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Samuel Ennis

Mrs. Pratt

Senior Project

March 11, 2015

Music in Schools

Think back to elementary school when you had a music class during the week. There

probably was singing and playing drums. Maybe you played an instrument through school. Now

imagine your elementary and high school years without music. Music has had an effect on

numerous students during their time in school. Former President Bill Clinton once said, “Music

is about communication, creativity, and cooperation, and by studying music in schools, students

have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives, and experience the world from a

new perspective” (“Benefits of Music” par.19). The benefits of music education include

developing a stronger connection to course material, abetting in cognitive development, and

improving critical thinking. Studies have shown that students who are involved with music

typically perform better in the core subjects of English, math, science, and social studies.

Therefore, schools need to be required to have music programs because the benefits overpower

the costs, the time, and help with future careers.

Music has a psychological aspect to it. People no matter what age they are enjoy some

type of music. For most, this is because they find it relaxing or it makes them happy. It is quite

astonishing to realize that there is one thing that can provide everyone with these

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feelings. Music has different parts that appeal to different parts of the brain. Dynamics and

tempo effect emotion, and the sound itself can stimulate the brain and improve the part that

controls memory (Perret 58). Music can influence happiness, improve behavior and have a large,

positive effect on students’ performance. It is because of this increased student performance,

thanks to music, that schools need to be required to maintain their music programs.

Music also has the ability to appeal to a wide variety of emotions. This is due to the

various genres of music. Genres such as rock, pop, country, and soul, have appeals to different

types of people. These genres can be further expanded based on individual songs (Bennett 140).

In any of the genres listed above songs can be found about happiness, sadness, anger, and even

education. Music creates happiness and relaxation by appealing to the mood the listener happens

to be in. When something appeals to how someone feels, they often become happy, and feel

relieved. This type of music allows the listener to release their emotions in a less painful, and

violent way. Music educator and philosopher Howard Gardner illustrates an example, noting that

if two students in a classroom who are in a poor mood are compared, they will be similar in that

they will either be acting poorly, or performing poor academically. Allow one of these students

to relieve their stress through playing or listening to a song that is violent or anger orientated, and

the student most likely will perform better now that some of that stress is relieved (Elliot 282). If

a school has students who are performing well academically, and the secret behind the success is

music, why would you cut the secret ingredient that is generating a positive result for the school?

Music’s importance goes beyond a psychological level. In any subject memory is

important. Music encourages memorizing. As an instrumentalist it might not be necessary to

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remember the entirety of a musical piece, however it is necessary to memorize what key a note is

written as, and how to play that key. When you learn to read you learn to see a word and use

your mouth to say it. In Music, you learn to read the notes and rhythms and how to use your

mouth and fingers to make those notes come alive. Memorization is an area that several people

struggle with regardless of their age. Due to music having melodies and repetitive rhythmic

sequences, it becomes easy to memorize quickly (Perret 96). This is why it is common for music

to become stuck in peoples’ heads. It is due to this easier way of memorization that children’s

lessons have been turned into songs to make them easier to memorize. The ABC’s are a perfect

example of this. In learning any topic in school, memorization is required, and by learning and

playing or singing music, students are better capable of performing this crucial task. This way of

memorizing content can be especially effective in learning science topics. Numerous important

topics in science are translated to song to make them easier to remember. Songs have been made

to help remember the order of the planets, and songs to remember different bones in the body.

This is because if something is catchy, it can become easier to memorize. A study performed by

Dr. J.W. Flohr and Dr. D.C. Miller used electroencephalograms (EEGs), Magnetic Resonance

Imaging (MRI), and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to study the brains of two five year

old children. The children were asked to read a written passage and recite it by memory twenty

minutes later. One of the students listened to music in between, while the other did not. The brain

studies indicated the student who listened to the music had more brain activity in the cerebrum,

the part of the brain that controls memory. The child who recited the passage from memory the

best was the one who had listened to music (MENC 37-39).

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Where music is even more important in schools is in the early grade school levels.

Developing skills associated with music at a young age creates students who statistically will do

better in school in later years. This is because,

Neuroscientists have observed and documented that humans are born with an

innate musicality which is expressed in the very earliest exchanges with our

parents. Researchers using audio and video recordings and computer analysis,

have found that in the communications between parents and toddlers there are

rhythms, musical bars, melody, nuances in intonation, in fact all the ingredients

that make music (Perret16).

