Jump to content

Make a case for teaching music in schools


bp

Recommended Posts

  • Members

It's been proven that music has an effect on the brain, especially in developing brains of children. Children who play and study music literally forge more interconnections in their brains which helps them do better in other subjects, and also be able to relate different subjects to each other better to solve problems intelligently.

 

It also seems that music is ingrained in us as a species... we've been playing music at least since we've been homo sapiens apparently... it's pretty crazy to ignore such a fundamental part of our survival. Then again, humans do a lot of crazy {censored} that seems to go against our survival and well being - probably humans who didn't get enough music education as kids. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It's been proven that music has an effect on the brain, especially in developing brains of children. Children who play and study music literally forge more interconnections in their brains which helps them do better in other subjects, and also be able to relate different subjects to each other better to solve problems intelligently.


It also seems that music is ingrained in us as a species... we've been playing music at least since we've been homo sapiens apparently... it's pretty crazy to ignore such a fundamental part of our survival. Then again, humans do a lot of crazy {censored} that seems to go against our survival and well being - probably humans who didn't get enough music education as kids.
;)

 

Professor Nina Kraus has done a lot of work on the connections between music, speech and brains.

 

http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/brainvolts/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It all boils down to whether we think of kids as creative fonts... resources of unique thought..... or whether we envision them as a reservoir of replaceable pawns in corporate machines.

 

Sad thing is, in this economy of shrinking jobs, there are probably lots of young college grads who would be damned thrilled to land a position as a faceless cog in a corporation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

well, assuming that there will always be a contingent of human population who are poverty-stricken:


There is this.....free-floating feeling or assumption.... that somehow Tonality (Western harmony and Melody) is dead, that its possibilities have somehow become exhausted.

 

 

 

Musical forms always look dead and exhausted to people who do not have the capability to imagine anything but what's been done before. Which is most people, actually. It just takes some genius to romp into the scene to show everyone there are still infinite possibilities.

 

On the other hand, these free-floating feelings or assumptions - I usually refer to them as parts of the Zeitgeist (spirit of the age) are very powerful and insidious at times. Only people with faith plant trees today when it looks like the world will end tomorrow. If everyone thinks Western harmony and melody are dead, then they will be dead. Death by anti-faith.

 

nat whilk ii

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Did they stop teaching music in schools?

 

 

It is nothing like it was when I grew up. I played in the jazz lab 9big band jazz) at Oakton High School in Virginia. Between our school and Langley High School, we split most every competition on the East Coast. Many players between the schools have gone on to have great careers in music.

 

Between the schools cutting back and the venues drying up, things aren't as good for the young student/musician as they were for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Did they stop teaching music in schools?

 

 

If we have any more budget cuts, layoffs, etc. in our schools, there won't be much teaching of anything going on anymore.

 

California's government: Screw you. And this is not a political statement...I'm talking to all involved parties because they both suck. Screw all of you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Art and music are the first items on high school curriculums to get cut back when funds are tight, at least around these parts.

 

On the other hand, they keep building new schools with ever-more impressive stages and auditoriums. When they stop doing that, we'll know the arts are in REAL trouble.

 

If you've ever been the parent of a kid involved in band or choir, you know how you are constantly getting dunned for money for every little thing and a few big things. And you know the poorer parents can't really keep up with the constant drain of funds.

 

There are major, major problems with the way public education is funded these days. Around here, it's property taxes that foot most of the bill, and the wild swings of the economy wreak a lot of havoc with the valuations in constant flux. In places where governments have gone broke and defaulted on bonds they issued to build schools and such, future bond money will be more expensive to bring in as the investment is not seen as safe as it used to be.

 

I don't think we have a problem at heart with the public devaluing the arts and music. You can't expect music and drama to ever been seen as necessary as math and language skills. A society of engineers will not starve. It's the economics that force choices between the arts and the "practical" subjects, not some degraded philosophy that sees humans as units-of-production, I don't think.

 

But it is true, the art and music dept's have to do a lot of selling and booster-clubbing and handout-begging and so on to keep body and soul alive a lot of the time. One irony of the situation is that this state of affairs does seem to get more parents involved.

 

But again, the poorer parents and the poorer schools - they suffer the most (as usual, all the time, everywhere.)

 

nat whilk ii

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It's been proven that music has an effect on the brain, especially in developing brains of children. Children who play and study music literally forge more interconnections in their brains which helps them do better in other subjects, and also be able to relate different subjects to each other better to solve problems intelligently.


It also seems that music is ingrained in us as a species... we've been playing music at least since we've been homo sapiens apparently... it's pretty crazy to ignore such a fundamental part of our survival.
;)

 

 

I was going to mention the very same thing...and I'll go one step further.

 

Music not only will wire the brain of a child, but music can also re-wire an adult brain. Good music will fight mental illness and conversely, horrible music can contribute to neuroses. For those of you familiar with the spirit world, music can reach to the deepest part of your soul. Music can put you in an agitated mood or lull you to sleep.

 

Those that master such a powerful opiate can influence kings and queens. School can be a starting place for that mastery.

 

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I'm out of the loop on this, being a) based in the UK and b) a fairly long time out of school. I think it varies (or at least it varied) a lot in the UK. The schools I went to were very music oriented and provided facilities for one-to-one tuition on the instrument of your choice as well as school brass bands, orchestras, choirs and the like. No guitars and no rock music though - those days were to come later. (I was in a rock band at school - it just wasn't officially acknowledged as having anything to do with the music curriculum). I know that other people went to schools where music took much more of a back seat. Not sure what the situation is in the UK now - we have a "national curriculum" which dictates some core subjects and topics for all schools but I'm not sure where music sits in there. I'm sure someone here will know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...