Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Ryan Briley
Dr. Cullen
Argumentative Research Paper
10/30/14
Word Count: 2133
Advocacy for Music in the High School Curriculum
Music is the greatest of all the arts. It has greatly shaped and defined the
American culture since the early middle ages. For all people, listening to music is
an everyday action whether it is intentional or not. Actively listening to music in the
car, at home, while exercising, or at a concert is something that most humans do to
feel a certain way emotionally. This art form is especially powerful to say that
everyone uses it is some way. For teens and younger adults going through school,
music is very important. For some, its listening to MP3 players or IPods for their
favorite pop or country album. For another group, its forming a garage band for
some harder metal or rock. Like these performers, another group of students are
those in the schools marching and concert bands. While the repertoire of band
music may be different from what most people listen to on a daily basis, the
performance and experience of playing in these bands gives the students their own
way of making music. It is important to examine the importance of keeping
marching band within the school curriculum. Bands at a high school level, in some
instances, can be pretty costly to the point where schools consider dropping the
music program. Many variables can contribute to this, but it is important to
examine the importance of music in schools. Looking at the performance levels of
the students in both band and other subjects is important when making the case for
keeping these programs. Also, it is notable to view the emotions and enthusiasm of
the students for such bands.
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One huge point mentioned by all music educators is that the playing in a
band or ensemble increases the performance in other classes in the curriculum.
The aptitude for education of these students playing in ensembles reflects this
point. Tony Mickela of Music Education Online says:
There have been a number of studies done on the effect of music on
academic development. It has been shown that high school music
students have higher grade point averages than non-music students in
the same school. At Mission Viejo High School in Southern California in
1981, the overall grade point average of music students was 3.59 and
for non-music students the overall grade point average was 2.91. This
same study also found that 16% of the music students had a 4.0
overall grade point average and only 5% of the non-music students
had a 4.0 overall grade point average.3 A study of graduates of the
New York City School of Performing Arts found that 90% of them go on
to college. (Mickela 2011)
These are very powerful statistics. To say that just the playing and participation of
these students in the musical ensembles shows that much of a growth in grade
point average carries a lot of weight to the importance of the music program in
schools.
Music, hearing as well as playing, can be a means of stress relief to students
in a curriculum of hard work. To start the day out with band can set the tone for a
productive day. Equally, finishing out the day with band can also be a way of
relaxing and blowing off steam through playing an instrument. Lisa Tams of
Michigan State University points out that Music Therapy as some people refer to
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it uses music to promote healing and improve ones overall emotional well-being.
This may include listening to music, playing a musical instrument, singing along to
music, and using guided imagery with music. Research indicates that music
stimulates the production of opiates and endorphins, the feel good hormones in
our bodies. This stimulation can result in improved blood flow and blood
pressure(Tams 2013) Marching band is just an example of this. It is a stress
reliever in that same way athletics can be and also making and listening to music
can be also. In any marching band program across the United States, there are
students that only want to come to school because of that band.
Cost is everything to some high school administrators. The music program,
to some adults who have not participated in music programs, is only evaluated by
the cost and output of music performances. It is fair to say that the real observable
output of music programs is the performances. If the performances do not meet the
standard of these administrators, why should they provide the money to keep it
going? This is a fair and valid question. One must ask these administrators that if
the football team has a losing season, should they reduce the spending of the
athletic program? If the answer is yes, then examining the cost per student is
necessary to see how these two extra-curricular activities add up. Suzy Parker of
Takepart.com claims that the cost per student in the music program is about $187
annually including music costs and faculty costs (Parker 2012). In the same manner,
John Keilman of the Chicago Tribune points out that uniforms for football players
alone can top over $300 (Keilman 2011). If the answer to the previous question is
no, then there is some bias within the administration against music education vs
physical competition. This can make the case for the importance of music
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education and the depth of learning that it provides opposed to athletic
competition.
At a high school level, the main two musical ensembles are the marching
band and the concert band. Both of these ensembles provide different challenges
and learning opportunities than the other. Marching band for example, provides a
more physical approach to band while concert band is more technically demanding.
A more in depth look at these two can provide an insight into how deep learning
experiences go with music education.
