Another Great Article on Music Education

I know…

You’re thinking, “Two (!) posts in one week!”

I can’t believe it myself.

Here’s another concise, elegant article on the importance of music education,  courtesy of the String Visions feed.

It occurs to me though, that here in the US, the people who value music education aren’t the ones who need to be convinced of its necessity. It’s the people who see it as just another “special,” something that can be cut in favor of more math or standardized test prep, who need to be reeducated. Not many people would willingly admit that they think music is somehow less academically important than math, science or reading. But they do, and it’s maddening, sad and incomprehensible. And shortsighted.

Given all the kerfuffle that a recent Atlantic article is causing, maybe some rethinking of how music is actually taught and performed in schools would be helpful.  Music gives us tools to help us become better humans.  Music holds performers and listeners, students and teachers, professionals and amateurs, accountable. Music provides essential building blocks for human character that cannot be obtained through any other  source, or by any other means. It is a skill, it is a coping mechanism, it is a comforter. It is objective, yet intensely personal.  And it is equal opportunity everything.

That is all. (I have to go practice now.)