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The Importance of Music Education Thesis

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The Importance Of Music Education

Thesis: Music has shown to not only physically show a reaction, but have an emotional response

as well. Without music not only would emotions be unbalanced, but the education system as

well. Music education plays a small, yet important role in the life of an everyday student and it

challenges the educated to dig even further.

1. Thesis/Opening Statement
2. Impact of music
a. Social Impact
b. Emotional/Mental Impact
c. Physical Impact
3. The role of music in culture and today's society
a. Cutting music and fine arts because of money and how to solve it
b. Cutting music because of overpopulation and how to solve it
4. Conclusion and encouragement to keep music education in public schools

Felisha Mccurry

English IV Honors

Mrs.Day

18 April 2017

The Importance Of Music Education


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I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys,

my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene.

It was a necessity-like food or water. (Ray Charles Quotes) This quote by Ray Charles shows

that music stimulates more parts of the brain and body than any other human function. (How

does music stimulate the left and right brain function?) When listening to music, the sound

waves literally touch the person's eardrum and shake it; hence the saying the music moved me.

(Singing changes your brain) Music has shown to not only physically show a reaction, but

have an emotional response as well, which is why most people feel a different way after listening

to classical music, for instance, in comparison to how someone might feel after listening to

heavy metal. Studies also show that most students who are involved in musical classes are highly

successful and graduate top of their class in school. Without music not only would emotions be

unbalanced, but the education system as well. Music education plays a small, yet important role

in the life of an everyday student and it challenges the educated to dig even further.

Most students would admit that being a part of a chorus class has brought them and the

other students closer together than most subjects do. This is not just a personal thought and

observation, it is actually scientifically proven that music brings people together. This feeling

is a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin is a hormone that, when released, helps to relieve

feelings of stress, loneliness or anxiety and helps to make the feeling of trust or bonding more

prominent. On top of releasing these hormones, singing in a group will also sync up their heart

rates. This is why in a choir the people could seem more closely knit. It is not just because they

are all best friends, it is actually the hormones that music releases when they sing in a group and

their heart rate going at the same pace that bring them together. What person does not love the

feeling of truly being a part of something? (Singing changes your brain) According to Chorus
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America, roughly 32.5 million adults choose to sing in over 270,000 different choirs across

America (Singing changes your brain). This indicates that the popularity of choir groups across

America is steadily increasing, not just because it is fun, but because people can easily see and

feel the difference between just singing by themselves and singing in a group. Most people will

feel that it is a good difference they would like to keep in their lives; they do not even have to be

a good singer in order to feel the benefits.

Music has a strong impact mentally. Most of the time in a public setting, such as a

restaurant or grocery store, the music is set at the mood they want their customers in. So if it

were a restaurant where the intended mood were calm and peaceful then jazz music could be an

option or if it were a clothing store for teenagers they might play more popular and upbeat music.

A person would not even have to be singing the music for it to have an effect in their brain

mentally. Music is known to not only improve someone's mood but also have a huge impact on

illnesses such as depression or anxiety. When a person sings, endorphins in the brain are

released. This is the same sensation that is released when people who have an addiction feel. So,

in a case where an individual who is depressed and struggling with an addiction, a lot of times it

makes sense for them to replace their addiction with music or singing since they reap the same

benefits in a much healthier and happier way. (The mental health benefits of music) In a study

comparing standard therapy for depression to music therapy for depression over a span of 3

months the patients who received the music therapy had a significant improvement in

comparison to those who only received the standard therapy. (Music therapy for depression)

In addition to music replacing the unhealthy addictions, it can also help in situations where an

older person might be struggling with memory or old age in general. Studies have shown that in

intensive care units where background music in played, the patients need lower amounts of the
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drugs compared to patients with no music (The power of music to affect the brain). This

quote goes to show that music therapy is not just a myth, but a true form of therapy, sometimes

even proving to be better than normal therapy.

How does music help a person grow in intellect? Music is actually one of the few things

that uses both the left and right side of the brain at the same time. The left side of the brain has to

do with logic such as science or math and the right side deals with creativity and arts. Luckily

when someone is involved in music they get to experience the benefits of both functioning at the

same time. (Left and right hemispheres) This means that the brain is being exercised in a

different way so it becomes more capable of retaining information and learning in general. (The

mental health benefits of music) Music has an effect on both sides of the brain as well as a

person's serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in your body that is involved in sleep,

depression, memory and other neurological things in your body. How are Serotonin and music

connected? By singing or even just listening to music a person's serotonin levels will naturally go

up which will help to control their mood, memory and ultimately their learning. (The mental

health benefits of music) Music has been known to help improve testing scores and a students

overall academics, even being the top among bachelor's degrees accepted into medical school.

(Affron) Rachael Affron, Erwin High Schools chorus teacher sides with the facts that music truly

helps a student to grow in intellect and a student involved in music classes can even test at about

the same area as the top medical school students in college.

