2.They are symbol systems as important as letters and numbers.
3.They integrate mind, body, and spirit.
4.They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality. .
5.They create a seamless connection between motivation, instruction, assessment, and practical application--leading to “deep understanding.”
6.They make it possible to experience processes from beginning to end.
7.They develop both independence and collaboration.
8.They provide immediate feedback and opportunities for reflection.
9. They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.
10.They merge the learning of process and content.
11.They improve academic achievement--enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.
12.They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and “problem-finding.”
13.They provide the means for every student to learn.
2.Music is one of the most important manifestations of our cultural heritage.
Children need to know about Beethoven and Louis Armstrong as well as about Newton and Einstein.
3.Music is a potential in every individual that, like all potential, should be developed to its fullest.
4.Music provides an outlet for creativity, self-expression, and individual uniqueness. It enables us to express our noblest thoughts and feelings.
5.Music teaches students about unique aspects of their relationships with other human beings and with the world around them, in their own and other cultures.
6.Music opens avenues of success for students who may have problems in other areas of the curriculum and opens approaches to learning that can be applied in other contexts.
7.Studying music increases the satisfaction students derive from music by sharpening sensitivity, raising their level of appreciation, and expanding their musical horizons.
8. Music is one of the most powerful and profound symbol systems that exists.
Reading comprehension
Spelling
Mathematics
Learning ability
Listening ability
Primary mental abilities (verbal, perceptual, number, and spatial)
Motor proficiency
Common sense lends support to the belief that music and music education foster a number of nonmusical factors important for success in school and life, such as:
Developmental goals such as self-esteem, self-discipline, and individual creativity
The development of important academic and personal skills
The contributions of music to other areas of study, particularly to their integration
Similarly, in a recent study the College Entrance Examination Board reported a direct correlation between improved SAT scores and the length of time spent studying six academic subjects, including “Arts and Music.” Students with 20 units of study in the six areas scored 128 points higher on the SAT Verbal than those with 15 units; on the math portion, the difference was 118 points. Students who took more than four years of music and the other arts scored 34 points better on verbal SATs and 18 points better on math SATs in 1987-89 than those who took music for less than one year.
• The U.S. Department of Education lists the arts as subjects that college-bound middle and junior high school students should take, stating "Many colleges view participation in the arts and music as a valuable experience that broadens students’ understanding and appreciation of the world around them. It is also well known and widely recognized that the arts contribute significantly to children’s intellectual development." In addition, one year of Visual and Performing Arts is recommended for college-bound high school students. — Getting Ready for College Early: A Handbook for Parents of Students in the Middle and Junior High School Years, U.S. Department of Education, 1997
• The College Board identifies the arts as one of the six basic academic subject areas students should study in order to succeed in college. — Academic Preparation for College: What Students Need to Know and Be Able to Do, 1983 [still in use], The College Board, New York
• The arts create jobs, increase the local tax base, boost tourism, spur growth in related businesses (hotels, restaurants, printing, etc.) and improve the overall quality of life for our cities and towns. On a national level, nonprofit arts institutions and organizations generate an estimated $37 billion in economic activity and return $3.4 billion in federal income taxes to the U.S. Treasury each year. — American Arts Alliance Fact Sheet, October 1996
• The very best engineers and technical designers in the Silicon Valley industry are, nearly without exception, practicing musicians. — Grant Venerable, "The Paradox of the Silicon Savior," as reported in "The Case for Sequential Music Education in the Core Curriculum of the Public Schools," The Center for the Arts in the Basic Curriculum, New York, 1989
• A study of 237 second grade children used piano keyboard training and newly designed math software to demonstrate improvement in math skills. The group scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than children that used only the math software. — Graziano, Amy, Matthew Peterson, and Gordon Shaw, "Enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial-temporal training." Neurological Research 21 (March 1999).
• In an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary school students (NELS:88, National Education Longitudinal Survey), researchers found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show “significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12.” This observation holds regardless of students’ socio-economic status, and differences in those who are involved with instrumental music vs. those who are not is more significant over time. — Catterall, James S., Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga. “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement in Music and Theater Arts.” Los Angeles, CA: The Imagination Project at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, 1999.
• Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 showed that music participants received more academic honors and awards than non-music students, and that the percentage of music participants receiving As, As/Bs, and Bs was higher than the percentage of non- participants receiving those grades. — NELS:88 First Follow-up, 1990, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington DC
• Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medical school applicants. He found that 66% of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. 44% of biochemistry majors were admitted. — As reported in "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1994
• “The musician is constantly adjusting decisions on tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feeling--training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once. Dedicated practice of this orchestration can have a great payoff for lifelong attentional skills, intelligence, and an ability for self-knowledge and expression.” — Ratey John J., MD. A User’s Guide to the Brain. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.
• A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science. — Shaw, Rauscher, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb, "Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning," Neurological Research, Vol. 19, February 1997
• “The nation’s top business executives agree that arts education programs can help repair weaknesses in American education and better prepare workers for the 21st century.”— “The Changing Workplace is Changing Our View of Education.” Business Week, October 1996.
• “Music making makes the elderly healthier.... There were significant decreases in anxiety, depression, and loneliness following keyboard lessons. These are factors that are critical in coping with stress, stimulating the immune system, and in improved health. Results also show significant increases in human growth hormones following the same group keyboard lessons. (Human growth hormone is implicated in aches and pains.)” — Dr. Frederick Tims, reported in AMC Music News, June 2, 1999
Because it is advantageous
Academically . . .
Scientific studies indicate that music participation helps train the brain for higher forms of thinking. Children perform better in other subjects by improving reading, spelling, and math skills. Experts note that a year’s musical training can increase a child’s IQ by as much as ten points! SAT scores show that students with experience in music scored fifteen to thirty points above the mean. Schools that were showing low academic accomplishments improved dramatically when music was added to the curriculum. Results of extensive research done at the University of California - Irvine reported that piano or singing lessons affected the spatial reasoning skills of nineteen preschoolers tested over an eight-month period. The researchers found that the preschoolers’ ability to work mazes, draw geometric figures and copy patterns of two-color blocks dramatically improved. Their theory is that similar patters of neuron firing characterize all higher order thinking. When children exercise cortical neurons by listening to classical music, they are also strengthening brain circuits used for math, thus enhancing their use in complex reasoning tasks. Paul Harvey said that without music in education, America risks graduating young people who are "right-brain-damaged".
Because it builds
Character . . .
Music helps develop qualities of good character such as self-esteem, self-discipline, creativity, determination, and teamwork. Participating, creating, and performing in music programs contributes to a sense of pride and accomplishment. As students improve their skill, they feel better about themselves. As they practice, they become well disciplined.... with music, with studies, and with life. Statistics show that the crime rate is lower among people with musical backgrounds. Over one thousand congressmen and successful businessmen stated that playing a musical instrument as a child helped develop character and leadership skills, and all but two of the United States Presidents had music lessons.
Because it allows us a means of
Expression . . .
Simply listening to music stirs a wide-variety of emotions. Since the beginning of mankind, music has been the most delicate, most subtle, and most powerful medium for the expression of man’s emotions. Allan C. Inman wrote that music has inspired "men with hope, kindled their love, given a voice to their joys, cheered them on to valorous deeds, and soothed them in times of despair". Most people identify with special songs for special occasions. Christmas wouldn’t be the same without "Jingle Bells" or "Silent Night", and New Year’s Eve would be hollow without "Auld Lang Syne". Nature even creates a symphony with the whistling of the wind, the pounding of the surf, the melody of birds, and the percussion of a storm. Creating music enables the expression of feelings and provides a healthy outlet for stress, anger, and frustration, as well. Plato, a Greek Philosopher, once said, "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything." He believed that music helped people developmentally, saying "Music is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, just and beautiful, of which it is the invisible, but nevertheless dazzling, passionate, and eternal form".
Because it is Fun!
In addition to the joy of singing in the school or church choir or playing an instrument in the band or orchestra, there is the added bonus of fun group activities. Holland Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Youth Group has had a blast traveling on choir tours to New York, Washington D.C., Florida, and Texas. They also participate in musical productions for the community. Playing in the band at football games, or marching in a parade can also be a fun group activity, and statistics show that 52% of band students will go on to college and graduate.
