Argumentative Essay On Music Education

First of all, it is a stress reliever for many individuals in our society today. Contrary to popular belief, students can suffer from depression, get maximum levels of stress, and can have anxiety attacks. Music is a coping method during these times, it can bring them back to earth and allow them to breathe steadily. For example, if someone is having an anxiety attack and keep thinking of a certain thing, music will make their mind focus on the lyrics or beat. This will then, in turn, get their mind off of the issues going on inside their head. However, certain songs may only work on certain people, and certain songs might worsen the previously

Many schools around the country are cutting their music program because of budget cuts in their counties. The arts for some reason are always the first to be cut; apparently the school doesn’t think they are essential to their students learning. Schools try to focus on the more important academic classes because of the high testing standards they must now meet. (Nesoff 2003) This is not just happening in poor school districts it is happening in large districts across the country including magnet schools for the arts: “When Albert Margolis and his wife attended the final music program for their son's kindergarten class in May, they were shocked when a teacher stood up after the performance and

Music can be good for the mind and soul. It can give us peace of mind and help a person to be able to concentrate. Some teachers play calming music during class to help students think. Music can be helped with our health. People use Music Therapy to help with many things. People use the therapy music such as the rain forest or low drum beats to help them go to sleep. Doctors use music to help cancer patients, children with ADD to help calm them down. Music is used to help overcome pain. (Scott, Elizabeth.)

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.

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

The best teachers can do is to not allow students to see when the students have not meet the expectations they had and when students do not meet their own expectations, the teacher needs to encourage the student to try again and learn from their previous experience;

One of my biggest passions in life has been advocating for music education. This takes after my father who does this for a living. Defending why music education is important is oddly a very difficult task. The issue with this topic, is that there is no real argument saying that the arts are not important. However, when it comes down to budget cuts and funding the arts always seem to get the boot first. There are plenty of ways to effectively defend music education, yet so many people take the wrong pathway and preach what they think the general public wants to hear. People will express how taking music classes helps with test scores and overall GPA, when in reality this is not why we should be defending why music is important. My project serves to help other music advocates truly understand why this argument is ineffective.

It can teach you to never to give up. Music education can transform you through the lessons you take and make you a different person. It can improve your grades and even make you a leader if you were never thought to be one. Music is also very good for your brain. Studies show that when listening to or playing music, you engage multiple parts of your brain. You use most parts of your brain including the visual, auditory, and motor cortices. playing an instrument helps you to strengthen and apply the new strengths to other activities. Playing an instrument also builds the brain’s corpus callosum, which is the bridge between the right and left sides of the brain, which helps people to solve problems in different, more efficient ways.

Living in a world surrounded by noises and sounds, one cannot deny that music lives all around them. Schools, street corners, sporting events, there is one thing you will always find: music. Music education is quickly becoming defunct in schools, as many try to decry its many benefits. A growing emphasis on the concrete subjects of math and science, whose benefits are more immediate, are pushing the creativity and imagination of music classes to the back of the budget. Music education is no longer described as stimulating and exciting, but rather unnecessary and distracting. But the benefits of having an education in music is undeniable. Simply being around music can have a positive impact on life. Music enables the human race to discover emotions that they have never uncovered before. The human mind is refreshed by music; “our imagination and memories are stimulated by the sounds, and summon feelings and memories associated with the musical sound” (Wingell 15). Without music, the world would be silent. Lifeless. No matter what language one speaks or what culture one is from, music is a universal language, connecting the hearts of people around the entire world. In schools throughout the nation, that connection is being severed because of budget cuts and lack of funding, but the benefits of music education are clear. The benefits of having an education in music are not only present in the classroom; a lasting impact is also left on the social and emotional growth of a person, though the gains may not be evinced immediately. Participating in musical education programs in schools can give students the opportunity to form lasting friendships and to gain skills that will last them their entire lives. Music education can be beneficial to students because it enhances students’ performance in the classroom, aids in improving student’s interest and engagement in school, and advances students’ social and emotional growth.

The question of instrumental music remains far from settled. Even with most of the common arguments considered and questioned, the issue rests not on evidence but on preference. The overwhelming evidence from Scripture and history leads one to conclude that instruments have no place in Christian worship, cultural preferences notwithstanding. To most, however, this is a non-issue and to enforce one view over another is foolish. But the Scriptures bind what they do for a reason, and that is so God can be worshiped in the way He desires. To do anything less is to participate in worthless worship that concludes in disaster (Matt. 15:8-9). What is at stake is not a matter of preference; it is a matter of salvation.

They say that young adolescents lack spice and some even lack creativity. Is this ultimately a problem in our schools? We all know a child that lacks an imagination. We all know a child that lacks resourcefulness. We all know a child who seems to have been left behind. We all know a child that is shy. We also know that arts education can help improve our students in many ways. Arts education is a key source for innovative skills that can spark intelligence in our rising adults. Arts education should be in schools because schools that have art programs are proven to have high graduation rates, arts education is proven to raise overall test scores, and it provides vital skills for success. These three points are only the beginning of why we should

The history of our schools is told beginning with the founding of our nation, moving through the common school movement, the arguments of the progressive era, and leading up to all of the modern acts made in the 21st century. Music education is a factor in the public schools, and it is rarely discussed as part of the history of our schools. Music education has been a part of our schools since the beginning and continues to better our students to this day.

Music has been apart of society for thousands of years and an outlet for people's stress and other problems they may be facing. It helps the brain function and understand conditions better by breaking it down and trying to comprehend it. Music has made and is still making an impact on the lives of people all around the world. Because of its impact on peoples lives neuroscientist wanted to get to the source and have been looking at the brain to determine the exact effects of music and they can now answer the question, what effects does music have on the brain? Listening to music can send pleasure to your mind, decide your emotions, lower stress, and improve learning.

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 era of accountability has heavily swayed public schools towards narrowing the curriculum across content and disciplines. Student test scores have become the measure in which states, districts, schools, classrooms, and teachers are deemed “excellent.” Also, many schools have been confronted with budget cuts that determine the content offered in schools. Unfortunately, arts programming across the United States’ K-12 public education has been minimized and/or not given the proper attention it deserves. To strengthen the argument for arts education, researchers have developed the integration of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to curriculum and lesson planning. I argue that the integration of the arts in classroom curriculum with early childhoods students can provide benefits not only for students but teachers. Arts education centers on allowing both students and teachers to engage in creativity and bring out their multiple intelligence. I recognize four reasons why arts education is a valuable tool with young children: (1) arts can be used across subjects and context (interdisciplinary), (2) it touches on the needs of different learners (multiple intelligence), (3) flexibility that allows creativity in the classroom, and (4) shifts away from traditional methods of rote learning.