Rachel Whitted

AP Lit Comp

Ms. Tillery

November 18th 2011

Music Education in Present-Day Society

War, Poverty, and Disease are major problems society faces every day. These problems in the

world are everyday concerns, real, and under constant debate. Despite constant reminders of these

problems still no tourniquet has been found to cure these insufferable problems. These problems are

huge and way too hefty for anyone person to take on, and yet individuals constantly complain and

remind the world of these issues, but no one stands up for other concerns of a “lesser” degree. Although

not as pressing as war, poverty or disease; the lack of music education in today's society is alarming

and an issue that should be solved.

Everyone is affected by music in some way, but teaching children how to play instruments

creates a long lasting effect on children in many ways. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee

comments on music education and says, “Nothing could be stupider than removing the ability for the

left and right brains to function. Ask a CEO what they are looking for in an employee and they say they

need people who understand teamwork, people who are disciplined, and people who understand the big

picture. You know what they need? They need musicians” (“The Benefits of the Study of Music,” 1).

This bold statement from someone of high standing shows the importance of music in children today.

Budget cuts are being made and the first thing to go in public schools is funding for the arts, but music

is so necessary to education. Music focuses on several things at once and, as Mike Huckabee says, uses

both the right and left side of the brain. When playing music one has to read what is essentially a

foreign language on a page, interpret it, continuously count and keep rhythm, listen to the surroundings

and learn to play with others, and focus on the technique that comes with each instrument. A study

published in the Psychology of Music journal explains how music helps improve reading skills, and

they claim “Several studies have reported positive associations between music education and increased

abilities in non-musical (eg, linguistic, mathematical, and spatial) domains in children” (Piro 1). Many

neurologist and psychologist agree that music education helps emotional and helps with academics as

well. These facts only give all the more reason to fund music education and integrate it every day into

school for all students. Although budget cuts are necessary at times such as these we need to push

forward and work to push future generations in hopes they can achieve fixing society.

Funding music education is a priority that should not be put aside, but the educational process

and teaching methods are very important as well. Currently in the United States music education is

vastly different from elementary school to high school. Music involvement in Elementary school is

declining and is a worrisome problem. During the 1970s and 1980s, reduction in music curriculum time

changed from 20-30 minutes a day to 20-30 minutes a week due to various reasons; such as, reduced

from budget reductions, greater emphasis being placed on test scores in language arts and mathematics

and colleges reducing the coursework in music required of classroom teachers (Colwell 1). Now in the

elementary school education although the times are shorter, students now have a trained musician to

teach them rather than the normal classroom teachers. Elementary schools need to go back to daily

lessons in music to create the better habits not only in music, but in academic classes as well that forms

in young minds from learning music consistently and seriously. Requirements for music classes in

middle school are even worse than those in elementary school. In middle school the Carnegie

Foundation recommended a new format to focus on student development, “The arts are often a required

exploratory course for six to nine weeks at one or more of the grade levels of middle school, an

arrangement that interferes with any sequential music curriculum during middle school and lacks any

connection to elementary school music objectives or to the offerings in the secondary school” (Colwell

1). Middle school requirements require art classes, but does not allow for the art classes to be

consistent, but rather sporadic. Children need to be able to experience a consistent music experience so

they are able to play at a consistent level. Without consistent lessons and practice children are unable to

progress with their progress as musicians and the benefits that come from music education do not work

in favor of the students. Middle schools need to allow arts, namely music, to be a consistent part of life

for students to build students up to an acceptable secondary school level so students who decide to

pursue music in high school can be as successful as possible. Finally, in secondary schools music is a

choice to become part of the individual’s school day, but is not funded by the school, but privately

funded instead. “No longer automatically providing instruments for students, schools have gradually

come to expect students to own or rent their own instruments and to pay for expenses associated with

contests, festivals, and travel…. Secondary music is, therefore, not affordable for everyone unless

support exists for special students” (Jorgensen 1). Allowing the students to independently choose

allows much freer choice for each student, but also excludes those who are unable to afford being in the

band program and is unfortunate. Public schooling should try to provide for anyone interested in

participating in music at the high school level where a true love for music can be found or even just a

relaxing part of the day to make friends and do an activity to enjoy. Public Schools need to be able to

provide more readily to allow music programs to thrive to the best of their abilities. The benefits

received from getting the best possible education in the arts does pay off inevitably whether through

becoming better at academics or even just having something to enjoy that keeps children out of trouble

like drugs created through young adults that are bored. Ultimately, the music programs in schools need

to be better organized and supported by the educational department.

