Educational music
Encyclopedia
Educational music, is a genre of music in which songs, lyrics, or other musical elements are used as a method of teaching and/or learning. It has been shown in research to promote learning. Additionally, music study in general has been shown to improve academic performance of students.
Music used for learning can be in many formats, including video recordings, audio recordings, sheet music
, and improvised music. Most of the time, music is added to an existing lesson plan or story. Songs are usually easy to sing and catchy, so that they can be repeated for later learning. Some children's music
is considered Educational, and, historically, most educational music is geared towards children. Prominent examples include songs from Sesame Street
, Schoolhouse Rock, and Tom Lehrer
's songs for the PBS show The Electric Company
.
Recent developments have extended music's use to secondary and collegiate education, with Cornel West
breaking new ground in this regard.
and Schoolhouse Rock are examples of shows that use music to teach topics like math, science, and government. Things like counting, the names of the planets, or the law making process are put to music with simple lyrics to aid in retention of information.
Shows such as Little Einsteins
use music as a story aid to teach decision-making and music recognition. Instrumental music is used in various parts of the story to represent different objects, people, animals, or actions, in order to help the viewer distinguish between various options.
Shows such as Veggie Tales use a story as well as music to teach biblical and moral lessons to its viewers. In this form, songs are delivered as a way to tie the story together and help the viewer remember important aspects of the story.
The European Union funded an education project to encourage early language learning called Lullabies of Europe that gathered and recorded lullabies in 7 European languages. Some Television shows and DVD series also make Audio recordings of their songs to further learning.
and Defined Mind, focusing primarily on vocabulary building for SAT
and ACT (examination)
tests, have established a Web presence in addition to their textbooks. Smart Songs, concentrating on middle school, offers amusing and pertinent music video. Rhythm, Rhyme, Results
uses hip hop
music to help students learn lessons ranging from economics to photosynthesis.
One program that integrates music in education is the Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program, which is done through the Kennedy Center. CETA is a partnership between the Kennedy Center and eight arts focus schools in the Washington D.C. area. They work together to produce staff that can integrate the arts across the curriculum. CETA aims to integrate music and other arts, such as dance and visual arts, into other scholastic areas, such as math and science “in order to teach and assess objectives in both the art form and the other subject area. This allows a simultaneous focus on creating, performing, and/or responding to the arts while still addressing content in other subject areas.”
The objectives of CETA are to:
and New Jersey
. They integrate music, as well as other arts, into learning to help children gain appreciation for the arts as well as stimulate children “through the arts to improve their proficiency in reading, writing and math.”
Arts Horizons has a variety of programs, including:
An example of an assembly provided by Arts Horizons is the Peter and the Wolf program. In this program, an actor tells the tale of Peter and the Wolf while a woodwind quintet plays the music of Prokofiev to bring the story to life. After the story, students have a chance to learn about the woodwind instruments that were used in the story, as well as other woodwind instruments, and hear other folk tales.
There have been many studies on the use of music to aid in teaching, as well as how an individual who plays music fares in their education. Results show that using music when teaching children to read, for example, can help children learn how to read and give lasting results. A study on elementary students even showed that students with music training have overall better verbal memory, compared to the memory of those students of the same demographic without music training.
Music used for learning can be in many formats, including video recordings, audio recordings, sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
, and improvised music. Most of the time, music is added to an existing lesson plan or story. Songs are usually easy to sing and catchy, so that they can be repeated for later learning. Some children's music
Children's music
Children's music is used here to refer to music composed and performed for children by adults. In European influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has historically held both entertainment...
is considered Educational, and, historically, most educational music is geared towards children. Prominent examples include songs from Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, Schoolhouse Rock, and Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
's songs for the PBS show The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
.
Recent developments have extended music's use to secondary and collegiate education, with Cornel West
Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
breaking new ground in this regard.
Video
Video recordings are the most used form of educational music. Television shows, DVDs, and even some movies utilize music to teach the viewer, whether it be a moral lesson or a scholastic lesson. Sesame StreetSesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and Schoolhouse Rock are examples of shows that use music to teach topics like math, science, and government. Things like counting, the names of the planets, or the law making process are put to music with simple lyrics to aid in retention of information.
Shows such as Little Einsteins
Little Einsteins
Little Einsteins is an animated television series on Disney Junior. The educational preschool series was developed for television by Douglas Wood who created the concept and characters, and a subsequent team headed by Emmy Award-winning director Olexa Hewryk and Dora the Explorer co-creator Eric...
use music as a story aid to teach decision-making and music recognition. Instrumental music is used in various parts of the story to represent different objects, people, animals, or actions, in order to help the viewer distinguish between various options.
