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Catherine Mickey
Dr. Whitworth
Foundations of College Writing
April 1st, 2013
Keeping the Music Alive
In a troubling economy, too many public schools across the nation are being forced to
make difficult decisions in cutting programs due to budget problems. In an effort to save money,
school’s music programs seem to be taking the worst hit. Over the past five years, children’s
access to music through public schools has declined by fifty percent (Houck). Those who are for
these changes, primarily school board members, believe that school time would be better spent
on academics such as math and writing. Many parents however recognize the importance of
music education in a child’s curriculum. According to TJ Nelson, editor of World Music
Central.org, “95% of Americans questioned felt that music education was essential to education
and 80% responded that music education made a child smarter”. (Nelson) With school funding
dwindling more and more each year, cuts have to be made and music programs seem to be the
first to go.
Students should not be the victims of the lack of funding; every child should have the
same opportunities to pursue an interest in music programs. Many who wish for music education
to be cut from school’s curriculums believe that students should be focusing more on subjects
like math and reading. Contrary to their belief however, children who choose to study music in
school tend to do better academically. More important than test scores though, music teaches
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kids how to develop self-confidence and learn how to express themselves in a healthy, positive
way. Band and chorus is also where kids can make friends and feel like they belong to a group,
which keeps them out of trouble: an extremely important thing, especially for kids in high
school. Finally, music teaches children how to work towards a goal, develop perseverance and
become as successful in life as they can be.
On average, children who have experience in music do better in school. Those who feel
music is an unnecessary part of the curriculum usually use the argument that children’s time
would be better spent on core academics. Because of the laws set in place by “No Child Left
Behind”, many schools have increased intensity on math and writing in an effort to boost
standardized test scores. Sam Dillon, writer for the New York Times speculated that, “since the
passage of the federal law, 71 percent of the nation's 15,000 school districts had reduced the
hours of instructional time spent on history, music and other subjects to open up more time for
reading and math” (Dillon). Because children are being forced to focus more intensely on
reading and math, they are losing opportunities to study a more holistic range of academics.
They may be missing out on subjects that they show a genuine interest in, resulting in missed
opportunities, and even possible career choices (Parsons).
The facts are, music education helps improve test scores. Statistics from College Board
state that students with experience in either music performance or appreciation scored fifty seven
points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT’s and forty one points higher than students who
took the SAT’s with no music education (Nelson). The statistics are not limited to high school
students however. A study was done with two hundred thirty seven second graders, half of the
children used keyboard training and math software in school and the other half used only the
math software. When the group was tested as a whole, the students who incorporated the
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keyboard into their school day scored twenty seven percent higher on proportional math and
fraction tests (Graziano, Peterson, and Shaw). With all these statistics, it is easy to tell that
instrumental involvement not only improves children’s knowledge of music, but can increase
their knowledge in other areas as well.
A common argument in support of cutting music education is that it is too expensive. In
many cases, this holds true. School budgets are shrinking at an alarming rate and changes to the
curriculum need to be made, and the problem is music programs are not necessarily cheap.
Instructors, sheet music and instruments all take a decent amount of money to maintain. Aaron
Reynolds, a proponent of cutting schools’ music program claims that eliminating music from
schools entirely in public schools, “would allow students still interested in music the option of
taking private lessons”. The problem with this, however, is that private lessons are expensive,
and a child interested in music whose parents cannot afford the cost of lessons is robbed of any
kind of music education. Like previously stated, it’s no secret that maintaining a music program
can be expensive, but with community support and fundraising, the cost can be manageable
("Why Music Education? Facts and Insights on the Benefits of Music Study").
One of the positive impacts of being a part of music is the confidence and self-esteem
children get from it. They learn how to practice and keep at something so they can get better and
experience a feeling of accomplishment. These skills not only help them to better themselves as
musicians, but they can be applied in other areas of life, such as school. If something is too hard,
they will know not to give up on it, but keep studying and working towards a goal. Learning
music forces a student to expand their performance skills, their memorization skills, and many
other different sets of skills that can be applied to other areas of life ("Why Music Education?
Facts and Insights on the Benefits of Music Study"). Those who take music throughout their
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school career see it as something essential to their life. It provides them with opportunities to
show the world their talent and what they have worked so hard on through concerts and recitals.
Many music students also compare music to, “a bridge for building acceptance and tolerance for
people of different ages and cultural circumstances” ("The Value of Music Education"). Some
teens find such a deep meaning in music that they claim that it has helped them through
depression. A thirteen year old involved with music was interviewed about depression and music
and had this to say: "Many of my friends have dabbled with suicide, and none of them ever had
any involvement with music. Just think, if at least one of these friends was involved with music,
then the education department could potentially save a life" ("The Value of Music Education").
