Assignment 17- Andy

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” Plato was one of the first to express what many have come to understand about music. Time and time again it has been called “the universal language” for its ability to connect diverse people as an accessible art form. Studies have shown that playing an instrument at a young age assists development and provides various advantages later in life. But despite the numerous benefits of music in our lives, in many places young people are not encouraged to play, enjoy, and appreciate music. In the U.S, music programs of many schools have diminished or even been eliminated due to economic conditions. We, as a country, are fortunate to have widespread public support of music education, but even that is sometimes in jeopardy.

“Music Changes Lives” by Mind the Gap Studios is a documentary that follows the music programs of two elementary schools in low income areas of Dublin, Ireland. These programs are based on El Sistema, a free orchestra for young people in Venezuela.  El Sistema was started by José Antonio Abreu in 1975 and after two years was completely funded by the Venezuelan Government. It has been extremely successful and has inspired many similar programs around the world. The programs of the Dublin elementary schools were just as successful. Every student in the schools received a free music lesson once a week and those who were interested joined the orchestra. The documentary demonstrates the social aspect of learning to play an instrument.  Musical training teaches values and skills that then remain with children for their entire lives.  They learn patience, confidence, and improve their social skills. They also have the skill with the instrument itself as a hobby or even a career to pursue in the future. The most important thing a child can gain from learning an instrument is the sense of belonging that comes from collaborating with other young people. As the children in “Music Changes Lives” work and create music with their peers they form a community that all have a part in. For children, having a group that they belong to and feel safe in will be very important as they grow up. A group formed by a shared interest in music is something that they will remember forever.

                The many benefits of learning a musical instrument are often much more difficult to perceive than values and skills. Studies have shown that children can develop physiological advantages from musical training at an early age.  In a 2012 study published in the journal Brain and Language, Dr. Dana L. Straight and her associates study and explain some of these benefits. In this study, the cognitive and neural responses of children who are musicians were compared to responses of those who are not.  It was found that the musically trained children had faster neural responses to sound cues, a greater ability to pick out speech in noisy environments, and an improved working memory. The study also proposes that musical training may be a way to remedy early development speech deficits. These benefits are not theoretical, nor are they intangible values. They are statistical results that show children who learn to play an instrument actually perform better than those who do not, in a number of very applicable ways.  The effects seen in this study are still relevant throughout these a child’s adult life. Students at Northwestern University School of Communication, in their study “Neural Responses to Complex Sounds” had very similar findings, but in college students. Those students who had studied music as children responded neurologically to audio cues much more quickly than those who had no musical training.

                Some benefits that come from playing an instrument are much harder to express empirically. Playing instruments serves as a mechanism of stress relief and gives children a hobby, giving them something safe and productive to do. I have been a musician, in one way or another, for many years. In stressful and difficult times I find that music is the best relief for me. No matter what happens in my life, I can always turn back to music, whether it’s playing my guitar or putting in headphones for a while.  Everyone deserves the chance to experience music like I, and many of us, have.

                The most obvious way to improve music education in the U.S. and other countries is through increased public funding. Unfortunately, in the U.S. education spending cuts often start with the arts and music programs, and in other countries the funding does not exist in the first place. The money from public support could be used to establish music programs for schools without them and improve already existing ones. Many children’s families cannot afford instruments or lessons, and these funds could make these more accessible. There are also many community organizations that support youth involvement in the arts. If we support these institutions and policies that support music education and encourage young people to try playing an instrument, we, as individuals, can make a difference.

                Many critics of education spending claim that our money is better spent elsewhere, even within education.  These people underestimate the overwhelming positive effect music has on our nation and others’ youths. If we provide the opportunity to learn a musical instrument to every child in the U.S. it will influence their lives much more than any class they could take. It will teach them skills that they will always possess, it will empower them to be good students and even better citizens, and most importantly, it inspire in them a sense of belonging and community they would otherwise miss.  Jimmy Hendrix once said” Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” The values that we pass on to the generations to come will influence the adults they become, and ultimately, their marks on the world. Only through music can we build a productive, global community and ensure a bright future for all mankind.

Bibliography

Music Changes Lives. Dir. Mike Casey. Mind the Gap Films, 2010. 

           

"Neural Response to Complex Speech Sounds." Northwestern University School of Communications. Northwestern University, n.d. Web. 28 June 2013.  http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/brainvolts/demonstration.php>.

Strait, Dana L., Alexandra Parbery-Clark, Emily Hittner, and Nina Kraus. "Musical Training during Early Childhood Enhances the Neural Encoding of Speech in Noise." Brain and Language 123.3 (2012): 191-201. Print.

"National Alliance of El Sistema Inspired Programs." National Alliance of El Sistema Inspired Programs. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://elsistemausa.org/>.