Music Learning

How can it Benefit Your Life

I often hear stories of students preparing for college and considering a degree in music.

But more often than not, they will decide against it or after a few semesters will change their

major. It can be a challenging major, and it can also be difficult to see career opportunities with a

music degree. There has also been decreasing numbers of people taking an interest in music

learning and a decrease of music learning in schools. To many, learning music can be viewed as

more of a hobby and not have much value outside of its practice. But does music learning have

any actual benefit? Are there many opportunities in achieving a degree in music? The following

arguments may bring some insight into these questions.

In the article “Music Graduates are More Employable than You Think” from The

Guardian, Harry Slater informs the readers of how qualities learned while gaining a music degree

can expand to many other fields.

Slater starts the article explaining how, unlike some degrees, music majors aren’t

completely confined to the music field by a music degree. He goes on about how though many

music majors do continue into the music field, many go on to be successful in fields like finance,

law, and consulting.

Slater also explains how music majors gain quality experience in “The Seven Skills that

Define Employability: Self-management, team work, business and customer awareness, problem

solving, communication, numeracy, and IT skills. (Slater).” Though other degrees work with

many of these qualities, a music degree is unique in that it teaches all of these traits, making

music graduates among the most hirable individuals.

 Joanne Lipman of the New York Times has a similar opinion when it comes to the

quality of a music training. In her article “Is Music the Key to Success?”, Lipman give us

examples of various successful people, from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to co-founder

of Microsoft Paul Allen, who have also studied music and even been professional musicians, and

how that has helped them rise to their success.

Lipman took to interviewing various successful people that have also had various

amounts of musical training, asking them if and how their music experience has helped them get

to where they are. Answers she got varied from expansion of creative thinking skills, the ability

to connect dissimilar ideas, and the ability to work both as a group and individually. In one

interview, NBC chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd says that “there is a connection

between years of practice and competition and what he calls the “drive for

perfection.”(Lipman)”.

Lipman also mentions that though helpful, music training won’t necessarily make you as

successful as these examples. But even so, a lot of the qualities gained through music training is

becoming lost in today’s world. And Lipman finishes her article saying “Music may not make

you a genius, or rich, or even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to

process different points of view — and most important, to take pleasure in listening. (Lipman)”.

On the more scientific side, the Ted-Ed video by Anita Collins, “How Playing an

Instrument Benefits Your Brain”, shows us how playing, and even listening to music, effects the

brain in fascinating ways.

In various studies, researchers analyzed brain activity while performing various tasks.

Though tasks like math and reading cause various areas of the brain to become active. When
listening to music, multiple areas of the brain activate, but when playing music, it is “The brains

equivalent of a full body workout. (Collins, Anita. How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your

Brain).”

When you are playing music, you use multiple areas of the brain and both hemispheres of

the brain are activated at once. One part of the brain that is specifically influenced is the growth

of the Corpus Callosum, which bridges the two hemispheres of the brain (Collins). Over a long

period of time, playing music can strengthen the brain to where it can help apply these strengths

to other aspects of life, such as academics, problem solving, strategizing, and memory. Similar

research has shown that music learning causes the highest increase in cognitive function of the

brain, even compared to other forms of art.

Before coming back to school, I was somewhat hesitant in pursuing a degree in music,

not really knowing if it could be a successful venture for me. After reading these articles and

watching the video, I can see that I have a wider variety of opportunities with a degree in music,

and will be graduating with a higher caliber of traits that will help me in whatever ventures I

decide to take after.

In this paper, I will discuss how even though music learning is diminishing and becoming

undervalued, it should be highly encouraged, if not required when it comes to learning. I will

also discuss how pursuing a music degree can be beneficial in whatever career that you pursue.

In all of the above arguments, the main connection that I see is that training in music of

any form can have tremendous benefits not only in areas of music, but in other areas of life as

well. Though there are more and more studies showing the benefits of learning music, it seems to

be diminishing. Why is this? For one, I believe that even though music learning is impactful on
success in various aspects of life and work, it is not always immediately noticed. Before reading

Lipman’s article, I had no idea that any of the people mentioned were professional musicians. I

also was not aware of how training in music can lead to success in other work areas, as shown in

Slater’s article. Even the Ted-Ed video shows how music learning improves your ability to

succeed in areas outside of music. Even given the connections, the benefits of music learning can

easily go unnoticed.

When I look back personally, I realize that out of everything that I have learned

throughout high school, I have been most able to apply things that I have learned in band and

choir to my life after high school, such as time management, connecting ideas, attention to detail,

working individually and with a group, communication, and especially a strive for perfection.

Even in coming back to college, I find that the things I learned then, and even the things that I’m

learning now in my music classes, is helping me learn and develop positive qualities that I can

use in and out of music performance.

There are also various opportunities that you have with a music degree. You can perform

in various styles and levels, work in other areas of the music industry, or even work outside of

the music industry altogether. One of the highest groups to make it into medical school and law

school are those that have a music degree. I personally plan on going into the museum curation

field, though with a focus on music and culture. There is even a growing need for music teaching

across the country.

Given my personal experiences and the experiences and studies from others, you can see

that music learning is effective in expanding brain function and developing important qualities

beneficial in any avenue of work and life. So, instead of lessening music learning and
discouraging music degrees, let’s start raising and encouraging them, and see how far it can take

us.
 Works Cited

Slater, Harry. “Music Graduates are More Employable than You Might Think.” The Guardian,

October 11, 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/11/music-students-

employability,

Lipman, Joanne. “Is Music the Key to Success.” The New York Times, October 12, 2013.
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html,

Collins, Anita. “How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain.” YouTube, uploaded by Ted-

ed, 22 July 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JKCYZ8hng