Music Education is Fluff Right? WRONG! Why Music Education is Essential to Learning
Eric Jensen, the author of Music with the Brain in Mind discusses why the arts, especially music, should be kept in school.
The first thing he notes is that if more parents were aware of what is going on in a child's brain because of music, we wouldn't have an issue with trying to keep the arts in schools. The first thing everyone needs to understand is that there is a difference between LISTENING to music and actually PLAYING music in terms of brain activity. Just listening to music can alter the emotional state, which in itself is good. In order to play music, several certain changes must happen in the brain, all of which are good. The first two skills that must be developed are the ability to focus on something for an extended length of time and the ability to exclude external distracters and influences. These skills help kids focus and concentrate in class and in life. Kids also learn to work individually and as a group when they play musical instruments in an ensemble setting, like band, orchestra, and choir. Playing music helps strengthen short-term memory, which will help kids remember teachers' directions in class. Short term memory, also known as working memory, is extremely important in academics as well as social settings. Music fosters the acquisition of learning and life skills!
In the past, music was considered to be more of a right-brain, fluff sort of class. This couldn't be more untrue. Music helps build essential life skills and academic skills. It is a discipline in and of itself that can measure up to any other discipline, and we educators should take it seriously. Studies have shown over and over again that the more time a student has spent in music, as a general rule, the higher the math and reading scores are on college entrance exams. Every year of exposure to music increases exam scores. The research used in Jensen's book was from several years ago, but the recent research still has the same strong correlation between time spent in music and high college entrance exam scores.
Jensen mentions that the Frances Rauscher and Gordon Shaw study (deemed the "Mozart Effect") showed that music must be used in order to not be lost, but this isn't necessarily true. In the studies conducted by Rauscher and Shaw, the subjects only listened to music for a matter of minutes. This says nothing about the effects of playing music. In fact, musicians who do not play for long periods of time (decades even) often pick up their instruments again quite quickly because the muscle memory is so deeply engrained. Studies have also shown that the more educators use music to teach material, the more quickly it will become embedded. This is because music uses more pathways in the brain; music can activate the emotional center, the auditory centers, the visual centers, and the memory centers. Music makes a person use more of their brain than any other activity known.
Skeptics of the power of music find one bit of doubt and generalize it across the board. For example, the Mozart Effect, the inadvertent name for the Rauscher and Shaw study, was generalized by the media and public, and once people found out that it wasn't a guarantee for success, they totally disregarded the findings and lost faith in music. It is extremely short-sighted for people to look for something that will improve test scores tomorrow. Those who are looking for a long-term solution are the intelligent ones, and that's why intelligent people know music is essential in schools.
Eric Jensen, the author of Music with the Brain in Mind discusses why the arts, especially music, should be kept in school.
The first thing he notes is that if more parents were aware of what is going on in a child's brain because of music, we wouldn't have an issue with trying to keep the arts in schools. The first thing everyone needs to understand is that there is a difference between LISTENING to music and actually PLAYING music in terms of brain activity. Just listening to music can alter the emotional state, which in itself is good. In order to play music, several certain changes must happen in the brain, all of which are good. The first two skills that must be developed are the ability to focus on something for an extended length of time and the ability to exclude external distracters and influences. These skills help kids focus and concentrate in class and in life. Kids also learn to work individually and as a group when they play musical instruments in an ensemble setting, like band, orchestra, and choir. Playing music helps strengthen short-term memory, which will help kids remember teachers' directions in class. Short term memory, also known as working memory, is extremely important in academics as well as social settings. Music fosters the acquisition of learning and life skills!
In the past, music was considered to be more of a right-brain, fluff sort of class. This couldn't be more untrue. Music helps build essential life skills and academic skills. It is a discipline in and of itself that can measure up to any other discipline, and we educators should take it seriously. Studies have shown over and over again that the more time a student has spent in music, as a general rule, the higher the math and reading scores are on college entrance exams. Every year of exposure to music increases exam scores. The research used in Jensen's book was from several years ago, but the recent research still has the same strong correlation between time spent in music and high college entrance exam scores.
Jensen mentions that the Frances Rauscher and Gordon Shaw study (deemed the "Mozart Effect") showed that music must be used in order to not be lost, but this isn't necessarily true. In the studies conducted by Rauscher and Shaw, the subjects only listened to music for a matter of minutes. This says nothing about the effects of playing music. In fact, musicians who do not play for long periods of time (decades even) often pick up their instruments again quite quickly because the muscle memory is so deeply engrained. Studies have also shown that the more educators use music to teach material, the more quickly it will become embedded. This is because music uses more pathways in the brain; music can activate the emotional center, the auditory centers, the visual centers, and the memory centers. Music makes a person use more of their brain than any other activity known.
Skeptics of the power of music find one bit of doubt and generalize it across the board. For example, the Mozart Effect, the inadvertent name for the Rauscher and Shaw study, was generalized by the media and public, and once people found out that it wasn't a guarantee for success, they totally disregarded the findings and lost faith in music. It is extremely short-sighted for people to look for something that will improve test scores tomorrow. Those who are looking for a long-term solution are the intelligent ones, and that's why intelligent people know music is essential in schools.
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