Excellent Opportunity For Music Therapy Majors example essay topic

If you want to major in music, everyone knows the obvious choices are either performance or education. Many freshman come in with music scholarships-so why not try it out and see? I'm sure that the statistics of people who drop out of the school of music in their first or second year would make any pre-music major think that 'just trying and seeing' a is the way of looking at your college degree. This may not be a serious problem in other majors, like when switching from business to economics, but in the school of music it is a different thing, and can be harmful in many ways. This way of thinking can create general apathy in the classrooms, the studios, and maybe even in the teachers. My freshman year one of my best friends was on a full ride with a flute performance scholarship.

She truly hated playing the flute, but since she got the scholarship she was forced into staying in the school of music for 2 years while completing her liberal studies. She eventually failed out of the school of music. The most tragic thing about people like this is when you question whether or not they might have been interested in some other degree in music. Do music majors ever think about using their music talent in new ways-like music history, general music education, commercial music, or even music therapy?

Did anyone tell them about other options? Don't we need more people in the workplace, besides teachers, who are passionate about music? The peer influence when one makes a decision in the school of music is shocking. I personally believe that many people "stick it out" as a music ed major because that is where all their friends are, and to change majors would be like losing their friends, and maybe even their identity.

There are people that I believe are only in the school of music because they have received so much love, help, and moral support, that if they dropped out now, (no matter what the reason), they would be 'letting down' a lot of people. And then there are those who think they can't do anything else. Sometimes the opposite can happen-"my best friend Jenny dropped out of the school of music, and, I don't think I really wanted to be a teacher anyway, so I'm gonna drop out too". Naturally many of these situations are unpredictable and unavoidable.

I believe there are ways to broaden the thinking of new music majors, and I think a great way is to start with raw experience. Studies show that the best way to learn about something is by doing. For example, I started out as an instrumental music major-what else, of course? It wasn't until my first time observing and interacting in an elementary classroom that I had even considered doing elementary music.

Before this experience I was seriously looking at other majors (outside of the School of Music), because I knew that I didn't want to be a high school / middle school teacher, and I didn't think that there was any other choice-everything else in the school of music, especially music therapy, seemed like a pretty risky move and sounded too 'new-agey' for me. The only thing I really knew about them is that many were in a fraternity that sold Chinese food in the breezeway, and that wasn't appealing to me. As petty as that sounds, that is what I honestly thought about it, and no one told me otherwise. Luckily, I was open-minded enough that I asked a few people about the process of being a general music major, and since then I have been much happier and felt much more secure about my future career. In the past few years I have also made friends who are in the music therapy program, and now have an incredible respect and fascination for it. What I'm suggesting is that there can be an opportunity for all music majors to experience one of the most overlooked, and most powerfully effective and exciting, majors in the school of music: Music Therapy.

So where can we find time to enable music majors to experience music therapy? Two words: "First Year Experience" and "Student Recital". The last thing the School of Music needs to implement on it's undergrads is another requirement. So I humbly suggest that maybe some of the previously mentioned requirements can be altered. The first requirement: "First Year Experience". The problem with this program is not so much the content, but it's the time it is implemented.

The first 3 weeks of a freshman's life is not concerned with how to use the library or the WebLouis. This is the first opportunity for the blossoming, fresh new student to begin his first grumblings about the 'stupid' requirements the school of music makes him do. For many, it is a time when you can pair up with a bunch of your stealth friends and cheat on the research quiz and get it out of the way. By the time you use the WebLouis, you " ll have forgotten how your friend got the answers to the test, but, in times of need, it's amazing how quickly you can learn how to use a library. Besides, in most of my classes that require research, my teachers have explained thoroughly how to research our topics, and 2 of them have actually used a class period to give their own personal tour of the music library. I see this 2: 30-3: 15 slot on the first 3 Wednesdays as a perfect time for showcasing all the degree programs FSU's School of Music has to offer.

