Importance of Music and Education Free Essay Example

Music can be defined as a vocal or instrumental sound combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion (“Definition of Music by Lexico”). People describe it as simply a form of art where they can express themselves wholeheartedly. Some use music as a soothing method after they’ve had a long day at work or school, lost a loved one, or if they need security which can be provided through their favorite tune.

Music is important because it allows us to feel nearly or possibly all emotions that we’ve experienced in our lifetime (Lauren, 2018).

There are many benefits that music provides to each one of us on this Earth. Some of which can include: music improves one’s mood, reduces stress, lessens anxiety, improves exercise, improves memory, eases one’s pain, provides comfort, and last but not least it improves cognition (“Music Education and Academic Achievement”, 2007). While these are not all of the possible benefits that music provides a person, it gives us a general idea of all of the positivity that music provides.

Studies show that listening to music can not only benefit someone’s mood but, their overall well-being, as well as help, regulate their emotions. When a person listens to relaxing music, studies show that it reduces their stress and anxiety (Lauren, 2018). Those who suffer from anxiety are aware of the importance that comes with calming oneself in any particular situation. Music can be used as a form of medicine in this sense.

The repetitive elements in music such as rhythm and melody help our brains form patterns that enhance our memory (“Music Education and Academic Achievement”, 2007). Music is well known for its ability to provide comfort. It enhances communication, coping, and expressions of certain feelings. These feelings can include fear, loneliness, and sometimes anger. Studies have shown that music also helps children with autism. The children who received music therapy showed improvements in their communication skills, attention skills, and social responses (Lauren, 2018). Music is very important to us and brings us many benefits. Music is also important to our culture.

When discussing how important music is to our culture, we begin to bring up how it plays a vital role in our way of life. Musicians express themselves through the song which conveys how they are feeling. This allows their audience to relate to the song or melody and find comfort. Music prompts those in every culture around the world to dance, sing, and express how they feel when hearing the tune (“7 Reasons Why Music is Important to World Cultures”, 2017). Music is important to world culture because it makes it easy to celebrate, it is a form of expression, it allows us to get up and dance, it continues to evolve, it is an art form, it is intimate, and it is a form of communication (“7 Reasons Why Music is Important to World Cultures”, 2017). Music is usually played in every kind of celebration. It is played at birthdays, weddings, graduations, etc. This is simply because of how important it is to find a way to have fun and enjoy celebrating. Music brings out the happiness in everyone. The music industry continues to evolve. There are degrees that can teach new artists melodies from historic music and how to alter it. Usually, artists learn this skill when completing a master’s in music education degree. Music is intimate and a form of art. Many people struggle tremendously with communication. Whether it is the fact that they cannot explain what exactly they are feeling or if they are just too afraid to say it, music helps with that. Music makes it to where a person can express themselves without having the weight of fear and intimidation on their shoulders. In an article I read, it states “Many of us know when Mozart and Bach or the Beatles lived, but very few of us know who was king then, or was the Pope, or what discoveries in science were current then, or any other current events, for that matter. Music matters.” (“Music Education and Academic Achievement”, 2007). Music is very important to those cultures and our everyday lives, but music education is just as important.

Music education is the field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. This is very important because it gives students a way to connect with other people. For example, small children are usually naturally social, and it becomes important to encourage them to build their relationships by providing each and every one of them with experiences to share with one another. There are many benefits to music education. Some of which can include: the impact it has on one’s self-esteem, listening skills, math skills, the fact that it makes one’s brain work harder, relieves stress, creativity, and that it helps special needs children (Lauren, 2018). In music education courses, they allow students to try something new which can help them develop a new level of confidence that they didn’t know they had. It can help their listening skills because it involves you listening to yourself as well as the rest of the ensemble. Reading music includes learning quarter, half, and whole notes which are fractions. In this sense, it helps one with mathematical skills as well. Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons (“How Children can Benefit from Music in Schools”, 2014). According to PBS, recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language (Lauren, 2018). Learning about music education or learning an instrument improves how the brain overall understands human language. Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93/9% attendance rate compared to schools without music education who average 79.2% graduation rate and 84.9% attendance (Lauren, 2018).

There are plenty of statistics that prove how important music education is for students. In fact, students in high-quality school music education programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the community (“Music Education and Academic Achievement”, 2007). In many schools, budget costs are the topic of meetings every year. While it is important to stay within budget at facilities, many suggest taking away musical courses because it can be deemed as just an extracurricular activity. Music education courses are just as important as math, science, English, and history. Students in top-quality instrumental programs scored 17% higher in mathematics than children in schools without a music program, and 33% higher in mathematics than students in a deficient choral program (“Music Education and Academic Achievement”, 2007). Music education is not an extracurricular activity, it stimulates a student’s mind and is beneficial to them in many ways. In fact, there are many examples of how music or music education changed people’s lives for the better.

A student at Wingate University wrote a blog titled “To the Music Teacher Who Changed My Life” in 2016. In this blog, he explains in detail how his music teacher changed his perspective on life and music. He did not take school seriously until he took this course. The music teacher took the time to talk with each of his students before dismissal just to make sure they knew that they mattered. He described music education as the course that made him realize the importance of life (“To the Music Teacher Who Changed My Life”, 2016). It helped him choose his degree path, helped his study patterns, and helped him gain friends in the process. Another article provides us with an example from a parental perspective. A dad fought to keep his 6-year-old in a musical course because of the impact it was having on her. She is autistic and being apart of this course helped her communication skills tremendously. He says that if she had not been apart of this course, he feared that she would never find her place in school as the other students call her ‘different’ (“How Children can Benefit from Music in Schools”, 2014).

The reason that this topic was chosen is the impact that music has had on my life and hardship. Like I have stated in the second paragraph, music can be used to help a person emotionally. In my instance, my grandmother passed away in the summer of 2016. This was quite possibly the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with. I know that for anyone losing a loved one is hard, but I feel as though she took a piece of me with her. At her funeral, we played the two songs Dancing in the Sky by Dani and Lizzy and Go Rest High on That Mountain by Vince Gill. Each of these songs helped me in different but amazing ways. When listening to Dancing in the Sky, I felt sadness but also peace to know that my loving grandmother is now in a place free of pain and could possibly be dancing in happiness with her own parents. As it is hard to accept that she is no longer on this Earth with me, I know she is now pain-free and happy. When listening to Go Rest High on That Mountain, I also felt sadness but comfort as the lyrics focus on the fact that the person is now resting because their work on Earth is done. My grandmother passed away at 76 years old. She lived her life in the best way that she could and now she deserves to rest and be at peace. I wanted to specifically include this example to show a personal point of view of how important music as well as its education is in people’s life.

Music can be defined simply as a form of art that involves the expression of emotions through harmonic frequencies. Music is very beneficial to all, some ways being: the fact that it improves one’s mood, reduces stress, lessens anxiety, improves exercise, improves memory, eases one’s pain, provides comfort, and finally, it improves cognition. Music education can be defined as a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. Music education is very important because it can impact one’s self-esteem, listening skills, math skills, communication skills, it reduces stress, helps a student with creativity, and it can help students that have special needs. Statistics prove that students that take music education courses are more likely to succeed in other subjects. Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93/9% attendance rate compared to schools without music education who average 79.2% graduation rate and 84.9% attendance (Lauren, 2018). Music education is overall very important, and each institution should look into including it as a credit towards each degree so that students are able to receive the full benefits which it provides.