Persuasive Speech About Music Education

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

Central Idea: The government should not cut music programs in public schools because they are beneficial to children, not only to their education, but also helps express themselves.

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.

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).

Silence. This is what many people would hear if they walked into just one of the many music halls in a school whom has cut their music program. Many schools across the nation are suffering from severe budget cuts, and sadly music is far too often the first on the list to go. Music in the American public school system is often a way for students to express themselves and develop a sense of pride and devotion by being a musician. Yet, music education has been proven to improve young students’ cognitive capabilities, music programs are still being cut from the curriculum in schools across the nation. Funding, nation testing standards, availability, and participation are major factors whether a program may or may not stay in American classrooms, which demonstrates America’s destructive need for results from students to be tangible at the expense of the enjoyment of students.

Music education belongs in schools. If you need further persuasion (which you shouldn’t, it just makes sense), there are many reasons. Music motivates people. Once you get interested in music, you’re learning a new language and other useful skills. You get disciplined with practicing. Playing in a group teaches you teamwork. You learn history through the music you’re interested in learning about. It can get you interested in different academic classes and help improve your grades and actually be motivated to learn. Music education will help students not only academically, but in their future

“I get that music programs are under intense pressure, that all across America they are sitting hunched over with one nervous eye on a hooded figure stalking the halls with a big budgetary ax”, states Peter Greene. It has become common today to dismiss music’s contribution to the field of education. In the article “Stop Defending Music Education”, written by Peter Greene, the issue if obvious. What the issue is whether or not public schools should teach music and art, since so many students are below proficient levels in “more basic” subjects like reading and math.

The issue/concern that I am bringing forth in my Capstone project deals with public education. More specifically, music education in secondary school within the public school system. In recent years, the arts have not been the priority in regards to funding and what our youth needs in terms of preparation for the real world. This is partially due to instituting ideas like NCLB (No Child Left Behind) to focus on just the essentials for children to learn. In the academic world, one may refer to this as essentialism in education. As a result, the arts have viewed as not something that is essential. My case originated from my own personal experiences as a music educator and seeing growth from music students.

Although music education does help increase productivity and overall education in schools, the decline of music can benefit some people. Not everyone in the school likes music. In fact, some people can’t even tolerate the thought of music. Either they don’t find any interest in it or they just are not good at it. People lose interest in things after a while if they don’t

Few would argue against the idea that we educate ourselves and our society so that we have adequate means with which to understand and interact with elements of the world around us. Subjects such as mathematics, language, history, and the hard sciences are granted immediate and unquestioned legitimacy in our schools, and with good reason. We encounter each of these elements of our lives on a daily basis. We need to have an understanding of these disciplines in order to interact with them, otherwise they are meaningless to us. I submit that the same can be said for the fundamental concepts of music. Music is something that we encounter in our society every day. It surrounds us. Indeed

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.

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.