in America have begun to cut art and music programs out of their curriculum. Although some believe art and music programs should be cut, many other disagree because art and music programs help students socially, encourage teenagers to stay in school, and lead to higher test scores.
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 provides positive cognitive benefits that aid children in their early stage of development. Singing as well as music play is essential in cultural roles. Music is ever present in our everyday life from movies, to television, worship, government, national anthem etc.
There was never a question in my mind that music possesses a strong element to help people. It has always been a stress reliever in my life. There is research that supports the belief that music is an instrumental part or impact on a wider realm of physical and mental disorders or disabilities. Music is known to set the mood or atmosphere for all types of situations. There is extensive research completed on this subject.
Music is the art of arranging sounds in time so as to produce a continuous melody, harmony, rhythm and timbre (American Heritage). Music is important for children due to it helps develop a child’s language skills, self-esteem, listening skills, math skills and brain connections. By using different instruments we as teachers and parents are helping our children to grow and become more active, also helps them with rhythm and develop motor coordination. Early childhood is also the time when children learn about their world, primarily through the magical process of play. The substance of play in young children is usually comprised of the environmental objects and experiences to which they have been exposed (Importance of Music).
Playing a musical instrument as a hobby, gives an immense sense of achievement and true satisfaction, in that one can never feel like playing difficult songs or playing it flawlessly. This boosts the ego and enforces sense of self-achievement, which accomplish more in other aspects of life. Playing instrument as a hobby, require regular practice and dedication. Allotting time to practice daily develops discipline in a person. This can be very advantageous to children who, research shows that everything else fails, but music disciplines children-when they are naturally curious and excited about it.
Cooper, Belle. " How Music Affects and Benefits Your Brain."lifehacker.come. N.p., 11 22 2013. Web. 3