Musical Talent : By Joanne Haroutounian Joins

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)

Perhaps the most tangible benefit of music education for students is the increase in their performance in the classroom. People often say, “Music makes you smarter,” but where is the evidence? As South Dakota State University’s Professor Kevin Kessler eloquently stated via email, “How were you

In order to become an expert performer Abbott and Collins (2004) suggest that talent development requires the possession of Psychological Characteristics for Developing Excellence (PCDE), which as the performer moves through the transition phases become further developed. PCDE’s are both trait characteristics and state related skills such as self-belief, dedication and discipline (Abbott and Collins, 2004). Another significant aspect of becoming an expert musician is deliberate practice. Deliberate practice requires determination with the correct motivation for the performer, and the necessary time and effort roughly equating to 10,000 hours (Ericsson et al., 1993). MacNamara, Holmes and Collins (2008) state that expert musicians require numerous aspects to reach the highest level; natural talent and/or deliberate practice combined with social context and significant others are needed to maintain performance at this high level. As talent is developed, the performer moves

What is Musical Talent? How is Musical Talent defined or tested? Musical Talent is a person having an excellent eye or ear for music and playing or creating music. There are several ways that musical talent can be tested the most known one being Seashore’s Measure test. Which will be explained later on in the paper, however the question is whether Genes cause musical talent or if the person’s environment causes them to be musically talented. This paper is going to be focusing on what causes musical talent, the genetic aspects of musical talent as well as the environmental aspects of what causes musical talent, and some ways that measure musical talent and the reliability and validity of the

Imagine a third grader, small and blonde, standing on a stage that practically swallows her. She gazes in awe at the bright lights that seem to tower miles above her head; likewise, she follows with a stare, fixating on the hundreds of darkened faces that remain directly in front of her. Unlike her classmates who fidget with nerves beside her, she feels a rush of adrenaline. What may have seemed to some an ordinary choir concert in a dull auditorium, was, to me, a life changing moment. Ever since this day, for 9 years now, I have had an unwavering passion for music and performing. As I aged, I found myself excitedly learning how to play 7 new instruments, but even considering the vast number of bands, orchestras, choirs, and instrumental lessons that I joined, I noticed myself

It is difficult to develop a valid musical aptitude test because most of the time, the measures of the aptitude are misunderstood and demands that are unrealistic, made on them. Validity should be seen as construct validity. The problem sources are in two groups. The first group uses composite validity criteria. This forms the assumption that they are not dimensional. The second one uses subject groups. The groups do not represent the distribution of the construct in whole. In order to maximize the ecological validity, composite measures must be used as the criteria for validity.

Although technique and natural talent are big factors in music performing, it is suggested that a major skill needed for a developing music performer is the ability to sight-read (Paul), which is an important factor in acquiring and expanding music literacy (Gromko). However, music literacy is a compositional ability that requires many different abilities (Gromko, Lehmann and Ericson).

Elementary schools and high schools across the U.S. have lately suffered from financial strain. Because of this, budget cuts have to be made and music programs often suffer before sports and academics. Although some people believe that music is not a key component in preparing for employment and higher education, yet several others express otherwise, who say music has been shown to stimulate other parts of a student’s mind that can help them excel. Statistics have shown that the correlation between music class and other academia is not only positive for students, but also can improve future scholastic abilities, and thus should not be cut from schools. Through the evaluation of various sources

* “when you speak with great educators, and look behind the test scores, the lessons learned in studying music, learning to play an instrument, playing in a band, learning to read music, all provide a richness to a child's education that will last a lifetime,” (par 1).

The best teachers can do is to not allow students to see when the students have not meet the expectations they had and when students do not meet their own expectations, the teacher needs to encourage the student to try again and learn from their previous experience;

Across the United States many elementary school music classrooms are filled with simple and popular tunes such as Hot Cross Buns and The Ode to Joy, played on the recorder, while high school students may be playing collegiate or professional pieces of music such as Armenian Dances and Carmen Suites. I have been very fortunate to have gone on the journey of progressing through different music education programs within Fairfax County Public Schools. If I was never exposed to music while in elementary school I might not have ever found one of my greatest passions or been able to create such fond and unforgettable memories. While music education programs across the country appear large and strong, many schools are beginning to experience budget reductions. As a result, music is often the very first component of a school 's curriculum or programs to be cut or significantly reduced, but I believe this is not the right course of action. It is important to preserve and promote music education in public schools because of the proven cognitive, character,and academic benefits for students.

In Joanne Lipman’s “A Musical Fix for U.S. Schools”, she describes the benefits music can bring to a student’s IQ that allows them to perform superior in school. Music forces a person to think differently than how they usually may in other classes. This allows for new thinking strategies to form, improving the cognitive side of the mind. This positive difference is shown when a canadian study was done with music training where the results showed an increase in IQ in the group of people children studied (Lipman). With that study, the favorable results of music is clear for children. An IQ measures the intelligence of people, which is related to the cognitive abilities of the mind, and therefore the person. People may think that music may

Every student lends something unique to learning and performance. One student may have a particular talent for improvisation, and another may learn and read music exceptionally well. Each and every student’s voice is different, and so is the learning technique by which he or she is best motivated. A trainer must be more than well-versed in the best teaching methods for a variety of individual talents

In addition, contrary to the link found between musical education and IQ, genetics also plays a “substantial role in the link between music training and IQ” (Schellenberg 296). Therefore, the children’s abilities to reading or perceive better may be something that they received from their parents at birth. Genetics is not a variable that can be controlled or altered with music or at the will of a parent. Prodigies are a product of nature. At the age of 10, Alma Deutscher, wrote an entire opera version of Cinderella on her own, a task that is quite challenging for even adults to accomplish. In a “60 Minute” feature, a now 12 year old Deutscher creates a song with 4 random notes the host picks out of a hat (“60 Minute”). Within less than a minute she is able to impromize a piece with the four notes and create a story that can be heard in the melodies of the song.

Many people believe that the arts, specifically music programs, hold no beneficial value to students other than for an extracurricular activity. Others believe that having these programs within our schools, only takes away from instructional time. However, research has shown that music education, and exposure to music in general, provides great benefits and values to the adolescents that are involved in said programs (“Music Matters”). Participation in music programs promotes the advancement of academic scores and sets students on the path to success later in life. Furthermore, these programs, be it instrumental or vocal, provide an outlet for adolescents to express themselves and have truly lasting implications on their global development. Notwithstanding all of the pleasure and self-confidence gained through participation in music programs, music education may provide important benefits towards students’ academics by improving their concentration levels and cultivating higher order thinking skills that may increase academic achievement.