Going Into Music Education

Music. When I started in the band in 8th grade at Saints Francis and Clare, I didn’t really want to be there. It was just another class, in another day, of my last year of school. This began to change after I realized all of the amazing people I met in the band. Band led me to be happier and become friends with people who I never even knew I would meet. It has even lead me to a path that I would like to go into in the future. I love music and band so much that it has made me want to teach it or join a band as I go into college and just for the rest of my life. Through music I have even had the opportunity to meet some very amazing people, and I have been able to work next to some of those people.

I chose the CSD major because it is a field that I am passionate about and intrigued by. I went to speech therapy as a child and that is how I became introduce to the occupation of a speech therapist. When I began deciding which career path to follow, I knew I wanted to work in a helping profession. Communication is a huge part of daily life, and I love the idea of being able to impact someone on such a profound level. The major incorporates everything I was looking for when I began to search for a possible major.

My other major, Music education, is because I am so heavily involved with band. People always say get a job you love, and I love band.

The profession that I plan on pursing and by attending a liberal arts school, it will have a great impact on me. My possibilities of getting a job are much higher and I will have more understanding not only in music but also in other

A: I choose this major area of study, because when I was little I have always loved to be the assistant whether it was for my father, teacher, or any one I would be the first to try to help. I have always liked organizing papers, schedules, and little things here and there. As a child I would write notes for everyone to remember things that need to be bought, hanged, or done, so I have always heard do what you love, and it will be fun, so I went for this major.

My teachers once said to me “There are no wrong notes but how you play them, the feelings you put in and how you play them in time. It’s all about your timing.” This advice has stayed with me the most and looking back over the last year I can see that timing is everything not just in music.

While they were all big inspirations and influences in my life, I decided to work for a career in music out of pure love and passion towards music. Music to me works as a way of communicating, a source of income, a never ending search for excellence and a way of life. I did consider other majors for college, simply because it would have been imprudent to not to have options, but I came to the conclusion that music is irreplaceable in my life and I have the tools to be successful in the world of music.

I am currently studying Music at Central Michigan University because I came to college with the intent of becoming a music director or teacher. I am now planning on completing my minor in music and am considering a major in communication disorders while continuing my study in German. I am very interested in language and how it works and I want to help people in my future career. I am currently discovering what sorts of careers I can have with a major in communication disorders but I am very interested in becoming a speech therapist. Learning German has also been a big part of my life. I am currently enrolled in the highest German Language class here at CMU and curious to see where that could take me with my career.

From a young age, I was always fascinated with the profession of teaching and knew that I wanted to grow up and become an educator. As I reached my senior year in high school, I determined that I would focus my undergraduate studies on music education and become a middle school chorus teacher. I studied the craft of music teaching and dedicated myself to become the best music educator possible. While I completed my studies, I began to have a fascination with instructional technology in the classroom and researched the implications of including technology into choral and band music instruction. I was also given the opportunity to present multiple workshops to college students and in-service educators about implementing new and exciting technologies in their classrooms. While at Wingate, I assisted in the founding of the Center for Teaching and Learning where I helped design and implement a training program for professors to implement the use of an iPad in the collegiate classroom. Natalie Ayambem, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, said:

Based on the research presented, it is apparent in both individual practice sessions and large group settings that student musicians and directors are at great risk of NIHL. Furthermore, daily exposure limit is often reached well before the conclusion of the practice session or ensemble rehearsal. The evidence is sufficient to prompt music educators to be aware of and concerned about the role of NIHL in the classroom. Chesky (2008) argues that “the music education community needs to realize that children in the United States are not learning about NIHL as part of the public school curriculum” (p. 37). Essentially, there appears to be no public school discipline under which this education naturally falls. Music teachers are not expected to tackle public health issues like bicycle helmet or seat belt use, smoking, or recreational drug use, or teen pregnancy. Therefore, it seems to be the responsibility of music

One benefit of attending college is that your first two years are where you really find your purpose. While searching for a major that suites you, you are getting your core subjects out of the way. In my opinion, this helps you to experience a variety of things. You get the opportunity to meet new people who have interests similar as well as different to yours who can make a lasting impact on your life leading you in in a different direction. Honestly, I came to college knowing what I wanted to study, but now that I

The first major I chose is history. The first reason I chose your history major is because I love to study history, especially military history and I want to make a career out of what I love. I want to be an military analyst for the CIA and have heard a the outstanding quality of your history department, which I reason will be of benefit for me in my field. finally, I am pursuing a history major because of my firm believe that the past is best teacher of the present. These are the reasons I chose a history major.

In the high level education, foreign language requirement becomes more prominent and harder for students to learn if they only speak English at home. With music it makes learning “second language pronunciation accuracy” (Miendlarzewka and Trost) easier for an English speaking brain to understand. When learning music there are very specific pronunciation requirements for vowels from the world's most common root language, Latin. Considering this, music itself sets up a basic understanding of different languages and sets the foundation of learning multiple languages.

The stigma associated with pursuing an education in the musical arts affects the decision of many musicians nationwide. The appeal of guaranteed financial and career stability of STEM and other paths of high demand jobs is very difficult to pass up, even by the most dedicated musicians. Then, the input and advice of outsiders come into play. These onlookers not only encourage study of the hard sciences and a foolproof path to success via university, but they also totally and blatantly discourage and belittle the intelligence, rationality and integrity of not just the paths of musicians, but all liberal artists. Don’t you want to make money? What do you mean you won’t have internships, don’t you want a job? How are you going to survive? This blitzkrieg of questioning and doubt, though theoretically peripheral to the bigger picture, is reasonably common, however, severely unjustified. Pursuing a formal college education in music is easily one of the best things you could do for yourself, regardless of whether or not this is the career path of your choosing. As a student of formal music education, you are actually being trained in more real world skills than most other majors, which will prepare you for many careers, making you stand-out amongst the masses. Being a music major, you learn more than just music, you learn problem-solving skills, how to communicate and collaborate, and how to overcome failure, which are all essential skills to have as a professional in today’s day

“Education- should enhance understanding of the world, of oneself, and of one’s own experience” (Kelly 2009). What is important about music education? There are many important aspects in music education like pedagogy and performance. For me, music education is about letting the students express themselves. Having the ability to give an idea or to vent is a vital tool in today’s society. This concept influences music because expression is not only in how to connect a phrase, but also how to tell a story. With my time in college, Dr. Joseph Frye will always tell me to tell a story with music. He will also ask me what I want to feel after playing a piece. This is what I believe is important in music education.