Music Education in America

American music education is at a turning point in its history, and poised for a modern renaissance. After decades of budgetary neglect as an “elective,” music is reasserting itself thanks to a growing body of scientific data that shows how vital it is to student success and lifelong wellness.

There was a time in America when the ability to make music was thought to reside only in a select few. In New England in the early years after independence, these talented people attended private “singing-schools,” which had their roots in the desire for competent singing at church services. Though many early American public schools began to offer music as an elective subject, the extension of regular music education into public schools dates from 1838, when the Boston School Committee voted to make music part of the core curriculum in the city’s schools, under the direction of educational pioneer Lowell Mason.

That historic decision contained many hints of what was to come. The Boston School Committee had to decide whether music education was a public or private function. It had to decide whether it belonged in the schools as an elective, or as an essential subject for all students. And it had to wrangle with community leaders over who should pay for it all. Possibly those Boston trustees in 1838 thought they had settled the issue once and for all, but the same questions reverberate through American music education more than a century and a half later.

Other communities followed Boston’s lead, adding music education to their public school curricula throughout the mid-1800s. A common curriculum was more or less established by the time of the Civil War, and new teaching philosophies and the rise of mass music publishing helped consolidate that achievement in the later years of the century. Professional music educators formed the Music Teachers National Association in 1876 and Music Educators National Conference (MENC, today’s National Association for Music Education) in 1907.

With the rise of professional associations in music education, formal standards were promulgated. MENC’s Educational Council adopted the first national standards for elementary school music instruction in 1921. These are the forerunners of the “National Music Education Standards” and “Opportunity-to-Learn Standards for Music Technology” that MENC makes available to educators today.

Though constantly evolving in theory and method, music education remained strong at mid-century. After the Second World War, however, the Cold War focused the nation’s energy on competition with the Soviet Union. Educational reformers felt a renewed emphasis on “basic subjects” such as math and science was vital to the nation’s survival, and music and the arts were left behind. The effect deepened after Sputnik was launched in 1957, and the space race gave official—even presidential—sanction to a science-centered curriculum well into the 1960s.

If the 1950s and ’60s diminished music’s slice of the curricular pie, the 1970s shrank the whole pie. The economic downturn that affected the entire nation weighed on school budgets as well, and when the post-war “baby boom” outgrew the public schools, declining enrollment led to even more belt-tightening. In an environment marked by school closings and teacher layoffs, the “elective” known as music education was at its nadir.

A combination of factors is beginning to change that situation today. The sustained economic growth of the last decade has manifested itself in public spending, including school budgets. The federal surplus isn’t mirrored in every community, however, and school boards in many areas are still faced with difficult decisions.

Technology is changing music education as well. Synthesizers and other electronic music-making apparatus that were expensive laboratory tools 30 years ago are now readily available, and their ease of operation has made it possible even for preschoolers to have their own portable keyboards. This new technology has made it easier for teachers to demonstrate a variety of musical styles, and for students to experiment with them.

The most significant technological change in music education has been the rise of the computer, and with it the Internet. Computers give students and teachers a host of new ways to experience and share music: they can use interactive CD-ROM applications, correspond about topics of interest, take advantage of digitized musical notation systems, and even compose original music on the computer. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), which was introduced in the early 1980s and has developed in power ever since, allows students to link musical instruments to computers and to each other.

The increased role of technology in music education cannot ensure that every child receives that education, however. Neither can the loosening of fiscal restraints in certain areas. In the end, the curricular role of music education is a question of priorities—of community decision-making. For that reason, recent scientific advances loom large.

What if it turned out music education was as important to students’ future success as math or English? Recent studies show this may be the case. One important center of this research has been the University of California at Irvine, where Drs. Gordon Shaw and Fran Rauscher have found that active music making improves children’s math skills. Shaw is a physicist who found that the inner workings of the human brain operate in patterns that resemble musical structures, and he suspects that music may be the key to understanding intelligence.

Other research supports the value of music participation. At McGill University in Canada, researchers found that kids who take piano lessons showed improved general and spatial cognitive development, and studies at a Miami Veterans Administration hospital have quantified the ability of music making to improve the brain’s natural production of regulatory hormones like melatonin. In autumn 2000, a study led by noted neurologist Barry Bittman, M.D. found that certain types of group drumming activities were linked to an increase in the activity of “natural killer cells,” part of the mechanism through which the body combats cancer and other diseases.

The efforts of public school music teachers are complemented by private and independent music teachers who provide one-on-one and small group music instruction. These teachers have a special opportunity to change lives through music by allowing their students of all ages to increase self-esteem, discover a hobby and find a greater purpose. Many who have gone on to achieve greatness in various fields credit their independent music study for providing discipline and structure in their lives, and those who go on to pursue music performance as a career often applaud their independent music teachers for giving them the attention, confidence and performing opportunities that enabled them to achieve success as a performer.

In the days of the New England “singing-schools,” people valued the teaching of music because it was good for their souls. We’ve learned a lot since then. If music really can make kids better at math, science and engineering, can we keep treating it as an elective? If the nation’s economy is letting some school districts make easier choices, shouldn’t we make them? Today, we know more than ever about the power of music education. And it’s still good for your soul.

This history was based in part on research materials provided by MENC: The National Association for Music Education.