How can music or singing have an impact physically? More than someone could assume.

Even if there is not actual running or working out while singing, the body is still doing several

functions at once to produce such a beautiful sound; it does not just happen. Singing may not

help someone lose weight or tone their body but it does help with being bodily aware. It takes
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technique and practice. In choral singing, proper use of the diaphragm is crucial. The diaphragm

is located just under your rib cage and is used for breathing properly; it is not just the lungs doing

all the work. A singer needs to breathe properly in order to get the most supported and full sound

and also not faint. (How much does singing have to do with your physical body?) What does a

singer using the proper techniques look like? In order to correctly get supported breath for

singing from the diaphragm the singer needs to be sitting up straight. This is important because if

the posture is off it will crush the diaphragm and ultimately not lead to all the air they could be

getting and making them work extra for the air. Next they should try just normally breathing but

this time by keeping their shoulders down. By moving the shoulders they are just asking the

lungs to do all the work and breathing from their chest instead of their stomach where the

diaphragm is. When the singer is properly breathing from the diaphragm the shoulders should

stay down and the stomach should expand out as far as it can go when they breathe in. (How to

sing using your diaphragm) Next to being aware of how the singer is properly using their

diaphragm, it is time for some face muscles to put in the work. When singing, it is important for

the singer to relax their face muscles and properly adjust their mouth to the vowel they are about

to sing into. In most cases it is important to sing using the pure vowels a, e, i, o and u as well as

watch for words that do not have those pure vowels in them and decide the best and cleanest way

to sing those words. (How much does singing have to do with your physical body?) The last

big thing to worry about when singing is the difference between a head voice, middle voice and

chest voice. This all makes sense through something called vocal resonance. Vocal resonance is

what happens with the sound once it leaves the vocal cords but has not left the body yet. (Head

voice vs. chest voice) The sound can go through several structures surrounding your vocal cords
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in your body including the chest, larynx, pharynx, oral cavity, nasal cavity, and sinuses. Here is a

visual of these structures.

(New to canva?)

When a singer is singing from their head voice, they are usually singing higher notes.

While the sound is resonating in the other structures, the most prevalent one being used with

head voice is the nasal cavity. In a head voice the singer should be feeling a vibration about

where the forehead is. Next, the middle voice. In a middle voice range the singer should feel the

sound vibrating around the face, chin and upper neck area. That is because in a middle voice it is

the hard palate that is resonating the most. This is the range of notes in-between a person's chest

and head voice. However, there is not a set range of notes since each person's range is specific to

themselves. Last but not least, the chest voice. The chest voice is the lower notes someone is

singing. This is done through the sound resonating mainly in the chest cavity, hence the name
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chest voice. The chest voice is the most used part of the voice because most of the time a person

is able to tell they are in their chest voice by speaking. (Head voice vs chest voice) After

thinking about the right singing techniques like proper diaphragm use, posture, pure vowels and

the difference between singing in a head voice, middle voice and chest voice then genuine and

correct choral singing is ready to be made. Not to forget these characteristics of singing are all

perfected through years of ear training as well. There are more physical attributes in singing than

meets the eye.

The worlds most famous and popular language is music. (Psy quotes) This quote by

Psy demonstrates how music not only affects a classroom or a community but the whole world.

Music is always being played somewhere and has always played a huge part in the history of the

world. With today's technology, music is right at the fingertips. What a shame it would be to have

a world of silence. Educating children on what they are listening to and how to broaden their

interest and perspective on music is sewn into their roots. From early 1800 negro spirituals to

today's top 40, music has been the one thing that connects children and adults to their history as

well as what they can learn about the future. (The history of African American music) In

chorus classes children are given the opportunity to sing music from all over the world and in

different languages. This is important because it gives the perspective of culture without even

having to leave home, it even gives students the proper appreciation and connection to the world

that could come in handy for their future. (7 reasons you should sing to learn languages) If

music programs were cut, kids would not be equip with the connection skills music offers them.

So what are reasons a music program could be cut and how can that be stopped? The

main reason public schools are cutting music and art programs is money. Most claims have been

that in a public school setting the fine arts cant bring in as much money as a sports team such as
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football. (Why schools are cutting fine arts education) This can be understandable since a lot

of fine arts after school opportunities like a musical or chorus concert dont always charge

money for their events and if they do charge money it doesnt make $10,000 in one night like

football. (High school football a big money maker for schools) However, when it comes to

musicals and sports, they are both after school opportunities that are well deserving of

appreciation. Sports and music both have physical, mental and social advantages so why favor

one over the other? When it comes to cutting the chorus or music classes in order to fund an

extracurricular activity like football it just doesnt make sense because while sports is extra-

curricular, chorus is an actual class. If sports bring in over $10,000 in just one night that should

be used to help equally fund every program. If the schools prioritized music like they prioritize

sports maybe all the advertisements and praise would encourage new members to be more

involved in fine arts which could in turn bring in more money from the musicals or choir events.

