Why Music is Important Essay -- essays papers

Why Music is Important Music education is important for several different reasons. Music is a very valuable resource for students and teachers alike. Research has shown that musical study improves a child's early cognitive development, basic math and reading abilities, SAT scores, ability to work in teams, as well as spatial reasoning skills (VH1, 2003, para4). Music helps students to achieve in areas of intelligence. â€Å"Feis, Revecz, the Pannenborgs, Miller, and others are unanimous in finding that musicality and high intelligence go together† (Mursell & Glenn, 1931, p. 20). Studies have shown that preschool children taught with music and songs have an average 10 to 20 points over those without, and by the age of 15 have higher reading and math skills. Another study showed that students that had taken a music appreciation class scored 46 points higher on the math portion of the SAT, and students who had music performance experiences scored 39 points higher than students without any music e xperience (Harvey, 1997, para13). Music impacts most other areas of learning. â€Å"The area holding the greatest prospects for transfer from music appears to be language arts.† (Hoffer, 1983, p. 46) It has been said that music helps concentration during reading. Music is an affective memory aide, because of its use of rhythm, rhyme and melody. Music for young children helps them to learn language because of the rhythms and patterns involved in learning the songs. The involvement of music in education can help to develop oral language skills, listening skills, and an increased vocabulary. Music can help the comprehension of language and basic facts (Dobbs, 1990, 341, 342). Students involved with music education have also been show... ... 10, 2004 from http://www.vh1.com/partners/save_the_music/ This is the website for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring music programs in schools and raising awareness of the importance of music in education. AMC- American Music Conference. (2004). Music advocacy, supporting research, education and playing music. Retrieved November 19, 2004 from http://www.amc-music.com/ MENC- The National Association for Music Education (1991). Growing up complete: the imperative for music education: The report of the national commission on music education. Retrieved November 20, 2004 from http://www.menc.org/publication/ articles/academic/growing.htm Goldwyn-Kingon, Jacqueline. (2004, November 7). Beautiful Music. The New York Times. Shollenberger, Kyle. (2004, November 28). A Richer Life Trough Music. Philadelphia Inquirer.