Music As A Universal Experience

Throughout the reading this week, the information presented in David Elliott and Bennett Reimer’s texts stressed the importance of music and more specifically, music education. “People everywhere find music rewarding, and everywhere we find people engaged in formal and non-formal efforts to teach and learn music.” (Elliott, 2014, p. 4)

Music can be very helpful in the classroom, and I would use is in the classroom. I know when studying and test taking classical music is suppose to help with memory. I would use music as a way to help students study. Another way in which to use music is to find songs about what you are currently studying, this can be a fun way to help students memorize terms for science or other courses of study.

Throughout history music has played an important role in society, whether it was Mozart moving people with his newest opera or the latest album from the Beatles. Where would society be today without music? With schools cutting their music programs, the next Mozart may not get his chance to discover his amazing talent. Music programs are essential to education. To fully understand this one must understand how music helps the human body, why schools have cut music programs, and why people should learn music.

I have a confession to make. Being a student myself, I know the limitations music can have on your focus, critical thinking skills and concentration, yet I still constantly press the play button when solving equations, writing essays and debunking theorems. I’m aware of this detrimental habit, but I cannot help myself. After reading the essay “My students listen to music non-stop” by Kevin Bray, published January 25, 2016 for the Globe and Mail, it made me reflect on the consequences that music can have in the classroom.

There are not many people in this world who do not listen to at least some form of music weather it be pop or rock music on the radio, or the classical music of Beethoven or Mozart. Each genre and style is very unique in it’s own way and some styles are more appealing to one person than another. That is why it is very important to expand the types of music taught in educational music programs.

A big controversy of our generation today is concerning of a topic that many of us praise and could not live without. In fact, spin.com claims that the average American listens to four hours of music each day. So is music effective or hurtful to our studying? This may be an eternal topic for we don’t truly have one answer. In numerous ways listening to music is beneficial, belie some studies have come to find out it can also be harmful. Students should be given the option to listen to music in class, but whether they choose to take upon this privilege or not is up to them.

Music is the only medium that blesses both man and God at the same time and as such to see it as an entertainment factor within our worship services is a gross misunderstanding of its purpose. Music is made up of three elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Mankind is also made up of three parts: spirit, soul and body (1 Thess 5:23). It can be argued that music and the triune, or trichotomy, of mankind are intrinsically linked i.e. melody is likened to the spirit, harmony to the soul and rhythm to the body.

Music is part of most of our everyday lives. Adults and Children value music for entertainment purposes, though many of us may not consider what it has to offer us beyond this use. From very early on, children learn nursery rhymes and explore the world of rhythm using pots and pans and wooden spoons. Many individuals acknowledge the importance of music in our lives for enrichment and culture. Research is beginning to uncover the far reaching benefits of music, not just for enjoyment, but also for the social, linguistic, cultural and even psychological benefits it has to offer.

In school all across America we focus on remembering the facts, remember this, read this, and listen to this PowerPoint. The education system needs to shape young minds and teach instead of forcing knowledge upon them. Brains of young children are like a water balloon, it has room to expand for knowledge although, if you fill it to fast water will erupt or leak. Americans move fast, we believe the faster we go the further we will succeed. Despite these beliefs this does not work for students, to fast and to much water in their balloon will make it pop. All students are different, and have a different style of learning. There are a total of 7 different categories that all students fall under for learning they include visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social, and solitary (Lepi). As a result some students learn by working this groups, or using a song to remember material for an upcoming test. Others may like to see graphs to compare; and some comprehend chemistry better from seeing and studying a model of water. As a result of this diversity it is hard for many students to sit through a power point with facts to fully understand what they are learning. A study was performed using “Academic music” at Hoover elementary school in California. After 6 weeks of the technic of learning using music the students scored 50% higher on a fraction test then students at the same score using

The article “The effects of music on achievement, attitude and retention in primary school English lessons” by Koksal, Yagisan, and Cekic show the impact music has in the classroom. The Article claims “best learning environment is one that includes music” (Köksal, et al. 1897). Meaning music activates different parts of the brain that coincide with memory. Through an experimental study mentioned in the article shows music has a “increased achievement in English vocabulary learning” (Köksal, et al. 1899). Memory channels are activated and students are able to retain what is being taught through the use of music. Therefore the article suggests music is a method that can be used in primary schools to exercise the mind helping students hold onto what they learn for longer periods of time. The authors argue music brings out a different level of intelligence in the classroom. However the article fails to briefly describe traditional methods, other possible methods, and possible defaults of a music learning environment jeopardizing a overall well conducted study of music used as a source of education.

Good music doesn’t have an expiration date. Over the years, it has introduced new sounds and patterns into our everyday lives. From belting out your favorite song in the shower to quietly tapping your foot to the new song on the radio. The long and winding path torn from music’s origin has expanded through time to today’s modern music. Modern music consists of contemporary ideas and traditional tunes with a twist.

Music is found everywhere in our world we call earth. We are hearing it everywhere, from the empirical song of a songbird to the roar of a great waterfall. We are surrounded by many different types of music, and has helped many different cultures to create a calming sensation when listening to it. In this paper, we will discuss how music psychologically effects learning, why music is effective during a presentation, the effect of music on mentally challenged students, and the effect of music and memory.

“Music is a universal language” is such a cliché phrase. But there’s some truth to it. You listen to an opera, most of the time is sung in a foreign language, you could not care much how little you understand the song because the music carries you through the piece. There has been studies that music can calm a person, makes them agitated, or even motivated. Other studies states that the music we listen to can tell what type of personality one person has.

Music in many ways. has a potential to allure an individual, especially children, to improve their intellect, when involved in music. Schools and organizations had researched and estimated that schools with music curriculum, have more graduation and successful rates than school that do not doesn’t have music subjects. Universities have concluded that a specific part of our brain had a major role that can progress to become intellectual when exposed to classical music, and later on, was exposed to another conclusion, that classical music, only has rapid effect in specific amount of time. Professors and theorists dispute with disagreement that listening to classical music is uncertain and does not necessarily make people smarter. Listening to other music other than classical, however, was proven to be more effective.

For most people, mathematics is an unsolvable puzzle characterized by the impression of numbers and calculations taught in school. It is often associated with feelings of rejection and disinterest. To the general population mathematics appears to be to be strictly rational, abstract, cold and soulless. Music, however, is involved with emotion, with feelings, and with life. It exists in all daily routines. Everyone has sung a song, pressed a key on a piano, or blown into a flute, and therefore, in some sense, made music. People can easily interact with it. Music is a way of expression and a part of everyone’s existence.