Hey everybody. I am starting this blog with the sole purpose of advocating for the pursuement of increased awareness in regards to the benefits music offers in the development of children, teens, and young adults. I am an accomplished musician myself, having played guitar, bass, drums, and piano for many years. Having witnessed first hand, on multiple occasions, the positive effect that music can play in an individual’s life and development, it is vitally important to support the proliferation of musical education programs for those of all ages both in our local communities and on a more national scale through Congressional legislation. 

        Many non-profit organizations, led by VH1′s Save the Music Foundation are working hard, striving to improve upon and create music education programs in elementary, middle, and high schools across the nation. Since it was founded in 1997, the foundation has donated 37 million dollars in new instruments to over 1400 public schools across the nation. When the Save the Music Foundation was founded, it was in response to a large decline in public school funding for musical programs all over the United States. Throughout the last 30 years, America’s support of these programs had eroded to what many in the muscial community saw as an unacceptable level. A study done by the Music for All Foundation in 2004 showed that in the four years from 1999 to 2003, there was a 50 percent decline in students enrolled in musical programs in the state California. Over the same period there was also a 26.7 percent drop in the number of music teachers employed by the state. 

         California’s recent decrease in music education mirrors what has been sweeping the country for the last few decades. We as a society cannot let this continue. In the next few weeks this blog will detail in full not only why we should be concerned with this reality, but how we can prevent it from continuing.

       

Advertisement

1 Comment(s)

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI