The Importance of Music Education Essay -- Music

Music, an extremely broad concept, is playing an increasingly vital role in the modern society, and most people today are experiencing music subconsciously. For instance, when walking in the street, not only will we see people listening to their music through all kinds of portable music players, but also hear people humming their favorite songs. When nightfall comes, young people usually go to concerts, whereas middle-aged people tend to choose symphony and opera. All the things mentioned above seem like nothing but entertainment. Does music exist just to please people? Apparently, the answer is no. In fact, music also brings people many significant benefits. Hence, music education is crucial to us, especially in our early development, and it should be a part of every child’s education. I think that music education can bring three benefits to us: enhance children’s memory, enrich their imagination, and improve academic performance. Human beings begin to learn many basic skills in order to survive after they are born. This requires people to grasp strong, stable, and rapid memory skills. Hence, babies’ expanding ability to memorize is an indispensable part of their cognitive development. Research shows that the development of memory in children becomes apparent within the first 2 to 3 years of a child’s life as they show significant advances in memory, and this enhancement continues into adolescence (Siegler). Therefore, we need to find out a way to help children develop appropriate memory skills. Music education is a terrific choice, and scientists do have evidence to support the hypothesis that music can improve human memory skills. Based on the findings of a study led by Dr. Agnes Chan, a psychologist at Chinese University of ... ...org/pdf/music-training-improves-verbal-but-not-visual-memory-cross-sectional-and- longitudinal-explorations-in-children> Graziano, A.B., Peterson M., and Shaw G.L. "Enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial-temporal training." Neurological Research 21.Web. 15 Mar. 2012.139-152. Web. Siegler, R. S. (1998). Children's Thinking. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Electronic book. â€Å"Sound.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2012 The College Board. Profile of College-Bound Seniors National Report for 2000, 2001, and 2002. Web. Yeung, Ka-ching. â€Å"The Mozart Effect.† n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. Notes/The%20Mozart%20Effect.htm>