This means that despite what some may think, everybody has some musical ability, whether it’s

through playing music, singing to music, or dancing to music. Therefore, the ability to further

expand these skills in students and have them reap the benefits is achievable. In looking for

reasons to keep music in a school, a school board needs to see continued success in test scores.

These scores are what reflect how well knowledge is being taught. Teaching music provides

students with the skills to help improve their test scores.

Even though everyone has some musical ability at birth, this does not mean that it is easy.

If learning to play or sing music were easy, the benefits would most likely not be as important as

they are. This is not to say that for some learning music may not present a challenge.

Nevertheless, the challenge is what makes the reward so much grander. Due to music being

challenging, it can discourage some students from wanting to participate. There are several

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students who want a simple and easy school experience. Music is a challenge however. It takes

time, commitment, and patience, people don’t become Kenny G overnight. The challenge also

comes from the amount of work playing or signing music puts on your brain. This is because

“music involves more than the voice or fingers playing an instrument” (Brown par.17). You have

to do multiple things at the same time. Playing an instrument requires the use of eyes, ears, brain,

and hands. Your eyes to read the music, your brain to translate what you see into notes, and to

understand rhythm, your ears to hear what you and others are playing, and hands to play the

notes (MENC 111). Most people have trouble doing two things at once. What it takes to play an

instrument shows that the instrumentalist is doing well beyond two things at once. If a student

can do this task, imagine how that can carry over into the classroom. Being able to perform all

these tasks at once indicates a strong attention to detail. When that is applied to school work

students will begin to excel, and scientific studies have backed up such results. An in depth study

of students SAT scores, performed by College Board in 2000 and published in the College-

Bound Seniors national report, indicated that students who were involved in a music program,

scored on average, 50 points higher on the SAT, and those numbers are even higher in today’s

society (Droscher par.8). The same report indicates the same positive effect on state test scores.

The students in the music program were on average scoring a level higher on state standardized

testing (Elliot 55). These scores are important to schools, and having students excel in these

areas reflects positively upon them. Everyone knows that when you work hard at something you

perform the task better. In music practice makes perfect. The accompanying factor is this makes

the brain perform better, making it easier to learn and understand academic areas such as math.

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Frances Rauscher, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, developed the following

opinion after a two year study of music education in Wisconsin schools, “Music instruction

appears to have long-lasting benefits for children’s spatial-temporal skills, skills that are needed

for understanding proportions and ratios” (MENC 11-12).

Music’s impact isn’t solely related to math, it has a strong impact in English, writing,

literature classes, and history classes as well. The reason music connects with people is because

it tells a story. This story brings about memories in the brain and can bring about memories of

joy. The story could also relate to events in history and translate to times of pain and struggle.

Several orchestrations were written during Stalin’s rule in Russia. They often reflected the civil

wars, the fight for a voice, and the sorrow of losing loved ones (Elliot 187). People love to read

books because they can take them on journeys. Through reading, people can travel to new and

unimaginable places and times, and expose themselves to new experiences all from the comfort

of a chair. Music does the same. It allows someone to hear a story and a character’s voice rather

than read it. In connecting literature to music you can examine plays. Numerous plays

incorporate music into them. There are various reasons for this. The first is because music can

lighten slower parts of the play, thus drawing more attention from the audience. Music also helps

to create feelings of happiness, sadness, and anger, and therefore, allows viewers to truly feel the

emotion. The final reason, which also relates to history, is to connect with the setting. All

cultures and time periods vary in music types. Using music from a particular time and place, not

only makes the story more authentic, but truly attributes in bringing out the setting. Maria von

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Trapp puts it best saying, “Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart

opens” (Seaward 407).

Being exposed to music education goes beyond the classroom, and helps prepare students

for future careers. The ability to multi-task is especially key in careers in which time is of the

essence. The memorization skills attained through playing and listening to music can also be of

high value in the workplace. Often times in music programs in schools, students are required to

perform in front of audiences. This allows people to be more comfortable being in front of

groups of people that they may not know. While although people are often told not to bring their

emotions into the workplace it can sometimes be unavoidable. Knowing that music can be

therapeutic, allows the person to know what types of music they should listen to, to improve their

mood allowing them to work more efficiently. All of these tasks were mentioned before in

connection to skills learned though music education programs, and all of them are skills that are

useful in the workplace. Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, a former heart surgeon at the Baylor

