Continuing from my last post, I will comment on an article that I found: Why Music? Why Band? which focuses on the lessons that music education teaches students.

Wisdom vs. Achievement

With a school system that has such a high emphasis on testing and achievement, music teaches wisdom. Instead of emphasizing doing well once, at peak moment in knowledge, music teaches that if a behavior is learned and learned well, the same result can be repeated over and over again, and improved. For music, there are achievement standards, but the success in music is if one can take what they know and apply it to every different piece they encounter. This is a very important skill that has real life applications. In the workforce, it doesn’t matter how you do once on one test, it matters how you uses the skills learned and apply it over and over again.

Inner Peace vs. Security

It’s the process behind something that should be the enjoyment, not the end result. Although we feel more “secure” at the end of the day if all of our grades are great and the supposed end result of all of our work is satisfactory, what is it worth if we were miserable getting there? Music offers students the chance to enjoy a process as well as the end result of hard work. For instance, even though the championship performance for marching band is the most important, the “final”, if you will, performers enjoy every show leading up to that, because it’s not the end result, it’s the music making that happens in between. Music students are able to find a sense of inner peace and satisfaction from working hard and making music, instead of just working hard and being miserable to get a grade. It teaches students that this is how life should be; the process and the journey should be enjoyed as much as the end result.