by Audrey Howitt

Created on: September 20, 2010

I am a music educator and an independent musician.  So, without reading this article, you will know that I do indeed believe that music and art are extremely important to a child’s education.  But, I hope that you will read on to understand why I think that is true.

The arts are essential to the education of children. [i] We are coming to understand that studying the arts is connected to just about everything that we state we want for your children’s education: higher test scores, higher verbal skills, and higher math skills. In addition, the arts add value and expression to the human experience. Federal guidelines mandate arts education as one of the core disciplines required to be included in core curricula.

[ii]  Unfortunately, arts are one of the first things to be cut in education in the face of budgetary shortfalls.

Studying any of the arts requires a blending of physical skill, mental acuity, and artistic sensibility.  For example, in the study of music, not only must basic musical skills be learned, but reading music is somewhat akin to learning to read a new language. Written music is full of symbols.

 Although often thought of as merely an expressive language, music is really a mathematical language.  It is composed of mathematical intervals placed within time at precise moments.  It involves the basics of learning the intervals of major and minor intervals—a precise number of half steps for each interval. These intervals are place in time. A student must learn to count to determine when a note is to be played or sung.

But music moves beyond the mathematics to include context and expressivity. In fact, music as all art is best understood in context.  It touches on and integrates several disciplines: mathematics, the written word, expressivity, cooperative learning through ensemble playing or singing, and emotional intelligence.

There is also a growing body of evidence that shows that those who are involved in the arts routinely     score higher in the SATs required for most colleges. [iii]  In fact, study of the arts and SAT scores co-vary; that is, the more arts studied, the higher the SAT scores.[iv]   Music lessons and practice have been linked to higher IQs in children, by as much as three points. [v] And did you know that music majors are the most likely group of college grads to be admitted to medical school.[vi]  

Finally, and not least, the arts add value to all of our experiences as human beings. The arts allow us to understand ourselves and others in a deep way.  They allow us to connect with each other, and they can transport us to places beyond the here and now.

I hope that some of this information was new and helpful for you. Please support the arts in school. For more information, take a look at the website for the Arts Education Partnership.  They have a number of interesting publications available for download. [vii]

http://www2.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/upd ates/040826.html

http://www2.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/upd ates/040826.html

http://www.aep-arts.org/files/publications/Critical% 20Evidence.pdf

[iv]  Id.

[v]  http://www.forbes.com/2004/07/15/cx_0715health.html

[vi] "The Comparative Academic Abilities of Students in Education and in Other Areas of a Multi-focus University," Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480; "The Case for Music in the Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, February, 1994 cited on http://www.nammfoundation.org/research/research-brie fs-did-you-know

http://www.aep-arts.org/

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