Beyond Words Assignment 16 Viviana Ortiz

Over the summer, I got this baby for my birthday. It cost my parents $4000. I attend private lessons with an excellent teacher which cost my parents about $45 per hour of lessons. For every reed that I need for my instrument, it is $16. I have now been playing this instrument for four years and when I think about it, I won’t deny that the cost adds up because it does.

The individuals that fight against the implementation of music education at the high school level use this as their primary argument: the cost is steep and the education system can’t afford it. Others say that music is just another reason for students to not focus on the core curriculum that is required by the state and only serves as a distraction.

Another argument is that music is time consuming. I wholeheartedly agree with this argument because  music IS time consuming. I spend approximately 3-4 hours every day practicing my instrument. However, I don’t think of this as a waste of time because that I do not have time for. I am an Academy student, currently enrolled in four AP classes and I’m trying to figure out my mentoring project all at the same time. My music, the time I spend working on my tone and technique is an investment of my time.

It is not only an investment in my musical instrument, but into the further depths of my brain. Beyond the scientific expansion of many areas of your brain, music shapes you as a person. Learning how to play an instrument is also learning how to manage your time, learning how to deal with stressful situations (much like this one), learning how to make connections, and learning how to approach the same situation in different ways. It doesn’t impair my learning and only inspires me to become better in all of my classes. Music education is so much more than a class. It is a second family, it is a healthy release of emotions, it is learning leadership skills. But for those who don’t believe my personal testaments, there are others who agree such as Vince DiFiore,  Beyond the physiological benefits reaped, there are academic ones as well. These include but are not limited to the following: higher test scores, higher cognitive development, higher levels of mathematical development, an expanded knowledge of cultural history, and greater language capabilities.

BUT music isn’t just beneficial for those of us trying to make it through high school.  It begins from before you are born. Some people even say that babies cries are at musical intervals such as a perfect fourth or fifth, indicating that music is embedded into us. Other studies show that babies who listen to classical music through the amniotic fluid which is actually a weirdly good sound conductor experience relaxation and their heartbeats normally sync with the tempo of the music. This is still an extending field of study and with new studies continues to support the importance of music in an individual's life.

Music can help heal** music therapy, older patients. Listening to sweet melodies releases endorphins which are wonderful endogenous opiates meaning that they work to increase dopamine levels in the brain and decrease cortisol levels. Translation: they help to lower stress and promote healing. One study with an older age group diagnosed with chronic depression shows that after listening to upbeat music they experienced much lowers score on standardized depression tests and much higher on self esteem tests (Hanzer and Thompson). For those with Alzheimer's, sometimes listening to a familiar melody will keep them grounded during an episode. Connected back to music education, this helps students store things in their memory and leads to higher test scores in other core areas.

We all have our passions and for me it’s music… as many of you already know. But today I hope you fell in love with it a little too. I hope you  fell in love with it’s importance, influence, and the structure it sets on your life from before you are even born. So open your hearts and ears, and step into a musicians’ shoes. I am not asking you to invest millions of dollars on solely the arts, and I’m not asking you to leave behind your individual passions. All I ask is that you open your eyes and see the benefits that could be reaped and ponder because even beyond one individual’s life, music is so much more. Music is the glue to our society. Music is a language that is understood by all. Music is the soundtrack to humanity.

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Bibliography

Levitin, Daniel J. "Behind the Curtain." This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. New York, NY: Dutton, 2006. 83­110. Print.

The Music Instinct Science and Song. Dir. Elena Mannes. Perf. Audra McDonald and Bobby McFerrin. Elena Mannes Productions, 2009. DVD.

Titolo, Timothy R. "Music and the Brain." Injury Law Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 June 2015.

Sacks, Oliver. "Brain." The Power of Music (2006): n. pag. Oxford Journals [Oxford UP]. Web