Advocacy

Music is a core academic subject and a vital component of education for people of all ages. Years of research have proven music's intellectual, social, emotional, and physical benefits.

The standards we use in music education were developed by the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations during the early 1990s, under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The resulting document, titled National Standards for Arts Education was published by the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in 1994.

National Standards for Music Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

Below are a just a small sample of the web sites that offer information about the benefits of music study.

Music Friends: www.musicfriends.org
Support Music: www.supportmusic.com
School Music Matters: www.schoolmusicmatters.com

If you have suggestions of resources to add to this page or want to share your advocacy story, send an e-mail to VMEA through the Contact Us page.