For quite sometime educators and legislators a like have debated the case for musical and non-musical benefits of music education. There are valid reasons for each as well as valid concerns for each. The following is an exploration of both.
In a time of budget cuts and program cuts those in leadership positions are constantly having to examine and evaluate the usefulness of existing programs. At the same time they have to find ways to conserve finances. Because of this, it becomes increasingly important for music advocates to show the non-musical benefits of music education. Secondly, as a result of our evolving society the job market has placed an emphasis on areas such as technology, business, and medicine. There is hardly any knowledge of the viable career options in music. For this reason, music education has to show the ways that it can assist in building skills that can transfer into other subject areas. Another challenge that exists is the student participation in music programs. Showing the fringe benefits of music education could encourage more students to participate in these programs. Lastly, showing the extra benefits of music education may encourage more sponsors to offer financial support to various music programs in their community. For example, if the correlation between higher academic scores and participation in music programs were highly publicized, non-profit organizations whose focus is to encourage after-school activities that promote academic welfare might be more apt to contribute financially to music programs. There are many resources that offer researched information on these benefits. One such resource can be found by clicking here.
In contrast, music advocates who truly have a passion to see the arts thrive know and understand that there is more to music education than these non-musical benefits. There are many worthy components of music that deserve educational exploration. In fact, there are national educational organizations who believe the same. One such organization called MENC came up with nine widely accepted standards for music education.Though there have been several revisions, the latest revision which occured in the early1990's is the one still used today. They are as follows:
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Secondly, there is always the risk that the opposite of the desired effect would happen in legislation. Who is to say that lawmakers could not simply extract those components of music education that is "proven" to show correlation with these non-musical benefits and only place emphasis on them. The results would severely affect the arts and it's holistic appeal. Next, the aesthetic experience is what most people look forward to with music. In fact, it is usually the educated musician or educator who can discern more than the aesthetics of music. Because of this, there should not be items in place to distract from those experiences. Lastly, only focusing on the non-musical aspects of music would severely impact our future. How would our nation's future composers be impacted? How would our music educators be impacted? What about the impact of our future society as whole? The question should be considered: do we really want to live in a society where music is taught like math or science? I should think not and in order to prevent this, we have to carefully consider the messages we present to those in legislative and administrative positions. Resources have been compiled on these types of view points and one such resource can be viewed by clicking here.
Resources
Brown, L. (2014). The Benefits of Music Education. PBS Parents. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-benefits-of-music-education/.
VH1 Save the Music Foundation. (2013). The Importance of Music Education. VH1 Save the Music. retrieved from http://www.vh1savethemusic.org/why-music/benefits-to-the-brain.
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