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Music

Plato might have been on to something when he said: “Music gives wings to the mind and flight to the imagination”

This is why music is such an essential and indispensable element of our students’ education at TKHC. Students take part in the activities of performing, composing, listening and analysing with all this being supported by the latest technology. Playing together, performing and making up music is the best way to advance students towards further qualifications and to extend their musical enjoyment for the rest of their life.

Music is more than just a source of cultural pride and listening pleasure. It is an essential aspect of education as it embodies the ideals that we would like to impart to our students. Let’s consider some points.

Music makes abstract ideas concrete – and that forces us to develop several critical cognitive skills such as memory and pattern recognition. Musicians memorise the melodies of musical pieces as well as the individual notes that make the whole melodic sequence. With that scope, music then teaches us the language of expression. It’s this expression and expressiveness achieved during the overall musical performance that students experience that helps them understand their own social and emotional development.

Music teaches cooperative behaviour, an essential skill we have been teaching our children ever since they entered school. Playing music teaches students the importance of choice and develops students’ voice. It allows them to have a conversation with each other, plan and execute together, and listen to each other. Any group must cooperate and work together to achieve its goals. Music is inclusive and interactive. It celebrates the skills of an individual – but also marks the skills of a group. Playing music allows us to interact with other musicians – not just live, but vicariously as well.

Music improves brain cognition. Music enhances memory – almost by default as you need to memorise notes to play music. Musicians’ brains have more grey matter and also an increased amount of white matter. They also tend to have better auditory skills andcognitive flexibility (mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts). Musicians also have better motor control, spatial coordination and auditory processing.