University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
October 19, 2001
Music is everywhere. It has many uses in the world, for many different cultures. It has this amazing ability to heal the mind. It allows players to express their feelings, and it draws emotions from audiences. It reaches a part of the soul that cannot be touched by many things. It is also a universal language that can make connections between people more meaningful, even if they are from opposite ends of the world and have different spoken languages. Music can rise above any difference; it connects people’s hearts.
Music
has many roles in the world. It
can be heard in churches, on the radio while you drive, during holidays, in
movies and plays, at ceremonies, in classrooms, and even in hospitals or
therapy sessions. It can be
relaxing, energizing, educational, anger-releasing, and tear-jerking. It can be simple or intricate, mellow
or intense, rhythmic or flowing ... it can be just about anything. People should have basic knowledge
about something that plays such an extensive part in society. This starts with teaching children in
schools. Just as they have to
learn how to read and what happened in history, they should learn about music
because it will exist in their lives forever.
One
of the greatest things about music is that it can teach things that apply to
other aspects of life. It can
foster creativity, self-discipline, expression, and self-esteem in students of
any age. In an ensemble, it can
encourage teamwork and responsibility.
Music has also been proven to aid students with their abstract reasoning
skills and boost SAT scores for students who have had music training. Music can also teach students about
history and culture through lyrics and background information about the style
of a country and time period. In
addition to these, another wonderful quality of music is that it is simply a
means of enjoyment, for both listeners and players. As Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser said, in a world of rushing from
place to place to get to the finish line first, “We don’t play
music for the end result-we play for the enjoyment of it...it makes life worth
living.” How true this is,
for it is not often that people today sit back and enjoy the process of a task;
with music this is precisely what happens. Whether a person is playing or listening, they do so for the
process of a tune, not because they want to hurry up and get it over with.
In
addition to all these reasons, music should be taught in schools because some
students will fall in love with it and want it to be a part of their lives
forever. They have to study math
and science well into high school and even college, even though some of them
will probably never have to know how to do anything beyond the elementary level
in their futures. Yet some of them
will; it is an option that could be crucial to their lives, depending on what
field they wish to enter. It
should be the same way with music: basic knowledge at least through middle
school, and available in high school and college, because as with math and
science, some students could not care less about it, while some are fascinated
by it. It becomes their passion,
and they want to be involved with it for the rest of their lives. Music should be introduced in
elementary levels and offered at high levels because of these people, whose
lives would not be the same without it.
A
variety of types of music should be taught in schools, because everyone has a
different opinion about what is good music. Some people value American music, others value songs from
other cultures; some want to study classical music, others prefer romantic or
contemporary; some like marches, some hate them; some want to learn about popular
music while others would like to know more about gospel music, and some people
want to avoid categories like these completely in school. It is a touchy subject. For this reason, it is a good idea for
young music students to be exposed to all kinds of music. This is especially important when it
comes to multi-cultural music.
Students should have basic knowledge about music from other countries,
as well as their own. Music can
teach about the history, folk tales, style, daily life, and more about a society. Music comes in many different forms and
serves many different purposes, and it is the job of music education to
introduce as many of these as possible to students.
In
a music appreciation class, for example, the teacher can discuss the evolution of
music, which would allow for learning about rock, pop, jazz, gospel, and
country music, among others. This
may be more impractical in an elementary setting, however, because there it is
good to have interactive learning for the younger kids, which could make
learning about some of those kinds more difficult. Instead, in an elementary music class, it might make more
sense to teach students how to read music, sing, and play some basic piano, or
to have them play games which demonstrate rhythm, form, or style. In a high school band or orchestra, the
selection of music is different.
Instead of choosing from broad genres, teachers select music that
exposes students to various composers, textures, and time periods of history,
for example. Similarly, with a
high school choir, the music selected should be from different styles, topics,
and languages. It all depends on
the setting of the class, but the key is to introduce a variety of types of
music to students, so that they will be more rounded musicians and in the
future will be able to make educated decisions about the kind of music they
like.
Those
who should teach music education are people whose passion for music is so
strong that they are eager to share it with others. They never tire of helping other people experience the joy
of music, and it makes them happy to see students appreciating music on some
level. They approach their job not
as work but as a wonderful opportunity to spread love of music. Music teachers must have a great
attitude, abundant knowledge of music, flexibility, the ability to work with a
wide range of people, and a lot of patience. Many of the sounds that they hear from their pupils will not
even be pleasing to the ears, but teachers will have to hear them day after
day, year after year. This
requires a great deal of patience.
A good music teacher has to look forward to and even embrace the idea of
watching a student make tiny, slow steps forward.
Music
teachers have to find the rewards of their work through the successes of their
students, no matter how great or how small they may be. Whether this means progress in a piece
of repertoire, a greater number of scales performed correctly, one student
finally getting one troublesome note in tune, or the growth of the band as a
whole, teachers are successful when they consider their students‚
successes. Bernard Powers, a high
school band director in Sun Prairie, says, “Success is simply kids who
love music. Success is when I see
kids love what they do and have a passion for the music. Winning is a by-product of that
passion. . . . My goal for the students when they join band, is that they see
love…and love is music.”
This is the kind of attitude that all music educators should have - an
attitude of wanting personal growth for their students, and a deep passion for
music.