The Importance Of Music In Education
Music is arguably the most life-enriching academic subject of them all. A universal language that triggers emotional responses and kickstarts creativity like no other, music is a fundamental pillar of arts education.
This article outlines the far-reaching benefits of music that stretch way beyond the subject itself and why music is an indispensable part of any academic programme.
The Importance Of Music Education
The arts in education campaign has been ongoing for some years now and will always be a controversial topic for many. Should we or should we not provide our students with an opportunity to explore the arts in school? Should we include the arts in the school day or make them extracurricular? Should we incorporate arts education lessons and activities in the general classroom? Will the arts have a great effect on academic excellence?
These are all questions that have crossed several great minds in the past, but the real question I have is, âwhy the controversy?â After all of the scientific research that has been collected, is it not proof enough that the arts and music in the classroom has a tremendous effect on world-wide academic achievement and cultural value?
Here is a list of the 5 most important reasons why music education is so beneficial to our students:
Other Benefits Of Music Education
Music education promotes improved coordination, specifically hand-eye coordination. Musicians must multitask! They must do multiple things all at once, all of which improves coordination and further develops the brain. Student musicians must read music, interpret it, and physically initiate the music through the playing of their instrument. These steps are repeated continuously throughout any performance of a piece of music, and even the youngest of learners slowly develop their coordination skills through continued music practice.
Music education fosters greater work ethic and discipline in children. Students of music learn from an early age that hard work, determination, and a positive mindset are all you need to succeed, but with those characteristics, continual practice is required. Students learn that improving musical skills does not come easy, as it requires hours of study and practice. Through this, students gain a greater concept of work ethic and learn to discipline themselves to reach goals. Work ethic and discipline are huge factors of music education, and it is important to note that those life skills will positively impact a student when entering the work force, completing tasks, etc.
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Bring About A Sense Of Achievement
When your child does achieve a musical goal, they get the incredible satisfaction that comes from working hard to attain something. In that sense, music is a great confidence builder. Creating something as expressive and loved as music and seeing audiences on stage or family members at home enjoy it can be an incredibly rewarding experience.
Confidence is one of the most valuable skills a child can have and music is one of the best ways to allow it to flourish in your child.
Take A Trial Online Instrument Lesson At Lucy Moses School
Have you always wanted to learn an instrument, or return to one you used to play? Would you like to introduce your child or grandchild to instrument lessons and help them start building a lifetime of music?Nows the perfect time! Sign up for 1, 2 or 3 trial online lessons with an expert and supportive faculty member at Lucy Moses School, Manhattans largest community arts school, and learn safely at home. All ages, instruments and skill levels are welcome, including beginners! Call us at 212 501 3360 or email to get started today!
Music Education in THE News
Music Training Strengthens Children’s Brains, Decision-Making NetworkUniversity of Southern California, MedicaXpress, 11/14/17If the brain is a muscle, then learning to play an instrument and read music is the ultimate exercise. Two new studies from the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC show that as little as two years of music instruction has multiple benefits. Music training can change both the structure of the brain’s white matter, which carries signals through the brain, and gray matter, which contains most of the brain’s neurons that are active in processing information. Music instruction also boosts engagement of brain networks that are responsible for decision making and the ability to focus attention and inhibit impulses.
Tom Barnes, Music.Mic, 6/3/15Every time you listen to a piece of music, you’re actually giving yourself a deep, full-brain workout.
mUSIC Education Studies
Kaufman Music Center
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Finding The Right Instrument: Individual Preferences
For many young children, singing is a fun and appropriate way to learn music. Many children want to learn an instrument – follow the child’s lead and allow them to learn the instrument that appeals to them. Upper elementary school aged children often have access to a school band, and will have a wide array of instruments available with lessons through the public school.
Finding the right instrument can be more difficult for younger children. My six-year-old son was desperate to learn an instrument, but simply couldn’t decide what he would like to play. We read many books about different instruments, and he would simply declare, “I love ALL of them!” After some discussion, we decided to pursue the piano for several reasons: it can be played by a young child, it teaches the child to play from both music clefs , and it helps children coordinate both hands. My son was extremely excited to learn to play!
