Why Study Music?

 I.            MUSIC IS SCIENCE

It is exact, specific and it demands acoustics.  The music you hold in your hand is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody, and harmony all at once and with the exact control of time.

II.         MUSIC IS MATHEMATICAL

It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be computed in your brain instantaneously, not worked out on paper or at a computer terminal, and often in multiple combinations simultaneously

III.       MUSIC IS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Most of the terms are in Italian, German or French; and the notation is certainly not in English or Spanish but a highly developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas.  The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.

IV.       MUSIC IS HISTORY

Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creation, and many times the country or culture of the composer’s origin.

V.         MUSIC DEVELOPS INSIGHT AND DEMANDS RESEARCH

Patterns are analyzed, similarities and differences identified, and style and period characteristics observed.

VI.       MUSIC IS PHYSICAL EDUCATION

It requires fantastic coordination of fingers, hands, arms, legs, feet, lips, facial muscles, in addition to extraordinary control of the vocal, diaphragmatic, back, stomach and chest muscles which respond instantly to the sound coming out of the mouth, heard by the ear and interpreted by the mind.

VII.     MUSIC IS THESE THINGS – BUT, MOST OF ALL, MUSIC IS ART!

Music allows a human being to take all these dry, sometimes technically boring (but still difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion.  This is something that science cannot duplicate:  humanism, feeling, emotion – call it what you will!

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We teach music not because that we expect you are going to major in music;

not because we expect you to sing, play or listen to music all of your lives,

 and not only so that  you can relax and/or have fun.

We teach music so that  you will be human – will recognize beauty, be sensitive, have something to retain and use for enrichment forever, have more love,

compassion, and gentleness – in short, more LIFE!

Of what value will it be for you to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live?!