Marching band can provide students with an educational experience that no
other class can. Marching band creates a responsibility in each student that is
critical to the success of the group. The student needs to be exactly in time with
the music and movement on the field as well as play their part with great accuracy
to make the whole show work. Any major flaw could result in a botched form or
sound that would let down the ensemble. Marching band pushes the students to
work in a way that most classes cannot. A great example of this work is
procrastination. No student can procrastinate and learn a marching band show last
minute. Marching band is a visual and aural art that music be worked at and
improved daily for success. That push is very important to get the students to work
at their fullest potential. The goals of each student as well as a larger competitive
group can be met and increased each day. Andrew Berman, a famous and
outspoken music educator says:
As any member of a marching band will tell you, you do most of your
learning and improving while you're on the march. Practicing is
essential and individual instruction is important, but there's simply no
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substitute for being there and playing your heart out. The practice
room is not the same as the field, and playing to empty bleachers will
never be the same as playing for a cheering audience. There are some
lessons you learn only by doing. (Berman 2014)
This point is important because in his experience, the hard work put out by the
students is very rewarding. From first-hand experience, the performance of the
marching band is rather difficult compared some worksheets or papers in nonmusical class. It is possible to edit and change assignments before they are turned
in. On the field, there are many things that could go wrong. A comparison to
another class would be taking a test with no eraser on a very strict time limit.
For concert band, the focus of the music teacher is to put all the emphasis on
the music opposed to any formations on the field. With this, the music can be much
more technically difficult. This provides an opportunity for the students to become
better performers in the scheme of difficult repertoire. One important way the
program has of testing the abilities of the students is with contests. The purpose of
these contests is to grade the performance of the large ensemble on a standard
scale that all schools are graded on. The individual student must know his or her
part to the best of his or her ability as well as be a part of the ensemble and blend
well with them. This accomplishes the same type of learning as talked about in
marching band, but adds the difficulty of the higher level of musicality.
One argument to oppose the band would be to say that band is relatively
one-dimensional compared to other extra-curricular activities such as sports, for
example. While most schools usually have their programs within the curriculum,
there are many times when extra rehearsals need to be called after school or on
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weekends to ensure a great performance. These extra rehearsals could compete
with the times set for athletic practices or the many other extra-curricular clubs that
the school offers. If the coaches of the sports teams are very demanding, it makes
it very difficult for these students to be able to join everything that they want to.
For example, some schools allow a student to play in football and then perform with
the band at halftime, but then you have the schools where the coaches arent as
lenient and are not willing to give up that valuable practice time during the week. If
the decision were up to the students, many of them would choose both and not one
or the other, speaking from personal experience. Rick Kessel of Symphony
Publishing touches on this:
As a parent, I know that my children have had to make some very
difficult decisions in school that center on extra-curriculars, including
music, sports, and other outside activities. The challenge can be
daunting, as often the kids have varied interests. Too Often, the
particular groups they want to join are quite rigid and dont allow much
flexibility in terms of accommodating students packed schedules. The
Whippany directors [of Whippany Park High School] recognize the
dilemma that students often face: being torn between choosing to
perform in the marching band or participating in clubs or sports. In
response to this [the directors] have devised a policy that
encourages the students to enjoy as many of the activities as the kids
can handle, yet with clear parameters for their commitment to music.
(Kessel 2011)
The importance of what he is saying here is that this argument of band taking too
much time or band not worth the extra time put in can be easily corrected by
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having the teachers work with the coaches and other extracurricular leaders on
times to have a practice. This needs to be solved on an individual level so that each
student can have the opportunity to pursue what he or she wants to.
Music in the educational system provides a huge unique experience that
students cannot get in other subjects. The payoff is much more rewarding that the
completion of assignments. The physical and mental concentration to be able to
pull off these performances pushes the brain in many different ways that other
extra-curricular activities cannot. Music is a nice stress reliever to the student and
provides an opportunity to blow off steam in the school day. In the culture of cutting
costs in the music program, it is more costly to the students not having the
opportunity to participate in these ensembles. When the music stops, what are we
to do as a culture? When the students are robbed of their opportunity to make
music in their adolescence, the culture of our society suffers. Music is something
that should not be slighted or cut in any way to fit a budget or curriculum.
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Works Cited
Abrams, Eve. "It made Me Feel Good. (Cover Story)." Offbeat 26.8 (2013): 30-6. Print.
BERMAN, ANDREW S. "Marching Band." Teaching Music 22.1 (2014): 38-42. Print.
CRISWELL, CHAD. "Drumming Up Support." Teaching Music 21.2 (2013): 38-41. Print.
Keilman, John. "High School Football has High Expenses, Low Revenue." Chicago Tribune
(2011)Print.
Kessel, Rick. "A Model for Growth." School Band & Orchestra 14.4 (2011): 4-. Print.
Mickela, Tony. Music and Student Development. Music Education Online (2011):Print.
Parker, Suzi. "it Turns Out Funding Music Education Costs Less than Everyone Thought."
Takepart.com (2012)Print.
Tams, Lisa. "The Role of Music in Stress Management." Michigan State University Extension (October
15, 2013)Print.