Keep Music Education in Schools

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Recommended: music education on the present day society

Due to the declining economy, school boards around the country have decided to cut funding to the music education programs. It is necessary to keep music education in the American school system because it enhances the development of skills that children will use for the rest of their lives.

Musical development can start as early as before birth. Hearing is the first sense that a baby acquires and it is acquired in utero (McCutcheon 1). The first sounds that a baby hears are the mother’s voice and her heartbeat (McCutcheon 1). These sounds are familiar to babies after they are born, which is why recordings of heartbeats are used to calm them (McCutcheon 1). After birth, a baby’s sense of hearing becomes sharper and they absorb many different sounds and learn about them (McCutcheon 1).

What distinguishes music from most other sounds that a baby hears is the beat (McCutcheon 1). The difference between the beat and rhythm is that lyrics of a song are sung in rhythm, and the beat is the steady pulse (McCutcheon 1). Jim McCutcheon says “When my wife was carrying our second son, we attended a nephew’s band concert – and my wife felt a definite response to the band’s drum section – every time they played, the baby started kicking!” The steady pulse of music, or the rhythm, can be learned at a very early age, and can be one of the first things a child learns (McCutcheon 1). “I’ve seen moms and dads holding babies and rocking them back and forth with the beat while listening to music – this simple activity teaches the baby a relationship between music and movement,” says Jim McCutcheon. Children mimic anything that can produce noise, like clapping their hands or tapping their feet (McCutcheon 1).

Paul Borgese says “We should encourag...

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...ble by any student (National Association for Music Education 4).

Works Cited

McCutcheon, Jim. “The Beat Goes On.” Family Life Magazine. January 1998: 3. 19 September 2011.

McCutcheon, Jim. “Music to the Tiniest Ears.” American Kids Magazine. July 2003: 6. 19 September 2011.

Scott, Zakiya. “Music educates Durham students about black history month at Eastway Elementary.” Reese News. 28 February 2011: 3-4.

The School Music Program: A New Vision. ND. National Association for Music Education. 13 September 2011. http://www.menc.org/resources/view/the-school-music-program-a-new-vision

Ciares, Jovanka. "PaulBorgese.com | The Benefits of Music on Child Development." *****Welcome to PaulBorgese.com*****. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. .

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