Music education is needed

How can we use music education to teach students’ creativity?

Music is an auditory art, and it is different from language arts or visual arts. We can see pictures, read books and watch movies, but we can only listen to and imagine the contents of music. Having an appreciation for music, then, fosters imagination, and imagination is the source of creativity. For example, when we appreciate Mozart's symphonies, we can imagine  beautiful scenery, happiness, and love. Furthermore, when children learn to play instruments, they have a special way to express their feelings. Moreover, they can play instruments to calm themselves down, and get into the habit of discovering the beauty of their world. Therefore, music education is needed because it cultivates students’ creativity.

To discuss creativity, we must first define it, according to Wikipedia, “Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created (such as an idea, a joke, a literary work, a painting or musical composition, a solution, an invention etc.). Creativity can also be defined ‘as the process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile’ or ‘characterized by originality and expressiveness and imaginative’.”

Many people believe that learning music can cultivate the abilities to think critically and positively. Indeed, many famous people learned music when they were children. For example, Albert Einstein, a famous scientist who received the Nobel Prize in physics, was also a musician. When he was six years old, his father taught him the violin. Then, he became an excellent violinist and always performed on the stage. He preferred to play Mozart’s music, some pieces which gave him positive energy, helping him analyze the life differently. When the scientist faced problems of research, he played music to relieve his pressure and changed his mind to think about the experiment in other ways.  While music is an abstract art, science consists of statistic, facts and research, which focus on the certain issue. Scientists may try to remove several barriers. If they are in dilemma for a while, it will probably cause emotional instability which is disadvantageous to the experiment. The abilities to appreciate or play music can provide scientists positive energy and let them have enough space to imagine the different methods to achieve their goals.

       In another example, Charles Robert Darwin, a geologist and scientist who gave us more information about evolution theory. He learned flute when he was a child. Benjamin Franklin was a famous politician in America; he also learned music when he was young. Instruments can imitate natural sounds and inner voice. Learners create music related to whatever they think. Although people may be tired and nervous, their souls sway in the wind with the beautiful notes when they are immersed in the music universe. Moreover, people analyzed something significant in new ways and have more positive attitude if they have abilities to appreciate or play music. 

And main music creative activities include performance, improvisation and composition. Music teachers play the important role in music education.To begin with, teachers must provide an appropriate environment for students to play music. The environment should be quiet and comfortable. Then, students can pay attention to the class without any interruption. In addition, before the class, teachers must design the special warm-up to wear off the strangeness between teacher and students, and then, students will have enthusiasm to work together without bashfulness. For instance, mirroring is an excellent game for teachers to become friends with students. Teachers can use body language to describe his or her name, and all the students imitate the action of teacher. And then, one student uses his/her special body language to explain his/her name and other people imitate him/her. After a while, the classroom will fill with giggles and laughter. During the process of playing games with students, teachers can gain much information about every student and use specific methods to motivate their creativity, because their body language can reflect their character.Then, teachers can move on to the class. Improvisation is a significant musical creative activity. Students can be divided into small groups and use everything in the classroom to create sounds and present stories by themselves, and others can appreciate their performance. For example, we can move chairs and tables to create some sounds to perfrom somebody are angry with others. Moreover, we can clink the forks together to show our happiness. Students should use something to create different sounds to illustrate their thoughts without practicing before. Participants should imagine the sound before they move tables or clink forks. If students have chances to join these kinds of activities, they may have a habit of imagining and creating.

In addition, students can bring their own instruments to the class and play them together. One student, for instance, can sing a song and the other students can accompany on their instruments or divide them into several groups, and each group improvise together. Because students’ improvisation without any preparation, they must discover and imagine the music which can related to their ideas. The process of discovering and imagining is helpful to let them get accustomed to creating new materials.

         In conclusion, Music education is needed because it can make contributions to improving students’ creativity and giving them relaxation and happiness.
   

Work Cited

“Creativity.”  Wikipedia, n.p. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.

Zbainos Dimitrios, Anastasopoulou Ariadni. “Creativity in Greek Music Curricula and Pedagogy: an Investigation of Greek Music Teachers’ Perceptions.” Creative Education  3.1(2012):55-60.Print.

Crow, Bill. “Changing of educational creativity: a study of student teachers’ experience of musical creativity.” Music Education Research 10.3(2008):373-388. Print.