Determining the right methodology is important, too. A three-year-old child would be better suited to a Suzuki methodology than the traditional “John Thompson Piano Course” my son is taking. Find a teacher and method that fits your child’s personality, developmental level, and temperament.
Why Music Education Actually Matters
We favor the inclusion of music in the curriculum on an equality with other basic subjects. We believe that with the growing complexity of civilization, more attention must be given to the arts, and that music offers possibilities as yet but partially realized for developing an appreciation of the finer things of life.First Resolution of the Dallas Meeting of The Department of Superintendence, 1927
Public music education has seen better days.
In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act identified music as a core subjectjust not one worthy of testing. This meant that schools struggling to improve math and reading scores in order to retain funding found that their arts programs were the easiest ones to divert resources from, or to cut altogether.
A 2012 report from the U.S Department of Education optimistically declared that In the 2009-10 school year, music education was almost universally available in the nations public elementary schools. But buried in that DOE report were huge differences in the availability of music education between large and small schools, as well as significant percentages of teachers who rated their time and resources as either not at all adequate or minimally adequate.
Lara Pellegrinelli of NPR writes of the report: Even if one simply uses the DOEs enrollment numbers to calculate the number of students in schools without music instruction at all, thats over 2.1 million children across the country likely a conservative estimate.
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What Are The Five Reasons Why Music Education In School Is Important
There are many reasons that show that music education in school is important, keep reading to know more.
Inspires creativity: Learning music can help a child to improve his/her creative skills. If they learn an instrument, they can build unique tunes and give their creativity skills a boost.
Improved study habits: Music is a great way to enhance the study habits of children. As kids grow, they are exposed to more complex study material, and to achieve success in life, retaining this material is essential. Learning music is an art of patience and practice that children can also use in their curriculum.
Boosts problem-solving: One of the most beneficial yet overlooked benefits of music is its impact on the problem-solving abilities of young minds. Music requires the learners to assess situations and find solutions accordingly.
Builds relationships: Music is a great way to create and enhance bonds. Musicians are provided with training that helps them learn the art of listening to others, sense their emotions, and in return, react with a great depth of understanding that helps them form/improve their relationships.
Instills confidence: When your child learns a skill like playing a musical instrument, they get incredible satisfaction. Performing in front of friends and family helps them gain confidence and get rid of stage fear. In a way, music can help the children develop their overall personality.
Music Is A Way To Connect With Other People
Music education is also important because it will give students a way to connect with other people. Children are naturally very social, and its important to encourage them to build relationships by providing them experiences to share with each other. Creating a school band or small ensemble, or encouraging participation in a chorus will allow children to work together towards a final product . This encourages bonding and will provide students with something to reminisce on together in the future.
It has been proven time and again that having people of all ages play or listen to music together will help to create bonds. Having an impromptu drumming circle or listening to and enjoying a piece of recorded music can connect people through sound, singing and even movement or dance. Musical experiences such as these can bring back a fond memory or create new ones!
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Class Is Chance To Actively Engage
In my music class, I make sure students have their microphones on as much as possible. I encourage them to get up, move around, get out of the screen for a moment, sing loudly and clap with joy. It’s a positive experience for them and for me, too.
For many students, my class is their first experience with music in school. An astounding 55% of New York City public schools dont have a music educator on staff. Thats why I joined Education Through Music, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing music to schools across New York City.
If were serious about keeping our students mentally healthy, we need to be equally serious about letting students experience music. That can begin by reversing last year’s devastating cuts to arts education.
As someone with a language-based learning disability, I know how transformative music class can be. As a teen, knowing I could attend band class in high school got me through the day.
Intelligence comes in many varieties, but some can be hard to demonstrate through traditional exams. When student achievement is measured using tests, poor test-takers but smart students are at risk of never experiencing a sense of achievement in school.