University College of Medicine, and who has conducted studies on how music lowers blood

pressure, heart rate, and stress, said the following in regards to music,

Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence, traits that carry over into

intellectual pursuits and that lead to effective study and work habits. An

association of music and math has, in fact, long been noted. Creating and

performing music promotes self-expression and provides self-gratification while

giving pleasure to others. In medicine, increasing published reports demonstrate

that music has a healing effect on patients. For all these reasons, it deserves strong

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support in our educational system, along with the other arts, the sciences, and

athletics (“Benefits of Music” par.15)

The one problem school boards have with music programs is the cost. The cost is often

the reason numerous schools have cut music education. Schools want to focus on the core

subjects of English, math, science, and social studies, as well as foreign language. Most schools

feel as though these subjects are crucial in improving our education, so we aren’t far behind

other countries. The United States wants to ensure that its students are equally as intelligent and

well educated as those all around the globe. Music, however, makes student performance in all

the important categories that much better, thus improving our education. Taking a look at the

annual report for the Bethel School District in Bethel, Vermont, the spending for fiscal year 2014

is estimated to be $134,419 for the music department. This is based on a school of 313 students

in grades pre-k through 12. This accounts for 2.67% of their total budget (Town of Bethel 64-

75). While this is a small school, the benefits of music are the same. This example shows that

even small schools can afford to have a music program. The largest amount of spending for

music comes when starting a program, not making it continue. While cutting any part of the

budget saves money, cutting music prevents students from having the ability to attain all the

benefits outlined above. The cost, therefore, isn’t large enough reason to remove music programs

from schools.

Schools need to be required to have music programs. Music allows students to improve

memorization, multi-task, increase brain function, present in front of others, and improve overall

mood. These benefits, which include only a small sample, are far too important to cut an entire

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music program. Small schools can afford to fund the programs, therefore, larger schools should

be able to do the same. Student’s overall performance is enhanced with music, and the skills

gained will better prepare them for future endeavors. Giving students the opportunity to learn

through music and have these skills is too prodigious to cut.

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Works Cited

Annual Reports Town of Bethel, Vermont & Bethel School District. Rep. no. 63. Bethel, VT:

Town of Bethel, 2013. Print.

"Benefits of Music." American Music Institute. N.P., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.amimusic.org/index-1-benefits.html>.

Bennett, Andy. Popular Music and Youth Culture: Music, Identity, and Place. Houndmills,

Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2000. Print.

Boyd, Stacey. US News. U.S.News & World Report, 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

<http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/04/28/music-art-and-language-programs-

in-schools-have-long-lasting-benefits>.

Brown, Laura L. "Eat Smart for a Great Start Newsletter." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

<http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-benefits-of-music-education/>.

Cerbasi, Jennifer. "How Important Is Music Education in Schools?" Fox News. FOX News

Network, 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.

<http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/28/how-important-is-music-education-in-

schools/>.

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Droscher, Edward. "Music Education Benefits." National Educational Music Company. NEMC,

n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.

<http://www.nemc.com/resources/articles/music-education-benefits_50>.

Elliott, David James. Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education. New York: Oxford

UP, 1995. Print.

Jäncke, Lutz. "Music Listening While You Learn: No Influence of Background Music on Verbal

Learning." Behavioral and Brain Functions. BioMed Central Ltd., 7 Jan. 2010. Web. 15

Oct. 2014.

<http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/6/1/3>.

Johnson, Daniel C. "The Effect Of Critical Thinking Instruction On Verbal Descriptions Of

Music." Journal Of Research In Music Education 59.3 (2011): 257-272. Academic

Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

Music Makes the Difference. Reston, VA: MENC, the National Association for Music

Education, 2000. Print.

"Music programs enhance brain function." American Music Teacher Dec. 2014: 6+. Expanded

Academic ASAP. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

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"New poll on music education." American Music Teacher Dec. 2014: 4. Expanded Academic

ASAP. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

Perret, Daniel Gilbert. Roots of Musicality Music Therapy and Personal Development.

Philadelphia: J. Kingsley, 2005. Print.

Seaward, Brian Luke. Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Wellbeing Web

Enhanced. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 1999. Print.

Shuler, Scott C. "Music Education For Life: Core Music Education: Students’ Civil Right."

Music Educators Journal 98.4 (2012): 7-11. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Oct.

2014.

Smith, Dianna. "38 Schools' Music Programs Benefit from Symphonic Band's Gifts."Palm

Beach Post. N.p., 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.