What are the advantages and disadvantages of a musical education ...

"To teach a child an instrument without first giving him preparatory training and without
developing singing, reading and dictating to the highest level along with the playing is to
build upon sand” (Kodaly cited in Estrella, 2005).
The voice is the most commonly used instrument in the ‘Kodaly Approach’. He believed that
singing was the best foundation for any musician and that singing was just as natural an
activity as speaking. Kodaly believed in the importance of folk music and thought that it was
important to have an understanding of music from around the world. Many folk songs are
pentatonic; they only use five notes in the scale therefore making them easy to sing. Kodaly
had a strong belief that if children were educated in music and had sufficient training that it
would help them in other subjects included in the curriculum. Kodaly’s theory is backed up
by the fact that there is still new evidence coming out and experiments taking place today to
prove that music can have a positive contribution to other areas of the curriculum. ‘Music
training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract
reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science’ (Borgese, 2010).
Dr. Shinichi Suzuki was born in Japan in 1898. He developed an approach to music education
called the ‘Suzuki’ method but it is also commonly known as the ‘mother-tongue’ approach.
Suzuki started to develop this approach while on a trip to Germany. He observed that the
children in Germany had no difficulty in learning the German language just as children
brought up in Japan had no difficulty in learning Japanese. The reason that the children found
it easy to learn the language was because it was their mother tongue. Suzuki then came to the
conclusion that if all children can learn their mother tongue due to the fact that it is
introduced to them from birth then all children could develop a musical ability if brought up
in the correct environment.
"Musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. Any child who
is properly trained can develop musical ability just as all children develop the ability to
speak their mother tongue. The potential of every child is unlimited" (Suzuki cited in Estrella,
2005).
The fact that human beings can learn to speak their mother tongue is never thought of as a
particularly remarkable achievement, this is due to the fact that the ability comes naturally.
This implies that if something is introduced from birth children will have the ability to pick it
up without difficulty. ‘We have lived without giving special thought to being able to speak
one language as though it were a matter of fact. However it is a wonderful fact. Consider
learning another language. What hardship it involves! Therefore, being able to fluently speak
the mother tongue is a wonderful ability’ (Kataoka, 1997, p.7).
Music Education in Regard to Children CM6002 Emily McGregor 163930
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