Appreciation from administration and the community goes a long way. One thing to consider

here though is that a lot of sports programs require an entrance fee while fine arts dont. (Why

schools are cutting fine arts education) This can be solved by having an equal amount of fees

due for arts and sports. Another solution here could also be to prioritize the academics and

electives since they are actual classes and then move on to funding the after school activities

such as sports or a musical.

The last top reason why music classes are in danger of being cut is class size. In North

Carolina right now the idea of cutting fine arts and physical education classes in kindergarten

through 3rd grade is being tossed around. This is due to overpopulation. There are a certain

number of students allowed in classrooms at a time and North Carolina is currently over riding

that limit. However, in order to make the class sizes drop in a time of overpopulation in public
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schools would mean hiring about 353 additional teachers which could cost up to $23.3 million.

(Some NC schools may cut arts, PE) Since the schools would not be given more funds to make

these changes, they have chosen to cut things that are not core classes in order to make ends meet

and use the money that would go to fine arts or physical education classes for the new teachers

and classrooms. So in meeting this class size requirement and all it would take to do so,

kindergarteners through 3rd graders would have to miss out on the opportunity of taking any fine

arts classes and getting physical education. It has been proposed and passed by the House but the

Senate has so far not approved the bill to drop fine arts and physical education classes and fix the

class sizes. All of the mental, social and physical benefits music offers is universal to everyone

and for kids at such a young age to miss out on that is heart shattering and a drawback on their

education. Music teaches essential life skills such as teamwork and self-discipline... I believe

music is vital to schools because it gives students a purpose and a place to belong. Students that

are enrolled in a music class are more likely to graduate and succeed, especially students that

may struggle in academics. (Affron) Rachael Affron, the chorus teacher of Erwin High School

agrees that cutting music education from students lives would not only hurt their ability to learn

self-discipline at a young age but they also miss out on the opportunity to experience teamwork

through music and truly feel apart of something.

In conclusion, music can truly show some groundbreaking results in a person socially,

emotionally and in intellect. To ignore these results would ruin a beautiful basic human ability

that everyone is born with. Keeping music education going in public schools is not an optional

thing, it should be a requirement and whether to fund the fine arts or not should not even be a

debate. Seeing what music can truly do not only in a person but also in culture is incredible.
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Music education can help a person grow more than they thought they ever could and allow them

to experience something bigger than themselves.

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Affron, Rachael. Personal Interview Chorus Teacher, 17 Apr. 2017.

Bazian. "Music Therapy for Depression - Health News." NHS Choices. NHS, 1 Aug. 2011. Web. 17 Apr.

2017.

Brooks, Lori, Berea College, and Cynthia Young. "The History of African American Music."African-American

Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience. Encyclopedia.com, 2003. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Charles, Ray. "Ray Charles Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, 17 Apr. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Fine Arts, Education And The. "Why Schools Are Cutting Fine Arts Education." Education and the Fine Arts.

Wordpress, 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Jacobs, Misty. "The Mental Health Benefits of Music." EmpowHER. Empowher, 26 July 2016. Web. 17 Apr.

2017.

Janice. "How Does Music Stimulate Left and Right Brain Function?" How Does Music Stimulate Left and

Right Brain Function and Why Is This Important in Music Teaching? | Resources for Music Education. A Fun

Music Website, 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.


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Johnson, Melissa. "High School Football a Big Money Maker for Schools." WSFA 12 News: News, Weather

and Sports for Montgomery, Alabama - WSFA.com Montgomery Alabama News. Wsfa, 28 Aug. 2010. Web. 17

Apr. 2017.

"Left and Right Hemispheres." Left and Right Hemispheres - The Brain Made Simple. The Brain Made Simple,

n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Lewis, Benny. "7 Reasons Why You Should Sing to Learn Languages." Fluent in 3 Months - Language

Hacking and Travel Tips. Fluent in 3 Months, 04 July 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Mannes, Elena. "'The Power Of Music' To Affect The Brain." NPR. NPR, 01 June 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

"New to Canva?" Amazingly Simple Graphic Design Software Canva. Canva, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Psy. "Psy Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, 17 Apr. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

StacyHorn, Stacy Horn. "Singing Changes Your Brain." Time. Time, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Tegna. "Some NC Schools May Cut Arts, PE." WCNC. WCNC, 19 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Verkuilen, Jay, Curtis Lindsay, and Brian Yoder. "How Much Does Singing Have to Do with Your Physical

Body?" Quora. Quora, 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Webb, Molly. "Head Voice vs. Chest Voice." Molly's Music Blog. Mollys Music, 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 17 Apr.

2017.
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WikiHow. "How to Sing Using Your Diaphragm." WikiHow. WikiHow, 17 Apr. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

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