Preserving Music Programs in Public Education

I believe that music is an essential part of public education.  Actually, it is not just a belief, it is a proven fact - a fact that shapes who I am and what I do.  

Education through Music has a great compilation of studies available online.  

Studies have shown that when students have arts
in the curriculum they are . . .

Statistics are sourced from Americans for the Arts

2x as likely to graduate than those who do not

3x more likely to win an award for school attendance

4x as likely to be recognized for academic achievement

Here are some intriguing facts from the NAMM Foundation:

DID YOU KNOW…?

• 

  83% of teachers and 73% of parents do not see music education as a luxury, and believe that cuts to music programs are detrimental to student success.

  “Striking a Chord: The Public’s Hopes and Beliefs for K-12 Music Education in the United States 2015”
• 

  According to Dr. Nina Kraus’s work with the Harmony Project, students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school, but also to attend college as well.

  Kraus N., Slater J., Thompson E.C., Hornickel J., Strait D.L., Nicol T. & White-Schwoch T. (2014), “Auditory learning through active engagement with sound: Biological impact
• 
• Students in high-quality school music programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the school or school district.

  Johnson, C. M. & Memmott, J. E. (2007). Examination of relationships between participation in school music programs of differing quality and standardized test results. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(4), 293-307
• And in case that's not enough evidence to support the claim that music is an essential ingredient in our children's education, here are 20 more important benefits of music in our schools.
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• So with all of this research out there, why is it even a possibility that schools would consider cutting back the arts and music programs in our schools?  Well there are lots of reasons, the focus on STEM and core classes and test scores, the pressure to have kids "college-prepped" and "career-ready" from the time they are in elementary and middle school, limited funding and resources to accomplish federal, state and district requirements, and the list goes on.  
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• But with music being the ONE factor that improves student outcomes across even socio-economic boundaries, it should be the area we seek to build and support first, not the one that gets most readily pushed aside. 
• This issue is a hot topic in my own school district right now, with additional state-mandated courses for middle schoolers requiring administrations to either increase the number of classes in their schedule or eliminate elective choices for students.  
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• At this point in time, it looks like our middle school students will either be able to take a World Language or an Arts elective but not both.  And for students who are in a Dual Language Immersion program, English Language Learners, or those who need remedial help, there will be only one semester elective available out of all three years of middle school.  This is just not an acceptable option for my students or for ANY students.  We have got to place highest priority on preserving the arts programs in our schools.  
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• For our middle school right now, this almost certainly means going to a 7-period schedule even though it messes with teacher teams and prep times.  I admire and respect middle school teachers above pretty much any profession out there.  I don't want to require any more sacrifices of them than what they are currently giving, but I know that they are passionate about the success of our students, and the opportunity to take an arts elective HAS to be a part of that equation.
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• Below is a copy of the letter I wrote to the school board and my state legislators about our own family's experience.  If your school's arts programs are being threatened by the addition of more required classes by the state of Utah, I hope you will also take the time to write your school board and representatives to let them know how important it is to keep arts and music as a thriving part of our schools.
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• To Canyons School Board, Superintendent and State Representatives,
  
  
  I and my 6th-grade Dual Immersion student are deeply concerned about the new required classes for 6th- and 8th-grade students, and the lack of options it leaves for middle school students who would like to pursue music and arts while continuing the DLI program.  While I believe that adding more required classes will have a far-reaching effect on our students and our arts programs at the middle and high school levels, let me first give you some insight on what it will look like for our family.
  
  
  My son Cole is a hard-working, dedicated student who identifies himself as a Chinese-speaking, trombone-playing Math ninja.  For unknown reasons (perhaps his duplicate record in Skyward from when we transferred to this school district), his Math scores did not come across when he moved from 5th grade at Draper Elementary to 6th grade at Draper Park Middle School.  Because of this oversight, he did not get placed in the Honors Math class even though his scores were such that he should have qualified.  He was sorely disappointed, and still is, that he has been placed on a "waiting list" to make it into Honors Math while other kids, including many of his friends, are able to participate.  While I have been in contact with the school over this issue many times, the Honors classes are simply too full to allow even one more student to participate.  And this is especially true because his team includes all the Chinese DLI students, who tend to be kids who take honors classes.  So the Math portion of Cole's identity has taken a beating this year, but we are working to keep it intact.
  
