Introit

Why Do So Many Schools Treat Music as a Non-Core Subject?

Below you will find a video from Daniel Levitin of McGill University, providing some discourse on the importance of music to human development, including the interplay of music and movement of the body, as well as neuroscience. We continue to learn so much about how the brain works, yet, in so many of our schools we have yet to apply this research to our programs. For example, based on Levitin's research (you can read his book on This is Your Brain on Music), I would pose the question: "Why do so many schools treat music as a non-core subject?" It seems counter-productive, and it would support Sir Ken Robinson's assertion that schools today kill creativity. Furthermore, if Dan Pink (blog) is right in asserting that creativity should be a hallmark of a 21st-century education, then why aren't more schools exploring this?

Right-Brained Thinking...In Song

Two years ago, when we were reading Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, I was inspired to create myself...in song. Why not? It forced me to be creative in a way that I wouldn't normally undertake!

I wanted something that would emphasize my "sunny disposition," highlight the rhythm of my work day and work habits, but also provide the listener with an audible shift to a moment when all my synapses are firing - when I do my best work, when I am most "harmonious." In other words, what Pink might term "symphony."

I contacted a friend of mine who creates music and performs in clubs at times, and I verbalized to him the aforementioned qualities. I had received plenty of training in literary intertextuality, but never in music! He did a fantastic job setting me to music, which you can listen to by clicking the link below.

Download 01 Track 1