Posts Tagged ‘National’

The Benefits Of Music Education To Children

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Music is a very powerful subject – It has been used since the Greek times for healing, communication, relaxation and for enjoyment. Even before birth we are aware of our mother’s heartbeat and during infancy are relaxed by the song of a lullaby. Every day everybody hears some form of musical pitch or rhythm and it can even be found in nature such as how birds communicate through a song-like speech.

Music is such a powerful force, it creates deep emotions in humans – it is played at weddings for happiness, in horror films and during war for fear and at home for happiness and because of this lends itself to relaxation, stress relief and health therapy – and the connection between music, body, and soul has even been shown to improve physical and mental health.

Skills such as working in teams, communication, self-esteem, creative thinking, calmer attitudes, imagination, discipline, study skills and invention are learnt and improved through the study of music and by focusing on the fact that young children are mostly highly receptive to pitch and rhythm – one of the main ways a child learns its language – that we can drive education in music to children to help them with benefits ranging success in society and in life.

“We believe the skills the arts teach -creative thinking, problem-solving, risk-taking, teamwork and communications – are precisely the tools the workforce of tomorrow will need. If we don’t encourage students to master these skills through quality arts instruction today, how can we ever expect them to succeed in their highly competitive business careers tomorrow?” -Richard Gurin, Chief Executive Officer, Binney and Smith, maker of Crayola crayons

Music is a part of our society and a part of all communities – every human culture uses music to carry forward its ideas and ideals. A study of the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. This development of compassion and empathy, as opposed to developing greed and a selfish attitude, provides bridges across different cultures that lead to a respect of other races at an early age.

Music has a great value to our economy – it creates jobs, increase’s tax base, boosts tourism and spurs growth in related businesses. Music study develops skills that are necessary in the workplace such as teamwork skills and discipline – during musical performances all members must work together to create the sounds they wish to achieve and for this regular practice is also required. Music favors working and ‘doing’ as opposed to observing, and these are the ethics employers are looking for.

Because of music’s ability to relax, calm and heal, and its optimal platform for emotions, the involvement with music helps to carve brighter attitudes – more optimism towards the future, less TV and non productive activities, low use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs and desire to develop individual abilities.

Music requires study skills, communication skills, and cognitive skills and as these are learnt and developed they expand the student’s abilities in other academic areas and help them become better students. – Students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT: students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation. — College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. Princeton, NJ: The College
Entrance Examination Board, 2001.

The discipline of music, particularly through participation in ensembles, helps students learn to work effectively in the school environment without resorting to violent or inappropriate behavior – According to statistics compiled by the National Data Resource Center, students who can be classified as “disruptive” (based on factors such as frequent skipping of classes, times in trouble, in-school suspensions, disciplinary reasons given, arrests, and drop-outs) total 12.14 percent of the total school population. In contrast, only 8.08 percent of students involved in music classes meet the same criteria as “disruptive.” — Based on data from the NELS:88 (National Education Longitudinal Study), second follow-up, 1992..

Many studies have been conducted on the effects of music in the brain. Scientists say that children who are exposed to music or those who play an instrument do better in school than those who don’t. Recent research suggests exposure to music may benefit a child’s reading age, IQ and the development of certain parts of the brain.

It can be shown that some measures of a child’s intelligence are increased with music instruction – a connection between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things) helps people to visualize and imagine solutions. This helps people to solve problems creatively and is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for solving mathematical problems and even general daily tasks.

“The musician is constantly adjusting decisions on tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feeling–training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once. Dedicated practice of this orchestration can have a great payoff for lifelong attention skills, intelligence, and an ability for self-knowledge and expression.” — Ratey John J., MD. A User’s Guide to the Brain. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.

Along with mental development music study can support the brains physical development – it has been indicated that musical training physically develops the parts of the brain known to be involved with processing language and reasoning, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Memory can be improved through the linking of familiar songs with objects just as linking images can – past memories and emotions can be triggered by audio.

“Why arts in education? Why education at all? The purpose of education is not simply to inform but to enrich and enlighten, to provide insights into life as it has been led and as it may be led. No element of the curriculum is better suited to that task than arts education.” -David Kearns
Now retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Xerox Corporation

Ideally we want our children to experience “success” throughout life itself. The benefits may be psychological, spiritual and physical and with the challenge of making life meaningful and fulfilled and to reach a higher state of development by participating in music we develop self expression which in turn leads to self esteem – ultimately helping us to succeed at these challenges.

