Does Playing A Musical Instrument Make You Smarter
1387 Words6 Pages
School Music Is Dying
There is one similarity between many of the most famous people to ever live; many of them played a musical instrument. For example, Neil Armstrong played the baritone, Thomas Edison played the piano, and Albert Einstein played the violin. Although none of them were famous for playing their instrument, they all had a musical education. To this day, many children are offered a music education through their local community school system; however, school systems all over the country have been struggling to make ends meet, and they have had to do everything they could to reduce the school's debt. School systems typically deal with this problem in a couple of ways. One way would be to take out loans in hopes of making efficient…show more content… Many people claim music should not be valued in school, for it takes the student's focus away from academics. It makes sense that if students didn't have music in school, they would focus purely on academics which would improve overall education; however, the studies discussed in “Does Playing a Musical Instrument Make You Smarter” by Christopher Bergland (2014) support the claim that music could be a focus in order to improve standardized test scores. The academic focus with integrated music training may set children for the best chances of a successful academic…show more content… In another case of a school program looking to save money, Vancouver was in danger of losing their strings and band program. In Marsha Lederman’s article, “Cuts Threaten VSB Music Program,” (2014) parents, educators, and children all worry about losing their beloved program. Lederman quotes the president of the organization Coalition for Music Education in British Colombia, Chris Reardon MacLellan, who observed that, “Playing music together in a music ensemble gives students so many benefits intellectually, socially, emotionally, academically that they can't get through any other means of instruction. ... And taking that away is tragic” (qtd. Lederman, 2014). Students are given opportunity to learn how to work with a team, to constantly better his or her individual performance, and to effectively take criticism from being in an ensemble. In the normal classroom environment, one normally worries about his or her own grade even when working in groups, but in a music ensemble everyone has to work together toward one similar goal. Consequently, many of the character attributes one gains from music are similar to what sports offer: hard work, perseverance, teamwork, time-management, and discipline. All of which are valuable characteristics of a successful person. The lessons one learns from music don't just apply to music, for playing with the band or orchestra,