MUMBAI: Peter Luff, the conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, doesn’t believe that the children are being exposed enough to music in elementary school. Furthermore, he feels that music should be a right and that adults, educational and music professionals most notably, have the obligation to impart some kind of musical knowledge and appreciation to them.
The Queensland Symphony Orchestra has been performing during an annual concert series to elementary schools specifically in an effort to fight against the decline in well-supported music and arts programs.
From the Queensland Conservatory of Music, Dr Ralph Hultgren makes the claim that musical education is much more creative than math and other subjects, and that it is music that enhances a person, separating them from everyone else. Music education also correlates with increased performances in math and other academic subjects, making it the perfect supporter of those other fields. It can also lead to increased social skills, including the greater capacity for teamwork.
Related Post
In fact, a good number of music and non-music academics agree that music education is very important to a well-rounded, holistic education, and is much more than just learning how to play an instrument, although that is a facet of it. That is not to say that math and other tested subjects are not as important, or even less, but that musical instruction is just as important as instruction and development in those areas.
This being said however, Hultgren also makes mention of the point that music teachers should be trained professional in a way, thus making the quality of the education that much better. An average music fan could not effectively teach a music class without proper training and a specialist of sorts is required for the best possible music instruction.
Other school principals and administrators are nervous about increased cuts to music program, especially in light of the new government NAPLAN teaching reform. Teachers and principals agree that music and instrument playing tuition is very important to a better education and development as a person overall. The QSO and other musical organisations continue to push for better music programs in primary schools nationwide.
Monster Music, an online network of music teachers in Australia, and its owner, musician and teacher Danny Achurch, fully support the growth of music programs in primary schools and are against the cuts made to schools for any reason.
“Music programs are so vitally important for our children,” Achurch, a personally major proponent of musical education states. “If a school cuts its music program, I feel that it’s letting down its children and students and short-changing them from what could be the best possible education for them.”
Being a teacher himself, Achurch knows the value that teaching children of any age about music holds. “It doesn’t just make them a better student, but it makes them a better overall person to be able to appreciate music and express themselves creatively.”
He claims on the subject. “Monster Music’s mission is to spread music education to those who need it and we do it because that’s what’s best for our young people.”
Monster Music provides piano, violin, singing, and guitar lessons in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and many other cities across the whole country.