  
  Probably the most exciting thing for a kid entering middle school is the chance to make a choice about what elective(s) they will take.  The transition from elementary to middle school is a tough one:  new friends, bigger school, more requirements from more teachers, many students, no more recess, etc.  It is a lot to expect from an 11- or 12-year-old kid.  So they pick an elective and find friends with similar interests.  It helps them find some release from the other pressures of their daily routine, while providing valuable and enriching experiences that round out their education and build their identities.  Band has been that piece of the puzzle for Cole.  He loves playing an instrument, he loves the fun and engaging teaching style that Mr. Voght offers, and he loves the association with other kids who also enjoy learning music.  He would be pretty devastated if he no longer had the choice to participate in Band.  Also, making Band a before/after school only offering would be extremely difficult to maintain, not only for my child, but for so many others who are already over-involved and sleep-deprived.  It is not really fair to expect more time commitment than what these kids are already giving.  It is not realistic to expect our music programs to survive this kind of a blow.  Cutting elective choices will be hard on students, music teachers, and music programs, even at the high school level - I don't think our middle school or high school will easily recover from this.  If Cole has to drop music, there's another piece of his identity that gets displaced.
  
  
  From the first time we heard about the possibility of a Chinese dual immersion program at our elementary school, we worked and campaigned and rallied to get it to come to our school.  Cole was a part of the inaugural year of DLI at Sage Creek Elementary in Springville, Utah.  When our family came up against the need to move, we based our search for a new home on proximity to dual immersion schools because we were committed to continuing Cole's DLI experience.  We ended up in Canyons School District, but not in the boundaries of either Lone Peak or Draper Elementary.  We worked our way up the waiting list until we were accepted as out-of-boundary students to Draper Elementary.  I have formed carpools or personally driven my two DLI students - first Cole, and now Sadie, my 2nd-grader - to and from Draper Elementary every day.  Cole sees a Chinese tutor after school once a week, we have participated in Chinese summer camps and hosted Chinese foreign exchange students.  We have fought for and are committed to making the most of our experience in the DLI program.  I cannot abide the decision we are up against right now.  Do we have to sacrifice every other fun part of Cole's education in order to continue to be a part of the DLI program?  I do not want to require this of him.  He should not have to choose between Band and Chinese.  He should not have to sacrifice one more piece of his identity at this precarious time of life when we should be helping him to build that identity, not fracture it.
  
  
  I hope this gives you some insight into one student's experience, but his experience is not so different from other kids his age, and especially other DLI families.  We are students and parents who are deeply invested in the education of our children.  We are families who are willing to make sacrifices for future opportunities and for the benefit of our children.  But our children should not be required to give up every other fun or exciting educational opportunity in the pursuit of one goal as is the case with our DLI kids right now.  Even the non-DLI students will have to choose between taking a World Language or an arts elective.  This is simply not an acceptable choice.
  
  
  From my perspective as a private music teacher, a parent, and someone who devoted all my university studies to discovering the links between music and learning, I absolutely believe, and there is plenty of research to back me up, that sacrificing arts electives is the last thing we want to do in order to improve the quality of education, student involvement and outcomes, and even the academics and test scores of our students.
  
  
  Please consider implementing the 7-period schedule at Draper Park Middle School in order to preserve our arts and music programs for current and future middle school students as well as high school students at Corner Canyon.  Thank you for your consideration.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  Marianne Barrowes
  Parent of one CCHS graduate, one CCHS choir student, and two Chinese DLI student musicians

Plug In to the Power of Chords!

