Author: Anthony Teles

When people consider the most important subjects for students to learn, they probably think of the sciences or mathematics, or maybe practical skills like welding or construction. Music and the Arts can seem like luxuries compared with those subjects. However, an education in music and the arts is necessary for helping students gain the skills they need for the future.

Many people take lessons in piano or another instrument in their childhood and sometimes beyond. Very few of them ever earn money directly as musicians, and it can seem like a luxury to learn something like that. However, music can help people in many ways. Although some of these benefits are hard to measure precisely, they are important.

One of the benefits of music is that it stimulates the brain. Scientists believe that even listening to music activates parts of the brain that could otherwise become weak. It activates memory and emotion, besides helping different parts of the brain work together better. For people who play an instrument, these benefits would be even stronger.

For most instruments, some degree of manual dexterity is necessary. Musicians need to move their fingers and their hands quickly to hit the right notes. Exercising the hands can be very useful for people as they age since many muscles tend to become stiff and sore. This type of exercise can also help people recover from injuries more easily than if they rarely use their muscles.

Like music, the Arts can seem like a luxury. English literature, history, and similar subjects are not as immediately useful as skills in chemistry or biology, but they are essential to a balanced education. For example, everyone needs to be able to read and write beyond the basics that they learned in elementary school.

Good communication is important in any field. Technical writers use the reading and writing skills that they learned in school to write user manuals, instruction books, and other documents that people need. Without the work of these writers, factory work would be far more dangerous than it is, and even learning to use a television or a microwave oven could be very difficult.

Other types of reading and writing can also be useful. For example, learning to read the language of Shakespeare or the complicated plots of Charles Dickens novels can help people think and analyze. They learn to look beyond the surface of what the words say and to understand how different people think and act. This kind of analysis helps students analyze what people around them say or do and understand that what they see on the surface might not be the whole truth, or even part of it.

The Arts teach people to think, discuss, and express themselves. People can learn empathy and compassion through literature and develop creativity and the ability to work with their hands to draw, paint, or work with materials such as clay or enamel. Students can learn self-discipline and important social skills. This type of learning can be helpful in many fields, including medicine and dentistry. Communication skills are useful in every field, even when people work alone.

Studying the Arts or music might not always seem very useful, but both fields teach students important skills that they can use in any career. You should consider studying these important subjects.

Bibliography:

Budson, Andrew E. “Why Is Music Good for the Brain?” https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-is-music-good-for-the-brain-2020100721062.

EdCan Network. “What is Arts Education Good For? https://www.edcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/EdCan-2003-v43-n4-Upitis.pdf.

Kisida, Brian and Daniel H. Bowman. “New Evidence of the Benefits of Arts Education.”  https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-evidence-of-the-benefits-of-arts-education/.

People for Education. “Arts Education 2018.” https://peopleforeducation.ca/report/arts-education-2018/.