We study music because it allows us to take an abstract idea and apply structure and meaning to it.

Here is an article I wrote a year ago for another blog. I thought I'd pull it out again because it was something I struggled with when I first starting teaching...

As a music teacher, I am often bombarded with questions regarding the purpose of general music often to the tune of “when am I ever going to use this in life; I don’t want to be a musician?” At first, I didn’t know how to answer that question appropriately. Sure, I had heard it asked about other subjects before but as a music lover, it had never crossed my mind that someone would think the same thing about my precious subject. So in a pinch, my usual response was either to ignore them or to create some dumb answer regarding how they need it to graduate. It wasn’t until recently that I figured out a good way to answer them.

To students, general music class is a required class that has no purpose outside of the classroom, but many don’t see the underlying life-application to the subject matter. Some students may have a small interest in music but don’t really care about the intricate details while some don’t care to learn anything about it. What these students don’t understand is that there is much more to learning about music than the superficial. Previously, I had stumbled across a PDF of a document stating why we (music teachers) teach music. It had many interesting concepts on there that while I knew it, I didn’t know how to put it into words. Today, I found the document on the PMEA website. While those reasons are solid, I cannot give those as an answer to those annoying questions of “why.” Those reasons are argued too easily and result in discussions off-topic, but there is one concept cannot be argued easily.

The answer I give the students is that while they may never need to know what a triad is, or the scientific reasons why sound works the way it does, we study music because it allows us to take something that is abstract and build structure around it and gain a certain mastery of it. Music is more than just notes on a page, it is more than just an outlet for creativity and expression, but it is a course in hard work and learning about something that is out of the ordinary. Students respond to this answer in a variety of ways, but the most common response is neither they, nor anyone in the class, asks that question again.

In life, we as adults have to do things we don’t like to do or haven't any interest. Some approach those things with reluctance, and some try their best. Sometimes the experiences we have only result in the knowledge that we have no interest in that area, but sometimes, the result is that we find something that we never knew about and become better because of it.

**Update: It has been one year since I was asked this question. It seems that the students didn't like the fact that I actually had an answer.

Ben Baker said:

Thanks for stopping by! Some kids always try to "stump the teacher" and do what it takes to disrupt the classroom, but a good answer goes a long way. It's nice to see non-music people stopping by and it's amazing what Math and Music have in common (think Pythagorus).

June 07, 2008

Linda :~) said:

Hi Ben, As a high school math teacher I hear that same question often posed. I too, parallel learning mathematics with learning to think and with exercise for the brain. My students are not fond of that response either. It sounds like you have a good approach to stopping the whining and getting them back on task.

May 13, 2008