Instruments In The Home
Before signing your child up for music lessons, ensure you have access to an instrument in the home. Kids who take band lessons at school often have the option to rent instruments. This can be an affordable option, particularly if parents are unsure whether the child will continue with the instrument for a prolonged period of time. It is unwise to purchase an expensive instrument if the child is going to stop playing it a few months later! Renting instruments allows a child to try playing the flute without having to invest a lot of money in an instrument.
The child must have access to the instrument in the home, as nearly every method of music instruction requires daily practice. Having an instrument in the home also allows the child to play music in a free-form method – learning to gain enjoyment from making music outside the confines of the lesson.
Since our son was learning piano, it was vital to have a piano in the home. We briefly considered renting a piano, but ran across some incredibly good luck when our neighbors mentioned they wanted to get rid of their piano. We jumped on the opportunity and ended up with an upright Baldwin in our living room… for free! Our son practices his lessons on the piano, plays memorized songs, and sometimes simply makes up his own “compositions.”
Keeping the schedule free for practice is vital – a child cannot learn an instrument without sufficient practice time!
Leah Lefler, 2012
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Brings More Discipline To Life
A great deal of discipline is needed when it comes to practicing a concept again and again and mastering it. This whole process demands a lot from the children in emotional and mental terms at such a young age. At times, they may get frustrated with the complicated concepts that might take away their desire to learn. Music is one element that can help them learn patience, perseverance, and how to hold onto something long term to get desired results.
Additionally, music requires children to develop a schedule and stick to it if they truly want to master the skill. This allows them to practice balance in their everyday schedules as they try to include curriculum, co-curriculum, and social activities in their routine.
With the help of this, children slowly grasp the art of time management and discipline, the two concepts that even several adults fail to achieve throughout their professional life.
Learn An Enviable Life Skill
How many times have you met an adult who says their biggest regret is not learning a musical instrument as a child? Musical skills they didnt learn as a child become some of the most sought after in adulthood. Help your child to develop their skills in music from an earlier age and youll be giving them a gift that will bring them, and others, joy for the rest of their life.
At Nord Anglia Education, we understand the importance of creative arts like music, harnessing the subject to bring benefits that span our entire academic programme. Find out more about our music curriculum, or head to our schools page to a Nord Anglia Education school near you.
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Reasons Music Education Is Important
Helps Children Find Their Passion
The most common complaint we hear of the schools in contemporary day and age is that their curriculum is restricted to only a few subjects. There is very little scope for sports, arts, and communication skills. With musical education, children can find their passion and make careers in different fields.
Academic Entertainment Virtual Music Technology
For instance, if a child isnt scoring well in other subjects and scores well in music, they will gain confidence that they can do something in life. This confidence is very important in the initial phases of life.
Music can also improve communication skills. Music can be a great way to show their creativity and skills. Who knows, these skills may help them gain confidence to learn other subjects as well.
Kids who were exposed to music early on in life can eventually use those skills later in college to excel academically in this field and gain a more practical, real-world exposure.
Along with this, music can help the children foster creativity, develop teamwork, engage, and stimulate their minds. All in all, music is a great way to build positive habits in children as they are most likely to enjoy the whole learning process.
Social Benefits Of Music Education
The mental benefits of music education are extremely advantageous to students in schools however, the social benefits are just as wonderful! Music education requires teamwork and collaboration. While playing instruments together, students develop listening skills. They must listen to others to better gage volume levels, the implementation of dynamics, and so much more. Teamwork and collaboration is also required when completing simple musical tasks such as rhythmic and melodic notation. Students quickly learn to value the opinions and ideas of others and how to efficiently combine those thoughts to complete the task at hand.
In addition to teamwork, music education creates long lasting friendships and relationships. Students involved in band or choir bond over their love and enjoyment of music. They share exciting moments together through music, help develop one anothers abilities, and become a support system for each other. This special bond also increases student engagement in school.
Music education allows students an opportunity to experience different cultures. In early music education, the use of songs and games from other countries is extremely prevalent. Students learn how other children play and compare that knowledge to their own lives. In addition, students develop an understanding of other cultures, which leads to a beautiful acceptance of others. Students realize that recognizing differences is good, and it creates a greater respect for others.