Should Students Be Required To Play An Instrument In School?

Becoming a musician is a difficult laborious task that requires absurd amounts of time and how little it is emphasized is concerning. “time was reduced from daily classes of 20–30 minutes to a weekly offering of the same length”. (Encyclopedia of Education) 20-30 minutes a day is little enough as is, 20-30 minutes a week is ridiculous! I know know full well that not every

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the screenplay Because the Internet by Donald Glover have similar story lines. Both stories focus on the lives of two young men ("The Boy" and Jay Gatsby) who are somewhat confused and are missing something in there lives. There are quite a few factors that connect these two stories. The way both of their deaths are played out is comparable. Their social statuses and the people who accompany them are very much the same. There are also many symbolic items throughout the readings that have a sort of connection. The Great Gatsby and Because the Internet are stories that follow a similar story line and the main characters in both stories are comparable.

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

* ““95% percent of Americans believe that music is a key-component in a child’s well-rounded education, 80% percent of respondents agreed that music makes the participants smarter; 78% believe that learning a musical instrument helps students perform better in other subject areas; and 88% believe participation in music helps teach children discipline” (Hurley 3),” (par 1).

Peter Greene in his article, “Stop Defending Music Education”, suggests that public schools need music for many reasons. In addition to emphasizing that public schools need music education not because it increases test scores, but for many other reasons rather than the obvious reason. Greene is surely right about people defending music education for the wrong reasons, because as he may not be aware, recent studies have

Education obviously promotes music. Most schools have music as an elective like orchestra or as an enrichment class that all of the students take. Some schools even make it mandatory for every student enrolled to take up an instrument.

First, When children play an instrument "he or she [develops] key brain [functions] that enhance musical learning but also academic and social skills which [...] [improve] memory and the ability to differentiate sounds and speech". As a result, this could mean that students who do not play a musical instrument will be lacking an important aspect that instrument playing students do have. Second, music has done so much that "research has proven that access to a quality music education engages students in the classroom and increases graduation rates". Participating with an instrument can ultimately help students perform better in an academic setting which can take students very far in life. Lastly, Public polls in America show that " 89% of principals feel that a high-quality music education program contributes to their school achieving higher graduation rates".

Music is a way for people to express themselves without having to make a drastic change. The reason I started to play music was because I love music in general to start off with and wanted the challenge of learning how to play an instrument. In sixth grade year there were probably 120 kids in band. Slowly through my band years many kids have dropped out. By the time I made it to the high school there were maybe 30 band students in, my grade and Mr. Rice the band director said, “They weren't able to handle it because band isn't easy.” One you have been in band you don't realize if you struggle or if you can't handle band and it's not a bad thing that students drop out of band. It just shows that they have decision making skills and don't want to hinder the other students acceleration in the class.

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.

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.

Many parents and administrators believe that music is just a waste of time and doesn 't help a student academically. It has been stated and shown in media of all sorts that music doesn’t help kids academically and is only a distraction with potentially harmful effects. For example, in John McDaniel’s words on the negative effects of music in school,:

The study found that when developing students are learning to play and instrument that they develop the ability to not just hear and appreciate the sounds of music differently but also process the sounds in a different way compared to kids of the same age not learning an instrument. This is due to learn to play an instrument help develop neurophysiological distinction which has been linked to aid and boost literacy and this which possibly improve success in academics. A quote that I believe is really great in driving home this point is by Nina Kraus in her book “Frontiers in Psychology” and that quote is, “We like to say that making music matters, Because it is only through the active generation and manipulation of sound that music can rewire the brain.” And she was saying this after hosting a study at Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Lab. And the experiment was to see if a music appreciation class had the same effect as actually learning and participating in band class. And they found that the kids that were in the process of learning an instrument has better of improved neural processing skills than the students who were only in music appreciation group.

Scientists have established the existence of strong links between music and personal development. They claim that playing an instrument can increase the student’s sense of achievement, self-esteem, confidence; persistence, punctuality and discipline (Gardiner et al. 1996)

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