Movies and television today often
support and glorify sports programs in schools. The “cool kid,” usually a jock,
gets the girl, that sort of thing. But in reality, arts programs have been
found to benefit students far more than sports. I’m not saying sports don’t hold
their own value and merits. I grew up playing sports; I even played basketball
in middle school. I’m just saying that sports receive an unfair amount of
attention in comparison to the arts. Today I’ll be looking specifically at
music education, and its importance to schools.
As many of you know, I am heavily
involved in music. I’m very active in the school’s band program, including
marching band. I’m also involved in the school’s theatre program, which is
music of a different variety. So clearly music education is a very personal
subject for me. Therefore, I am not denying that I am biased on this topic. I’m
definitely biased. But the facts and research I have found demonstrate the
clear advantages to music education.
One article published through John
Hopkins University, a highly respected college, details specific examples of
how music can be used in classrooms outside of your typical band class setting
to promote learning. Music allows the listener to make an emotional connection,
and when used to stimulate learning it brings that connection to the material
learned. This creates a “highly focused learning state” which makes the
experience not only more enjoyable for students, but more productive.
Now, for music within your typical
band class setting, as you would expect of a music education argument. Anita
Collins, a renowned researcher on the influence of music education on the
development of the brain, created an enlightening Ted Talk on the subject. In
this video, she explains that anytime we listen to music, multiple areas of our
brains work together simultaneously to process what we are hearing and create
the pleasant experience we know. This in and of itself is incredible. But even
more incredible were the findings of what occurs when musicians make music.
Collins’ describes it as “the brain’s equivalent to a full body workout.”
Making music, ie playing an instrument, uses almost all areas of the brain simultaneously.
Furthermore, the repeated practice that is required to improve and excel at an
instrument strengthens these bonds in the brain, allowing musicians to apply these
skills to other activities, particularly in problem solving. This is critical
in both academic and social settings. Collins has found that playing an
instrument also leads to excelled executive function, meaning musicians
maintain high levels of planning, attention to detail, analysis, and memory
functions. For those who think these benefits may not be exclusive to
instrumentalists, neuroscientists have attempted to prove the same conclusion. However,
all research points to the specific requirements for playing an instrument –
both musical and aesthetic – as the sole activity that produces the same
results mentioned.
Despite this research, many still
preach the benefits of sports. They talk of the dedication, accountability, and
leadership skills athletes acquire. While sports can promote these things, they
sometimes do so in a negative way. What I mean is that sports are all about
winning. The primary goal in any sport is to win. And while that is not bad in
and of itself, this winning vs. losing attitude can cause athletes to become aggressively
competitive and focus solely on winning. The sport then stops becoming about
what the team can accomplish together and instead about how many games one
person can say they’ve won. Participating in a musical group, on the other
hand, is all about accomplishing things as a group. While someone can become an
accomplished musician by themselves, any band or orchestra settings, like what
you find at schools and professional groups, requires multiple people, as many
as 100 in a professional group, to work together to form a connection with
their audience and produce “good” music. You can be the best trumpet player in
the world, but if you don’t play with the group, if you don’t work with others,
you will unavoidably stick out and make the group sound bad. A musical group
must learn to balance with itself in order to sound good. And everyone must
perform at a high level. Just as a loud trumpet will stick and ruin a song, a
trumpet player who cares only about themselves can only excel so much before he
hurts the band. Look at it this way: a good ERA in baseball is 3.00. A really
good ERA is 2.00. That’s giving up two runs in nine innings. Sounds hard,
right? A good free throw percentage in basketball is 70-80%. That means missing
one for every four free throws. Again, this may sound impressive. But, in
music, if a band plays at a 90%, it sounds terrible. A 90% is a high B in many
high schools, and a low A in many colleges. You’d think getting 75 people to
all operate at a 90% accuracy rate when performing together would be difficult
and commendable. And you’d be right to call it difficult, but if you heard a
band operate this way, you would not call it commendable. Sure, it’s not
terrible. But if you paid to see such a concert, believe me, you’d want your
money back. A study and talk was actually given on this, but you’ll just have
to take my word for how bad a 90% band sounds, as unfortunately I cannot play
the clip for you. No, a good music group must operate at a 100%. Each and every
musician must be held accountable in order for the group to excel. Imagine if
there existed a pitcher who didn’t let one runner score. Critics would go nuts.
Yet this is what is needed for high-level bands, orchestras, and choirs. I say
all of this not to downplay sports and their difficulties, but to show that
music education really does promote team work. Joining together to help the
group accomplish a goal and reach new heights, not help yourself become the
best (solo) pitcher in the MLB.
Clearly music education leads to huge
benefits for students. So why isn’t it promoted more? Quite frankly, most
people today care more about brawn than brain. They’d rather see which team can
play the better defense, score more goals, hit more home runs. And I can relate
to that. Personally, I’m a huge Cubs fan (and let me just say I was a fan
before they won the World Series and made history). But music education creates
a more enjoyable learning experience, enhances students’ cognitive abilities,
and instills traits not found in other activities. We must recognize the
importance of music education in schools, and work to not only maintain it, but
promote it and let it thrive.
From
the 50 Yard Line. Dir. Doug Lantz. Blake House Media, 2007. DVD.
Weinberger,
Norman M. "Music And The Brain." Scientific
American, New York City, 1 Sept.
2006: 40. Print.
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