Shows such as Veggie Tales use a story as well as music to teach biblical and moral lessons to its viewers. In this form, songs are delivered as a way to tie the story together and help the viewer remember important aspects of the story.
Audio
Audio music recordings are also used prominently as a form of education. The website Songs for Teaching has many songs for teachers to use to help kids learn. Baby Genius is a very popular company that produces educational music CDs for children.The European Union funded an education project to encourage early language learning called Lullabies of Europe that gathered and recorded lullabies in 7 European languages. Some Television shows and DVD series also make Audio recordings of their songs to further learning.
-
- Sheet Music is sometimes used to aid in teaching when a song is new and the student can read music. Sheet music is usually used in conjunction with a CD or instrumentation.
Improvised
Improvisation is used in educational music in a few settings. Teachers might make up a song for times tables and teach it to the students, perhaps having students add parts. Some people also make up songs to remember things or to study for a test.Hip hop
Hip-hop demonstrates increasing relevance and success as a pedagogical tool in primary and secondary education. FlocabularyFlocabulary
Flocabulary is a publishing company that produces educational hip hop music and accompanying books for use in the classroom. Founded in 2004 by Blake Harrison and Alex Rappaport, the company takes a nontraditional approach to teaching vocabulary and United States history by integrating content into...
and Defined Mind, focusing primarily on vocabulary building for SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
and ACT (examination)
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
tests, have established a Web presence in addition to their textbooks. Smart Songs, concentrating on middle school, offers amusing and pertinent music video. Rhythm, Rhyme, Results
Rhythm, Rhyme, Results
Rhythm, Rhyme, Results is a company based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts that produces educational music in the hip-hop genre. Subjects of study have included language arts, science, math and social studies...
uses hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
music to help students learn lessons ranging from economics to photosynthesis.
Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA)
Integrating music with other subjects in education is done in some schools with the hope that the music and the other subjects will build off of one another. With this mutual growth, educators hope to enhance the overall quality and experiences of education.One program that integrates music in education is the Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program, which is done through the Kennedy Center. CETA is a partnership between the Kennedy Center and eight arts focus schools in the Washington D.C. area. They work together to produce staff that can integrate the arts across the curriculum. CETA aims to integrate music and other arts, such as dance and visual arts, into other scholastic areas, such as math and science “in order to teach and assess objectives in both the art form and the other subject area. This allows a simultaneous focus on creating, performing, and/or responding to the arts while still addressing content in other subject areas.”
The objectives of CETA are to:
- Develop the knowledge, skills, and beliefs in the arts among individual teachers in order for them to integrate the arts across the curriculum to enhance student learning,
- Purposefully network these individuals in their own schools and with teachers in participating schools to develop their understanding and confidence in integrating the arts across the curriculum,
- Provide an extensive system of internal and external support and resources to the teachers, schools, and the network, and
- Share knowledge and experiences with other educators and arts organizations both locally and nationally.
Arts Horizons
Arts Horizons is an arts in education organization that serves schools in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. They integrate music, as well as other arts, into learning to help children gain appreciation for the arts as well as stimulate children “through the arts to improve their proficiency in reading, writing and math.”
Arts Horizons has a variety of programs, including:
- Interactive live performances by professional artists from Broadway, Lincoln Center and around the world
- Artist in residence programs, custom-designed for your school, that make connections between the arts and the classroom curriculum
- Three Professional development inspires teachers to introduce innovative, creative approaches in the classroom and implement state learning standards.
An example of an assembly provided by Arts Horizons is the Peter and the Wolf program. In this program, an actor tells the tale of Peter and the Wolf while a woodwind quintet plays the music of Prokofiev to bring the story to life. After the story, students have a chance to learn about the woodwind instruments that were used in the story, as well as other woodwind instruments, and hear other folk tales.
Effects of music on education
CETA has concrete evidence on the following:- Rising student test scores on the state exams. For example, Fort Hunt Elementary progressed from “not being accredited” to being “provisionally accredited” to being “fully accredited” within the course of three years.
- Fewer student disciplinary referrals to the office.
- Higher attendance rates.
- Anecdotes by teachers about student learning in the arts and other subject areas.
There have been many studies on the use of music to aid in teaching, as well as how an individual who plays music fares in their education. Results show that using music when teaching children to read, for example, can help children learn how to read and give lasting results. A study on elementary students even showed that students with music training have overall better verbal memory, compared to the memory of those students of the same demographic without music training.