To be fair, the 3-4 least exposed / understood majors (I'm sure therapy has to be one of them) could be presented and discussed. The head of the department could give a succinct PowerPoint presentation on the statistics of that major, (things young adults are interested in, like salaries, which careers that these majors can hold, traveling opportunities, which ones are good preps for masters, etc) and then show a video of past / present FSU students (or other people, if necessary) active in that major, and then with a testimony about what this career / major means to them. Just recently I watched a crude videotape from the 70's that showed a woman, who could barely carry a tune herself, using music therapy to teach a mentally handicapped boy to tell time. I was in such awe of the role that music played in that teaching style, it was so simple, yet so effective. How powerful would it be to hear about and see someone using his talent in music to nurse mentally ill patients back to health?

At the end of the presentation the students in the audience should have a question and answer session, and then receive additional material about that major and contact information in case they have more questions. To be as successful as possible, surveys should be passed out the last Wednesday (can be used for attendance purposes as well) so that students can respond to how effective the presentations were and if it made anybody think about exploring their options in other careers in the school of music. The next, more time consuming requirement: Student Recital. I think that it is a wonderful thing when a student can get opportunities to play in front of their teachers and peers. However, it's not so great when a student uses this time to do their homework and catch up on gossip and sleep. I'm not about to suggest how to stop this misbehaving, but more to suggest an alternative performing medium to break up the monotony, and actually get to play for an audience that is probably excited to hear anybody play.

During the time in the first 3 weeks a representative (maybe a president, or someone that isn't already helping sell Chinese Food?) from the music therapy majors can set up a list of slots for people to sign up and perform in a nursing home / hospital. This would be an excellent opportunity for music therapy majors to get first hand experience of scheduling events and creating good Public Relations skills that (I would assume) would help prepare him or her for their future career in music therapy. This would also encourage a lot of creativity in the freshman-they can create any kind of ensemble and play any kind of music (within any guidelines given to them by the coordinator). If the students want to use an ensemble that they are already in, (ex: woodwind quintet) then I think that that would be perfectly acceptable. So as not to take up more time from professors, I think that the music therapy students could screen the ensemble before they play.

They would also need to be responsible to make sure they have rides arranged. Maybe there could be a Blackboard web site set up for this program, where, in order to receive credit, each member of the ensemble posts a short response about how the performance went, how well it was received, etc. This can be a simple way the overseeing professor can take attendance / grade, etc. I'm not suggesting that this program take the place of Student Recital completely. The first semester could be a test-run, where everyone is required to do this once, and to compensate the time spent doing this, the students can go to one less student recital that was required of them prior.

Maybe in the future there could be a trade-off system, where each time you perform in the nursing home it is one less recital credit you need, etc. This program would also set up students for success, which is what many music majors need. So often the only performance music majors have to do (besides playing in a large ensemble) is the high-stress jury at the end of the semester. From my previous experiences, playing in a nursing home is a very -low anxiety performance, which means a high chance for success. Once again, I would like to have data supporting that this is a good use of the student's time. The students should take some surveys with them to the nursing home, and bring them back filled out by a few of the people in the performance to also type into the web site (anonymously).

At the end of the semester the overseeing professor should be able to evaluate just by looking on the site whether or not the program was successful. This leads me to one more question: Have we seen the research on how student recital effects FSU music students? How do we know that 15 recitals a semester isn't enough? Is it just as important for performance majors to go to as it is for music ed majors? Where do these required numbers come from that gives us a specific number of required student recitals? How come not all studios require student recital attendance, how is that fair?

Do we come up with these numbers just because this is how much you can push a student before they self-combust? These questions are a bit extreme, I know, but recently I've been opening my mind to question everything. I do not know much about music therapy, but I know that our ability to create music is one of the most powerful tools we are given-because we can choose to improve the lives of other people. FSU has an incredible music therapy program already, so how much more could they be appreciated and facilitated if they worked hand in hand with other music students?

When music majors get wrapped up in their own little specific world, it creates cliques and encourages small thinking that can easily carry on over to their other spheres of influence, which is possibly their future students. The FSU School of Music has this opportunity to build bridges within it's school and local institutions, and work in cooperation for the betterment of the community- -and there is nothing quite as valuable then when you give someone the power... to give of themselves..