The importance of having a musical education

The Importance of Having a Musical Education

Liliana Berthely Aldana

June 16, 2007

I. Introduction
A: Thesis Statement
II. What is Music?
A: Music as an Art

B: Music and the Brain
III. Learning Skills Involved
A: Math
1. Fractions, Ratios, and Decimals
2. Roots and Powers

B: Spatial

1. Object Assembly

C: Language
1.Comprehension
2.Reading
3.Writing
4.Thinking5.Talking
6.Listening

IV. Conclusion
V. Appendix
VI. Bibliography

INTRODUCTION
Music education and musical experiences help children build holistic learning skills. Music teaches us to use mind, body, emotions, and spirit together to integrate new skills and information. We all respond to sounds and beats in the environment around us from the time we first hear our mother's heartbeat.The music is within us all, but the older we get, the harder it is to claim it. That is why we start our kids out in music lessons when they begin school, so that they will be able to play piano, or be in the band or orchestra or sing in the choir when they grow up. Children develop strong learning skills also. Research shows that children who study music develop a strong sense of self-confidenceand build good learning skills for math. They increase the ability to recognize patterns and to work with symbols. When they read they will have a better language comprehension, which in turn will help them when taking tests. They expand fine motor coordination skills. It helps with concentration and hence, studying habits. When we talk about literacy, music is linked in many ways. Music will notonly help them how to read and write but also how to think, talk, listen, and create in an easier and more organized way.
WHAT IS MUSIC?
MUSIC AS AN ART
Classical music is considered to be a form of art akin to classical painting, sculpture, and literature. When we talk about classical music we refer to the music composed during the 16th through the 19th Centuries in Europe, Great Britain, andRussia. We must understand that this was a style of music supported by the ruling classes. For example in the 16th Century, it was the music of the church. During that same century, India’s classical music was created in the courts of the great emperors.
During the early part of the 17th Century a new type of music arose in Italy, a secular entertainment music that was not associated with thechurch. It was during this period that the first operas were composed in Venice. Classical music, weather sacred or secular, has singular characteristics that make it different from that of the people, or the music of the folk. Classical art is usually differentiated from ‘folk art,’ but not necessarily better than folk art. Classical music is usually vastly structured. Classical music is performed bymusicians who have been trained for many years in the genre. The structure and creation of classical music is analyzed, then taught to preserve tradition. It becomes part of our institutions of higher learning.
Michael Green *President/CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences , Inc. spoke eloquently on music education during his presentation on the Grammy Awards on Wednesday,February 24, 1999. “Music is magic. Music therapists prove every single day that music is powerful medicine, tearing down the walls of silence and affliction of Alzheimer's, depression, Parkinson's and autism. Did you know that children who study the arts, do an average of forty points higher in math and science? Did you know that music education is superior to even computer instruction inenhancing early childhood mental capacity and spacial intelligence? The arts provide self-esteem, self-reliance and instil hope in these very places where hope and dreams are in short, short supply. So let's fight for the arts because the arts advance our society, they speak to the soul, they bring different cultures together, and now we know, they just make us a lot smarter.”
MUSIC AND THE BRAIN...