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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Does Mastering Fractions Improve Musical Performance and Understanding? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher

Does Mastering Fractions Improve Musical Performance and Understanding? - Teacher in a Strange Land - Education Week Teacher:


Does Mastering Fractions Improve Musical Performance and Understanding?

As a professional flutist, I frequently play for weddings, funerals and other life-transition occasions. Once, after sharing some melancholy Irish ballads and Van Morrison tunes at a contemporary's funeral, his brother approached, wiping his eyes, and said "I was fine until you started playing--and then I lost it."
And I thought--no, you weren't fine. Until the music began, and made it possible for you to release your full humanity and experience your loss.
And there, in a nutshell, is the reason all schools ought to incorporate music programs: because music truly is a universal language, and the arts are our must potent means of human expression. Not because student musicians get higher test scores.
Yesterday, the Learning First Alliance asked Can Arts Education Help Close the Achievement Gap? I appreciate