What if something that you loved, a dog, a sibling, what if they were being slowly torn away from you bit by bit, piece by piece, until finally they just dissolved into the wind and faded away from life as you knew it. Now try to imagine that happening to music education programs, stop imagining now, because it is still there, and it is happening before our very eyes. This is the plight of music students in today’s poor economy and school funding situation. That which music students hold near and dear to them is slowly turning to sand and falling through their fingers. This is the desecration of music in America.
Music education has been proven to have incredible benefits, but all the same it is fading away. There have been studies done by the scientific journal Neurological research that show an enormous leap in test scores from only being taught music, the article goes as the following, “Second graders from a low income school in Los Angeles were given eight months of piano keyboard training, as well as time playing with newly designed music software. The result? These students, taking the Stanford 9 Math Test, went from scoring in the 30th to the 65th percentile. These second graders were performing sixth grade math. The critical point here is the students were not taught math using music…they were taught music. It was the process of learning music that helped improve their math skills. —From Neurological Research, March 15, 1999.” As you can see this has had an outstanding effect on the test scores of just second graders and if you start younger the results are even more extreme. This is just one reason why music programs shouldn’t be eliminated from schools in America.
Music can also help with job skills which make them more adept to be able to go out and control the job market as they get older and go out into the world. These people are taught work ethics and teamwork skills. Teamwork skills are needed in today’s work environment to have effective factories and offices. While work ethics are needed to produce hard workers, who can be used in any situation from the auto industry to the offices of the law. According to twelve benefits of music education article. “Music study enhances teamwork skills and discipline. In order for an orchestra to sound good, all players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance, and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals, and practicing.” So music can not only help in test scores, but also in a rapidly evolving job environment that believes that music is becoming outdated.
Creativity and knowledge are like a virus, the more it is in a location the more they catch other people and spreads around eventually leaving the whole school smarter and more creative. Music is one of many sources that are source points for creativity and knowledge. According to the PBS article, the benefits of Music Education, “Schools that have rigorous programs and high-quality music and arts teachers probably have high-quality teachers in other areas. If you have an environment where there are a lot of people doing creative, smart, great things, joyful things, even people who aren’t doing that have a tendency to go up and do better.” So you see music education is important to everyone’s lives not just those who directly participate in it, with improved test scores, an enhanced job environment, and rising creativity in schools, the real question is not why shouldn’t music be cut, but why should it be cut from budgets
“The Academic Professional Advisory Committee: ‘Meet the Budget Cuts’ to Remember Those Who Have Lost Jobs.” The Academic Professional Advisory Committee: ‘Meet the Budget Cuts’ to Remember Those Who Have Lost Jobs. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.
“Benefits of Music Education.” VH1 Save The Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.
Brown, Laura L. “Eat Smart for a Great Start Newsletter.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.
“Twelve Benefits of Music Education.” Twelve Benefits of Music Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.