The Importance of Music Education

Imagine a world without music; it would be an extremely boring and quiet place to live. Music is found in every kind of culture and has been used for thousands of years as a means of expression. Music can deliver a message; it can be used as a vehicle for poetry; it can be appreciated for its aesthetic qualities, or it can serve as nothing more than entertainment. Recently, many studies have been conducted proving that music is vital to a child's education and development. However, many school systems have had to make budget cuts, and one of the first things to be removed was the music program. Music is important in education for many reasons. Recent studies have proven that taking music classes at a young age helps a child to achieve academic success and helps students to become more disciplined throughout their school years. Students who participate in music education programs such as orchestra, marching band, concert band, or drum corps are less likely to be involved in negative activities including drugs and alcohol. Music provides students with the opportunity to be expressive, original, and creative, and can also provide a better understanding of other cultures. Throughout the past few years it has been proven that starting a music education at an early age helps students to succeed in other areas of school. Music helps children to develop better speech skills by teaching them to listen to the finer details of the way things sound. Dr. Ken Petress, a professor of communication at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, states that having a music education provides many salient values.
"These values include: self discipline, one needs to learn and be self disciplined to practice, take instruction and criticism, and to perform whether solo or as a member of a group; dedication, musicians need to be dedicated in order to spend the necessary time to learn and perform music; teamwork, in multi-person performances, musicians have to work as a team