Benefit Of Music Education example essay topic

1,132 words
Why Music Is Important To Having A Complete Education With school budget cuts, and no music instruments, more and more people are beginning to realize the benefits of having music in education. Providing music as part of education helps develop intelligence that leads to greater success in school and in life. Everyone from VH 1 Save The Music to The National Association For Music Education agree that, "Every student in the nation should have an education in the arts". These two companies are doing everything they can to get out the information about music, and the importance of resorting music education as part of the core curriculum. The first benefit of giving a child an instrument is the success in society. "Researchers have found that children involved with music education are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college, and are less likely to be involved with gangs and substance abuse", says VH 1.

Music is apart of everyday culture in America. It is used for "ideas and ideals", (MENC) and the values are accounted for in a number of places. "Secondary students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs)". -Texas Commission on drug and alcohol abuse report. VH 1 has also done research, and found that a "students involvement in their school music program is crucial to a complete education. Musical Study, develops critical thinking and self discipline skill, improves a child's early cognitive development, basic math and reading abilities, self-esteem, SAT scores, ability to work in teams, spatial reasoning skills, and school attendance".

Another benefit of music education is the "success in school". Having success in school directly leads to having success in society. If you learn the disciplines of music, I believe it will transfer over to other areas of your life such as school. For me, learning to play guitar, and the discipline of having to practice critical thinking, has really helped me in my study habits.

MENC and the College-Bound Seniors National Report also say that "Student with coursework / experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT."57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math". Physician and Biologist Lewis Thomas studied medical school applicant and found "that 66 percent of music majors who applied were admitted to medical school, the highest percentage of any group". This is just some of the proof that having success in school directly links to music education, and will help in the success of society. In the success in developing intelligence there have been many studies done to show the development of the brain, when a person is in music education, and shows the benefits from this. "Success in school and in society depends on an array of abilities.

What is new and especially compelling, however, is a combination of tightly-controlled behavioral studies and groundbreaking neurological research that show how music study can actively contribute to brain development". Sargent, J., Z uck, E., Tenia l, S, and Macdonald, B, all researchers at the University of Montreal, "used many brain imaging techniques to investigate brain activity during musical tasks and found that sight-reading musical scores and playing music both activate regions in all four of the cortex's lobes, and that parts of the cerebellum are also activated during those tasks". This just goes to show that music education "makes kids smarter" (MENC) and will pay off all through life for anyone involved in music. All of want success in life and not just for us, but for kids as well.

"Participation in music, often as not based on grounding in music education during the formative years, brings countless benefits to each individual throughout life. The benefits may be psychological or spiritual, and they may be physical as well. From a physical standpoint, whenever I feel stressed out, I can sit down and play guitar. This calms me down and makes me think of other things. It helps get my mind off of the stress. Michael E. DeBakey. M.D. says, "Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence, traits that carry over into intellectual pursuits and that leads to effective study and work habits".

Dr, Fredrick Tims also says that music education can result in "significant decreases in anxiety, depression, and loneliness will definitely result in a person being more relaxed, and having more success in life. General Norman Schwarzkopf of the U.S. Army, retired said, "During the Gulf War, the few opportunities I had for relaxation I always listened to music, and it brought to me great peace of mind". I think music education is very important and is very beneficial in many ways not just to children but to everyone. Norman Schwarzkopf says, "What a tragedy it would be if we lived in a world where music was not taught to children.

With efforts from VH 1 Save the Music, and The National Association for Music Education, schools that did not have music now are being given instruments and money for their learning programs. This is helping kids all across America benefit from a complete education. VH 1 Save the Music reports about a boy, Troy Boston, and in closing I would like to quote their story to show just how, in many ways music is benefiting his life. "Troy Boston is from Washington D.C. and is a multi-talented student in the seventh-grade at Jefferson Junior High School. He is 12 years old and plays both the French horn and Percussion. Troy began playing both instruments in the third grade, but after a year, the music program was cut leaving him to fell "very disappointed".

The music teacher at his school tried to keep the program running, but he could not raise sufficient funds. VH 1 Save The Music came to Marie Reed Community Learning Center and donated $10,000 worth of instruments, and Troy "felt blessed". He feels grateful that he has had the chance to be introduced to music. Troy's talents are not limited to music. He is also a black-belt in Karate and is a member of the Dance Institute of Washington D.C. taking ballet, tap and jazz.

Troy says that music has "allowed him a great opportunity at such a young age". He enjoys "playing and dancing" to music. Music helps him "to relax" and to stay "calm and open-minded". Troy favorite thing about playing music is when he "gets all the notes right. I feel excellent.".