To think that music programs in schools could potentially save lives of young students is no
doubt a huge reason to save our schools’ music education.
Not only does music increase a student’s overall intelligence and self-worth, it also serves
as a building block for positive relationships in school. It is extremely important for kids to feel
like they belong to a group, especially in high school. Lasting friendships are made with students
who belong to band or choir because they share a common interest. When students feel like they
belong to such a close group, they are more likely to go to school which results in better grades.
Studies show that school districts who have music programs have an attendance rate of ninety
three percent compared to schools without any type of music classes at eighty five percent
("Why Music Education? Facts and Insights on the Benefits of Music Study"). Being involved in
music programs also keeps kids out of trouble. Statistics done by the National Resource Data
Center showed that, “students who can be classified as ‘disruptive’ total 12.14 percent of the
total school population. In contrast, only 8.08 percent of students involved in music classes meet
the same criteria” (Nelson). When students have extracurricular activities such as bands with
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their friends to take up their time, they are less likely to engage in substance abuse. The Texas
Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse has reported that students who had an involvement
with music in high school showed the lowest lifetime and current abuse of substances such as
alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs ("Why Music Education? Facts and Insights on the Benefits of
Music Study").
The final and possibly most important reason for keeping music in school is that music
helps kids to become more successful adults. All the benefits stated previously add up to be a
solid base for a successful and fulfilling adulthood. In a survey, seventy two percent of adults
with experience in music agree that it has helped them become a better ‘team player’ and sixty
percent say that it has increased their ability to creatively solve problems at hand ("The Value of
Music Education"). Being part of an ensemble teaches children that it is not about one person,
but the entire group, and this is an important concept to grasp when working with other people.
Adults with experience in music earn a higher yearly salary. The Harris poll released statistics
that state eighty three percent of people who earn more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars a
year have experience in music (Olson). Money does not necessarily determine one’s
successfulness but having experience with music seems to help a person advance in their career.
Overall, the positive effects that music education has on young people’s lives seem to
outweigh any opposing arguments. It is impossible to put a price on vital lifelong skills, selfesteem, friendships and success. If more people educated themselves about the impact of music
on students, they would see that it will never be acceptable to cut music from our schools.
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Works Cited
Dillon, Sam. "Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math." 26 Mar. 2006. 28 Mar.
2013 <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/education/26child.html>.
Graziano, AB., M. Peterson, and GL. Shaw. "Enhanced learning of proportional math
through music training and spatial-temporal training.." National Center for Biotechnology
Information. 21 Mar 1999. Web. 30 Mar 2013.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10100200>.
Hefling, Kimberly. "School Budget Cuts: Educators Fear Deepest Cuts Are Ahead."
Huffington Post, 24 Nov 2011. Web. 5 Apr 2013.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/schools-fear-worst-budget-cuts_n_1028054.html>.
Houck, Olivia. "2009-10: Against Cutting Art and Music Programs in Schools." Morrison
Institute for Public Policy. Web. 28 Mar 2013.
Majeski, Brian T. "Why School Music Shines In A Less Than Bright Economy." Music
Trades Nov. 2012: 18. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.
Nelson, TJ. "Dumbing Down, the Dwindling Funding of the Arts." World Music Central.
9 Mar 2005. Web. 29 Mar 2013. <http://worldmusiccentral.org/2005/03/09/dumbing-down-thedwindling-funding-of-the-arts/>.
Olson, Catherine Applefeld. "Note To Budget Cutters: The Arts Are Good Business."
Teaching Music 17.1 (2009): 16. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
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Parsons, Chad. "Cutting the Arts in America's Public Schools is a Serious Problem."
Yahoo!. 07 Aug 2007. Web. 30 Mar 2013. <http://voices.yahoo.com/cutting-arts-americaspublic-schools-serious-512733.html>.
Reynolds, Aaron. "Reasons to Cut Music Education." eHow Education. Web. 30 Mar
2013. <http://www.ehow.com/facts_4910163_reasons-cut-music-education.html>.
"The Value of Music Education." Make Music Inc. Web. 28 Mar 2013.
<http://downloads2.makemusic.com/pdf/smartmusic/MusicEducationResearch.pdf>.
"Why Music Education? Facts and Insights on the Benefits of Music Study" Kingsford
Music. The National Association for Music Education. Web. 30 Mar 2013.
<http://kingsfordmusic.org/music_education_and_careers/reasons_for_music_education.htm>.