Music is all around us, yet many of us do not understand it. A simple man with an office job that you pick randomly off the street could most likely tell you the basic rules of American Football, and yet that same man could have never played football in his life before. If you asked that same guy the basics of the music he is listening to, I bet you would get a blank stare back. My argument relates directly to schools so many people can reason football is not technically taught in school, but what about subjects like Biology or the countless other school subjects that a student learns, but never truly needs to utilize later? What makes those subjects any different from music? Maybe even a better question, what makes music different from those subjects that warrant it not be taught? Music is a very important part of our society and a basic understanding should be known by all students much like subjects similar to science and math.
The current Michigan school curriculum instated by the government of Michigan states that a student graduating from high school must have at least four math credits, four English credits, three science credits, three social studies credits, one physical education credit, one performing and applied arts credit, and two foreign language credits ("Michigan Department of Education”). Many people will say “there you go; you have a performing and applied arts credit, what more do you want?” But the problem with that is the definition of applied and performing art is so broad, it might as well be undefined. Some of the classes that are included in this category are Home Economics and Shop for example. There is an issue with that as neither of those are performing arts as there is no performance, only a produc...
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...ed in the school systems to better the students’ educational experience.
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Few would argue against the idea that we educate ourselves and our society so that we have adequate means with which to understand and interact with elements of the world around us. Subjects such as mathematics, language, history, and the hard sciences are granted immediate and unquestioned legitimacy in our schools, and with good reason. We encounter each of these elements of our lives on a daily basis. We need to have an understanding of these disciplines in order to interact with them, otherwise they are meaningless to us. I submit that the same can be said for the fundamental concepts of music. Music is something that we encounter in our society every day. It surrounds us. Indeed it would be practically impossible to escape. Like so many other naturally occurring phenomena, a discipline has been developed over centuries to help us interact with music, and that discipline is what I and those of my profession are charged with teaching.
AMC- American Music Conference. (2004). Music advocacy, supporting research, education and playing music. Retrieved November 19, 2004 from http://www.amc-music.com/
Music evaluated as a subjects that is many times overlooked. If a school seems to have financial trouble, then music and art programs are the first to get cut. Essentially, students do not need them to succeed and they are just hobbies. This is the mindset that many school boards have towards music education.
“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.
It is proven that girls and boys that have taken or are taking classes within the art department have a higher success rate in their core academic classes. According to “...
Lynch, Grace Hwang. "The Importance of Art in Child Development." pbs.org. PBS, 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
Brown, L. L. (2012, May 25). The Benefits of Music Education. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
Plato, a famous Greek philosopher, once stated, “I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning.” Often times, humans can be seen possessing the inner desire to achieve greatness through hard work and dedication to an ideal. Some aspire to accomplish simple everyday goals, such as getting up in time for work. Whatever the case may be, teens often try to find ways to achieve social and academic “checkpoints” so that their future seems heartier. Over the years, studies have been conducted regarding whether or not music has an influence on these achievements. These experiments have shown that music does help with many aspects of accomplishment. Because of these studies, it is imperative that society and the human race itself understand that a music education has an impact on social and academic achievement.
Art is everywhere , every tv show, every ad , and every book is art. That is why it is a vital part in today 's education system, but in the rush to bring ip standardized test scores art programs are being dramatically cut and forgotten about altogether. With the new focus being on Common Core State Standards, which does not include art as a core, schools are having to take away art budgets to focus on cores that are being tested on.
Music is a basic part of everyday life. What makes music unique is its ability to create an emotional response in a person. A music education program should develop the aesthetic experience of every student to its highest potential. Aesthetics is the study of the relationship of art to the human senses. Intelligence exists in several areas, which includes music. The concept of aesthetics allows us to see into ourselves, which in turn helps the development of the intelligences. Not only are these intelligences brought up greatly in music education, but they can be transferred to other areas as well, allowing students to grow more through their other subjects.
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.”
America has a great history from the beginning. It began with the migration of people from Europe. They colonized the states and began life there. They eventually fought for their freedom and now are the United States of America. Within this history is another profound history, which is the history of music education in America. Music education has changed and grown dramatically from century to century from the 18th century to present times. Each century show a great moment and growth in the history of music education. This paper will show how music education has grown from the 18th century.
"Music quotes." Find the famous quotes you need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. .
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.
It is simple enough to understand the things that make music appealing. The real questions about music are about what makes music different for each listener. Why do people to like and/or dislike songs, sounds, genres, etc.? I value and find beauty in the fact that there are so many different sounds, it is these variances that I think create our musical taste buds. Musical “taste buds” is an expression I use when thinking about a developed preference to music. My musical palate is open, eager, and willing to try something unknown, while others may lean toward tastes with which they are already familiar. One can’t help but wonder whether or not music can be appreciated simply for what it is or are there other factors such as the artist’s life, inspiration, or media that create our varied tastes.