à“What’s the good of music?” – Too caught up in our struggle to make ends meet in the competitive world today, we - the adults often find ourselves belittling the value of music and music education. However, we may forget that a child who is able to say no to hanging out with his friends after school just so he can return home and practice his piano piece until he perfects every single note today, is not likely to grow up and become someone who is easily distracted from his goal. A child who will stop whatever she is doing at the moment to pay attention a fine tune over the radio is not likely to grow up and become a person who is apathetic to beauty. In my opinion, music and music education does not only play a crucial role in nurturing a child’s appreciation of beauty but also teaches him admirable values that would benefit his entire life time.
àI cannot help but completely agree with Billy Joel’s opinion: “Music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.” Music does wonder to the human’s soul. Classical music has been proved by science to stimulate and aid the development of infants’ brain. The mother’s lullaby can calm an upset baby, stop him from his tantrum. Music brings happiness, thus it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that the music education is the teaching of another form of communication. If we take away music education from our children, we are robbing them of an opportunity to convey their heart message in such a delicate and subtle way – but not any less sincere than blatant words.
àFurthermore, music education teaches children every single value that we ever want to instill in their innocent minds and shape their belief system in such an enjoyable way. As care givers, we have choices. We can tell our children a thousand stories again and again about what hard-working and will power means or we can sparkle their interest with a beautiful tune, show them how to recreate such amazing music(,) and watch them put these values in practice with music as the new companion. Isn’t it true? To teach a child to master a piano piece is to teach him patience and determination. To teach a child to put her all emotions in a song is to teach her sincerity and wholeheartedness.
àSo how exactly a music education benefits my child, many people may still wonder. But the answer lies within each and every fortunate child whose soul is touched by the beauty of music. To this future pianist, music may soon be his entire world, his power, his fame. To another future banker, music may be his much-needed escape from the competitive world he has to face every single day. However to this particular future janitor, music merely means the reason why she would be able to stop thinking about her a long exhausting day and the piles of bills accumulating on the top of her empty fridge to sing a little tune from an old song of the past – the particular tune which never fails to bring her joy.
Professor Fredna Grimland - My-Linh: A beautifully written paper! Thank you. (A)