Creating Complete Musicians
In the Let's Play Music method, we begin our piano playing by learning the primary chords.   Musicians know these as the I, IV and V chords.  But in Let's Play Music, we color code them and call them Red, Blue and Yellow chords.  We start from the very beginning teaching our students to hear, recognize by ear, sing and play chords for several reasons.  The overarching reason is that our goal for our students is total musicianship, and a total, complete musician will be able to use chords and chord theory to improvise, transpose, and compose music.  Starting early with chords trains our students' ears, hands, and eyes to hear, play and recognize chord notation until chords become second nature.  Chords are the building blocks of music, and having both the theory knowledge and a developed ear gives students an innate sense of how each chord functions, and how they come together to create beautiful music.

Starting Out:  Training Ears and Eyes

Before we even touch the keyboards, we spend a year with 4- and 5-year-old students (our "first years") training their ears to hear these chords, recognize which chord sounds right with a given melody, and notice patterns and chord progressions.  We play chords on the autoharp while reading color-coded chord maps, and we sing broken chords using solfege ("do-re-mi" syllables) learning to recognize the three "pieces" that make up each chord. 

At the Keyboard:  Training Fingers
Have you noticed that we love to come at chords from every angle?  As we begin our second year of Let's Play Music, we take our chord knowledge to the keyboards, and begin by learning to play the "Red Chord" (C Major chord) on the piano.  We learn to recognize the notation, and to use correct fingering to play the notes.  We learn how to make that chord minor by changing the middle note - now we can play Halloween songs!  Then we add the Yellow Chord, and then the Blue - we learn to recognize chord notation whether it's "stacked up" in block form or broken in pieces.

We continue to discuss the three pieces that make up each chord so that we can recognize each chord no matter which of its "pieces" is on top or bottom.  But during the second year, we use the regular cadence positions for each chord and talk about chords in terms of "shape" a lot too:  "snowman shape" for the root-position Red Chord C-E-G; "top-heavy" shape for the Blue Chord C-F-A (3rd on top, 4th on bottom); and "bottom heavy" shape for the Yellow Chord B-D-G (3rd on bottom, 4th on top).

At Home:  Helping Chord Theory Stick 
It's perfectly okay that some of these concepts may take a little longer to sink in.  That is why repetition is so important. Using this same language at home and asking leading questions will help your children know what to look for when identifying chords.  "What note is on bottom of that chord?  Is it a middle C or not?"  "Does that chord have a 3rd on top or a 3rd on bottom?  Is it top-heavy or bottom-heavy?"  "Both intervals are 3rds?  So the whole thing is stacked up nice and neat in snowman shape?  So what color is it then?"  Lots of leading questions will help you to know what they know, and help them to cement the concepts they are still learning. 


Knowing Chords = Knowing Music
Once your child has learned just three primary chords, suddenly the possibilities of songs they can play has become endless!  Did you know that 90% of the music we hear and listen to is made up of these three chords?  By playing a chord accompaniment and singing along with a melody, we are creating music that sounds much fuller than just a one-note melody line.  Plus, once we learn to play chords with our left hand (also during the second year) we are already able to play a melody with a chord accompaniment AND sing along!  Not bad for just a few months of piano instruction!  However, their real ability and total musicianship goes much deeper than what you are seeing or hearing on the surface!

In the third year of Let's Play Music, we add to our chord knowledge by learning F Major, G Major, C minor and A minor cadence chords.  We teach our students (now about 7 years old) to distinguish between root position and inverted chords, to find the root of a given chord, to take a given chord through all its inversions, to name all the triads in the key of C, and other chord theory.  We also teach students in both second and third years to play and improvise "stylized" chords:  marching chords, broken chords, even "calypso style" rhythmic broken chords.  

We are giving them all the tools they need to improvise, compose and create anything they want to musically!  This - the ability to take music in any direction, to create with it, use it at will, really own it - is the essence of why we sue a chord approach in Let's Play Music, and why it works to create total musicians!

For more resources on chords, check out these Making Musicians posts:
Learning Chords:  Fingering and Muscle Memory
Block, Broken, Marching:  Love those Chords!