Advocacy Statement

Members of the board, I appreciate you letting me come here today to talk
about why I believe Music Education is important in our schools.
We all know what music is. We just define it in our own way. We live it, and
(I hope) love it. Music reaches people in a unique way. It has the power to
heel; it stimulates growth. If we were lucky, music was a part of our youth.
The message of music is beauty and harmony. In our early years, our
uninhibited years, this message becomes a part of who we are. Later, we
can express that message in other ways, to other people.
Music is oxygen for the soul. It brings us closer to God, and closer to one
another. No wonder we make music a part of any important ceremony.
Music divides us from the animal world. It is a part of our evolution, part of
what make us human. What would our passage through life be like, without
having a chance to experience music? An incomplete passage, indeed.
Music is around each of us every day. It is in the alarm that wakes you up in
the morning, and in the car as we drive to work. We hear it throughout the
day while watching videos, in the grocery store, and even in the school bell
that signals the end of my day. I truly believe that it would be impossible to
go through a full day without hearing music.
Ken Robinsons book Out of our minds: Learning to be creative talks about
the idea that students in schools are having their creativity stifled despite
living in a world shaped by creativity and culture.1 How is it possible that
although the world is immensely creative, and students are surrounded by it
at all times, they are becoming less and less involved in the arts. On top of
that, we are encouraging the arts to disappear in order to make way for
the important subjects. What classifies one subject as being more
important than another, and when did society decide that the subject with
the least importance was music?
Just as we hear music every day, so do our students and children. Music is
constantly around them, and the type of music they listen to shapes who
they are, and who they become as individuals. We can cut all the music
programs in the schools, but that will not stop our children from listening to
it. The only thing it will stop is allowing them to get new musical
background, new musical knowledge. It will stop them from feeling a passion
inside them unlike any other. It will stop them from getting the tingly feeling
1 Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford: Capstone.

up and down their spine when a chord in band is finally in tune. It will stop
them from working harder than they ever thought possible, and developing a
team of colleagues who have seen them at their best and worst. Cutting the
music program wouldnt stop our students from learning to read music,
anyone can teach them that. As Glenn Holland says in Mr. Hollands Opus
Playing music is supposed to be fun. Its about heart, its about feelings,
moving people, and something beautiful, and its not about notes on a page.
I can teach you notes on a page, I cant teach you that other stuff. Cutting
the music program would take a sense of beauty and life away from our
students. It would prevent them from ever truly understanding how magical
music can be.
Without a strong music program, I believe our children will have an
incomplete education. Music: we know what it is; will our children know?
Thank you

Bibliography

Castillo, S. (2015). Low-Income Kids Thrive In Music Class. Retrieved from

http://www.medicaldaily.com/low-income-kids-benefit-music-class-show-greaterreading-skills-329700

Kodaly, Z. (n.d.). Music Should Belong to Everyone.

Lennox, A. (2008, July/August). What is Music? Retrieved from

http://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article2540-What-is-Music.html

Philips, C. (2014). Twelve Benefits of Music Education. Retrieved 0, from

http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/twelve-benefits-of-music-education/

Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford: Capstone.

Wasiak, E. B. (2013). Teaching instrumental music in Canadian schools. Don Mills, Ont.:
Oxford University Press.

About the Suzuki Method. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://suzukiassociation.org/about/suzuki-method/