Importance of Music Education is Still Lost on Some People

An old friend of mine that I had not heard from in nearly 20 years called me up the other day and we talked for several hours. He said he had just been thinking about me and some the good times that we had had hanging out in high school, and just wanted to see what was going on in my life and what I had become.

“I always thought you would be a musician,” he said.

I was in band in high school and could play nearly every brass instrument. I have always been a great lover of music. That’s why it really disturbed me when he told me that the music program at his daughter’s school had been cut. It was then that I realized that the importance of music education is still lost on some people.

I asked him why the program had been terminated, and he told me that the school district was having to cut back on expenses, and the first things go were the fine arts programs. He told me that his daughter was just devastated, because she played flute in the band, and now could only practice on her own.

I have heard about this trend in some districts around the country, and I thank God that it was never an issue at my school. The importance of music education in my life has been paramount. I really feel that I am who I am today because of my exposure to music in school. I have become cultured because of it, and learned to appreciate the beauty of music and that was all fostered while I was in school.

The importance of music education is that it gives many students a break from the other core subjects students are required to take, like math, English, science and history, and allows them to explore their creativity.

Now, please don’t mistake what I am trying to say. Obviously, math, English, science and history are the most important subjects at school, and there is a reason that they are stressed to the degree that they are, but music, art, dance or whatever creative medium a student may prefer enriches one’s life in a way that those other subjects alone cannot.

The importance of music education can be seen by listening to your favorite musical group, and it does not matter what genre. At some point, those people were exposed to music education at an impressionable age, and are now creating music that you and millions of other people can enjoy on a daily basis.

In the play “Twelfth Night,” William Shakespeare wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on.” The importance of music education cannot be underestimated, and if I ever hear of music programs being considered for removal from my local school district, I will go to that school board meeting and protest.

The author has been writing articles online for 4 years now. Come visit his latest site Lead Arbitrage Method Review that reviews Lead Arbitrage Method by Bryan Dulaney.