Why teach music

DSMusic on Vimeo. DSMusic on YouTube. Why Teach Music? Here are just a few of the reasons I walk into a music classroom with joy and anticipation: To produce adults to whom music is not a way of earning a living but a way of life; to allow students to experience small successes when taught developmentally i. So — why do YOU teach music? Contact Telephone Email deborah dsmusic.

Registration is free and easy! If you have an account with us, please log in. Privacy Policy ABN 63 If students are expected to learn their instruments and practice outside of school, then they will develop the ability to create a practice schedule.

They will be able to balance every other activity they have going on in their lives. Excelling in their high school classes may then allow a student to choose a reputable post-secondary institution that he or she would like to attend, which will lead to better job prospects as an adult.

Finally, music is an excellent way to relieve stress. This is significant for students who may feel overwhelmed by schoolwork and try to balance extracurricular activities. Studies have found that music can reduce burnout and improve mood states.

As students enter into the upper grades of the school system and begin considering applying for post-secondary schools, they might feel overwhelmed with the need to keep their grades high. Even young students can experience stress with the increasing amounts of homework school curriculums require.

Some students may also have stressful home lives, and music will offer a way to escape from these situations. In addition, you may consider Soundtracking your classroom to help relieve stress and anxiety for your students. Doing so can also help create a focused learning atmosphere. Music has many benefits to people of all ages. About me:. Feel free to contact me at natalie. Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Why is Music Education in Schools Important? Here are five reasons why music education in schools is important: 1 Music stimulates brain development in children Various studies have found that engagement with music can lead to an improvement in brain development in children.

Visit my blog: MusicalAdvisors. Register Now! Music Discovery XO on May 17, at pm. Good read, music is everything Reply. Submit a Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Log in here:. Be put on the Retreat Waitlist! Retreat Waitlist Add your name and info here. If we have a cancellation, we will contact you so that you can attend the retreat! We don't want you to miss out! Do you want to get inspiring stories and ideas sent to your inbox? If one accepts that definition as our beginning premise, advocacy for music in the schools is on solid footing.

After all, it seems clear to even the most casual observer that music is almost as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. In contemporary American society, enormous resources are expended on a daily basis in pursuit of music making, music listening, and the general enjoyment and consumption of music. Of course, it goes even deeper than that. It follows, then, that the intracultural and intercultural pervasiveness of music as an art form implies this necessary distinction of value; and, therefore, establishes a legitimate place for music in school curricula.

In describing how humans learn, Charles Hoffer, in his book Teaching Music in the Secondary Schools , alludes to the widely accepted three domains of learning:. Even a brief perusal of these three domains of learning reveals the obvious ways that music study connects with the processes of learning.

If we accept the arguments in favor of inclusion of music in school curricula, we then could proceed to additional questions that help us to build confidence in the general, as well as specific, benefits of the study of music.

Those benefits may be seen to emanate from the unique potentials for education that the study of music offers within the contexts of the three domains of learning. We see those potentials by considering two categories of usefulness for music study:. In , Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University, suggested that the traditional notion of intelligence based on I. In its place, Dr. These intelligences are:. Of course, the one that jumps out to us is number 5 — musical intelligence.

Therefore, the study of music can be seen to directly address one of the most basic of human potentials. In building our rationale for music study, we sometimes find advantage in distilling our thoughts into an overview of topics that blend the practical with the philosophical.

To that end, we might consider three broad reasons for including music in school curricula that focus on the product of music education — the learning outcomes. Within this context, we might all agree that one of our most important goals, if not our principle mission as music educators, is to produce musically trained students, Why?

Because, for society, musically trained students have value. First, we should remember that a small percentage of students are specially and specifically gifted in music, just as some are specially gifted in math, a science, writing, the visual arts, and other fields. Society needs adult experts in all fields. Therefore, society benefits directly from providing early learning experiences in school settings for all students who have exceptional abilities so that they can achieve their high potentials as future leaders and producers within their specialize fields, including music.

A fundamental goal of any schooling should be to develop all basic intelligences, of whatever levels, in all students. Third, as we all know, schools and society benefit directly from the utilitarian performances of trained musicians. We see that all the way back to the utilitarian rationales of Lowell Mason in the s, to the academic credit bargaining of Will Earhart in the s, and to the daily battles we all fight and the many accommodations we all make to keep our programs afloat and relevant in the ever-changing landscape of modern education.

So, after further examination, it appears that the NAfME list that we started with has it about right. Those have about the right mix of practical and philosophical, reflecting the realities of our daily work, but also sprinkling in a good dose of the exciting and exhilarating potentials that we see in our students — those things that keep us going, and keep us fighting for what is right and for what is good for all students — and that is MUSIC!

Abeles, Harold F. New York: Oxford University Press.