“Casals says music fills him with the wonder of life and the ‘incredible marvel’ of being a human. Ives says it expands his mind and challenges him to be a true individual. Bernstein says it is enriching and ennobling. To me, that sounds like a good cause for making music an integral part of every child’s education. Studying music and the arts elevates children’s education, expands students’ horizons, and teaches them to appreciate the wonder of life.” — U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, July 1999. Get easy paymnet with payday advance

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MASTER OF MUSIC DEGREE

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

The purpose of Master of Music degree work is to hone performance skills and/or capabilities in
writing music or writing about music. There are five fields of study within the Master of Music
program: composition, conducting, musicology, performance, and performance and pedagogy.
Various options are available in conducting (choral conducting, choral conducting with voice,
orchestral conducting, and wind symphony/band conducting), in performance (harpsichord,
organ, piano, piano with accompanying and chamber music, string instruments [including guitar
and harp], voice, opera, voice with choral conducting, brass, woodwind, and percussion
instruments), and in performance and pedagogy (brass, piano, string instruments, voice and
woodwind instruments).
All plans of study for the Master of Music degree meet National Association of Schools of Music
recommendations: a minimum of 30 total semester hours, a minimum of 10 semester hours in an
NASM-approved major, and a minimum of 10 semester hours in other studies in music. The
performance and pedagogy programs are double majors; they meet the minimum requirements
for an NASM-defined major in both areas. Other options include a secondary emphasis of at
least eight semester hours. The Master of Music degree requires a minimum of thirty graduate
credit hours. Music courses applicable to this degree must be numbered 5000 or above.
Nonmusic courses must be taken at the 4000 level or above. The usual time for completion of
the master’s degree is two years. Degree work must be completed within four years of first
registration.
The required Introduction to Music Bibliography and Research and a three-hour course each in
musicology and music theory are intended to lend scholarly support to performance as well as to
strengthen competency for research. Introduction to Music Bibliography and Research should be
taken either the fall or spring semester of the first year. Students must be taking the second of, or
have completed, the required history and theory courses at qualifying examination time.
The Master of Music thesis consists of two projects, for two hours credit each; these projects
vary according to the emphasis. Specific requirements are listed for each field of study on the
degree-plan descriptions.
A minimal full-time course load is five hours of graduate-level work per semester; registration
for eight or more hours is expected. Students taking individual applied-music or composition
lessons must also carry at least one other course in that semester in order to show adequate
progress toward the degrees.
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS. The exams are given at the beginning of each semester;
exact dates are posted on the graduate bulletin board. Students should take the “prelims” at the
beginning of their first semester of study and complete the requirement by the end of the first
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year of study. The theory exam, approximately 1½ hours long, covers written theory and aural
perception. For some emphases, exams in analysis and counterpoint are also required. The
history exam, about two hours long, contains questions based largely on Western art music. The
exam in the major field is a written exam scheduled for a three-hour period. Candidates who fail
parts of the exams should retake those parts the following semester or take remedial course work,
on the advice of the evaluator. The preliminary exams must be passed completely before the
student may take the qualifying exam or complete the thesis projects.
QUALIFYING EXAMINATION. This exam, a written one, is taken after students are well into
their programs, normally the third semester of study or the semester or term before the one of
expected graduation. The exam is given on a Saturday at approximately the middle of each
semester or term; dates are posted on the graduate bulletin board. The exam is formulated by the
student’s advisory committee, which consists of the major advisor (or a substitute), another
professor from the major area, and a third professor from outside the major area. Questions in
the major take approximately three hours to answer; questions outside the major area take
approximately one hour to answer. Students should consult with their committee members about
preparation for the qualifying exam.
APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY. Before taking the comprehensive-final
oral examination, masters degree students should file an application for admission to candidacy.
On this form are listed all of the courses and other requirements for the degree. The student’s
committee chair and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies must approve the application
before it is sent to the Graduate School for approval. The application for admission to candidacy
must be filed at least ten weeks prior to the comprehensive-final exam.
COMPREHENSIVE-FINAL EXAMINATION. This exam, an oral one administered by the
student’s committee and taken in the final semester, is usually an hour in length and is based
upon the student’s course work, thesis projects, and work done on the qualifying exam. This
exam should be scheduled within a two-week period close to the end of each semester. Students
must arrange the time and place of the exam with their committee members and must notify the
Associate Dean three weeks in advance of the examination. The Dean’s office then notifies the
Graduate School to prepare the form on which the committee certifies the student for graduation.
Consult separate sheets for specific course requirements in each of the above specialty areas.
Further information on the Master of Music degree is found in both the Graduate School and
College of Music sections of the University Catalog as well as in the Graduate Studies in Music
Handbook.

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The Best Car Hiring

Friday, August 14th, 2009

Paying more for a taxi at an international airport may be acceptable for those people who do not travel regularly. People who travel as a part of their business and people who tour a lot may find that paying more for a taxi bears a hole in their pocket.  Taxi service providers have a lot of reasons for hike in the fare, some say that increase in fuel prices are the reason for price hike while other point out at taxes. There may be a thousand reasons but no one of them answers the question why the fare of a taxi at an airport is much higher than anywhere in the city. Most of the rent a car canada providers try to cash in on the point that people at air port hate waiting and most of them are desperate.

Hiring a taxi to the airport is much easier as the fares are not so high when the taxi is hired in the city. 121carhirecanada.com allows users to plan both pickup and drop off at amazingly low prices.A taxi ride at any airport in the Canada can be booked from 121carhirecanada.com more than two weeks in advance. Filling process is very simple as all, after keying in few basic details like the name of the airport and the date of travel. There are few airports where it is relatively easy to book a taxi but to best car hire Ottawa Airport which is one of the busiest 121carhirecanada.com is the right place.

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