So what is being done to help and what still needs to be done? Important people like Jef Raskin

are strong defenders of music and speak out their opinions and help out. For Jef Raskin music

education was very important to him and it shows when he said, “If I had not studied music, there

would be no Macintosh computers today” (Raskin 1). Throughout his years, Jef Raskin studied music

and took lessons and he now gets lessons for his children and it has affected them all. Music is very

important to Macintosh and has always been a priority to make music and art Mac-friendly thanks to

Jef Raskin. With such a strong influential voice people are beginning to help out in their communities

to the best of their abilities. Without music education many of the things taken for granted in society

everyday would be unavailable to us, because of the creativity that blooms thanks to music. In Seattle,

the Rotary Club has shown an interest in musical education and they know put forth an effect to

provide instruments for grade school children to help them get a head start into music to help them

succeed in high school. David Endicott who started this and got the Rotary Club interested said, “This

program will bring such job to our children, all of whom need art and music as part of an excellent

education” (“Music Education: Strike Up The Band,” 1). If more people in every community decide to

pitch in to help out like the Roatary Club helps these young musicians then music education can once

again become a major part of society for young children. Music Educators have been developing many

different reasons as to why music is vital to every child, “In difficult economic times, and when facing

the pressures of standardized testing, school boards often seek to eliminate the costs of music

instruction from the budget, and the resulting struggle of music programs to maintain a foothold in the

curriculum has sometimes led to exaggerated claims about the power of music” (Hodges, 1). Music

teachers find it difficult. Not only do they have to survive on low wages, but when budget cuts get

mentioned, the music program is the first to go. Music teachers and directors choose to teach music to

be able to make children happy and teach them how to make music. When the school boards prevent

them from being able to do their job and what they love it’s understandable when they become

desperate and have to push exaggerations on school board members just to get enough money for

necessary costs. Even other countries are pushing forward to have better music education in their

community. In China has developed “Open Universities” to allow anyone in the community to become

a part of the music community. China feels that “The fast economic development creates new social

needs and raises new demands for a high quality of cultural life….China is gradually taking shape and

appears in various forms” (Luyi, 1). China believes that with a strong music education their country

will thrive better so why doesn’t the United States take steps to allow music education to thrive? In the

United States music education is an afterthought and not strongly supported by the masses. Community

music is necessary and helps build a stronger sense of togetherness in the community. Another example

of community music involvement is called HONK!. This new movement encourages the community to

get together to freely make music together and allow the community to interact with each other.

“HONK! bands represent a new incarnation of a time-honored tradition when there were marching

brass bands in most every town” (Garofalo 1). HONK! allows communities to enjoy and produce music

together no matter what the skill level is. Allowing the community to cooperate and come together this

way really brings the community together to allow for stronger bonds and a better, happier community.

In America currently a few community music organizations have been created with the goal of keeping

music in the community, “Community music is alive and well in the US community music groups

flourish in great numbers and bewildering variety” (Leglar 1). Community Music Schools, Ethnic

Preservation Groups, and Community Performance Groups are all active in the United States today to

create a healthy music community. Having music in the community and helping out in the schools to

provide for children helps everyone grow and come together for a bigger cause.

Music Education is crucial to society today to thrive. Communities get a better sense of being

together. Children learn valuable skills and also show they have higher testing scores. Students and

children learn to function with several parts of their brain at once and are pushed to become better

players and musicians. Music also allows for creative expression on an emotional level and also allows

people to push and focus more and be able to listen and work together better. Giving students’

instruments and helping them learn to express themselves helps in a world with so many problems with

youth. Even in China and various other countries around the world also feel like this is an important

part of society and integrate community lessons available to everyone so everyone can participate in

community music events. Without music in our schools and communities life would be drastically

different. Music is necessary and society needs to put music on a higher priority so budget cuts need to

be saved for elsewhere and music needs to be funded to the best of the ability whether it be through the

community or help from nonprofit funding or school board help. Music education is vital to many

people in the United States and should continue to be cherished.

Works Cited

“The Benefits of the Study of Music.” MENC, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.menc.org/

documents/ temp/ benefits_of_music.pdf>.

Colwell, Richard, and Carlos Xavier Rodriguez. “Music Education.” Encyclopedia of Education. 2nd

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Garofalo, Reebee. “HONK! Pedagogy: A New Paradigm For Music Education?.” Radical Teacher91

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Hodges, Donald A., and Mary Luehrsen. “The Impact Of A Funded Research Program on Music

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Jorgensen, Estelle R. “School Music Education And Change.” Music Education Journal 96.4 (2010):

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