Just some information we found interesting:

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WHY IS IT THAT SPORTS ARE MORE VALUED THAN THE ARTS?

Now, before parents of little leaguers or colleagues who like sports start to attack, I AM NOT AGAINST SPORTS, but, I against the fact that sports always seem to win out over other things.

Consider if you will about sports and music instruction:

1. How many musicians do you hear about breaking bones or losing teeth and getting black and blue from playing their instrument?

2. How many 40 or older age people do you still see playing soccer? baseball? football? When too old to play sports any more YOU CAN still play the instrument you learned. Music is lifelong, sports have a shelf life.

3. With music you don't always need expensive equiment every season or year. Once you have the instrument you're set. The only upgrades to learning an instrument is purchasing new music materials as needed -- and for the minimal cost average around $30 a year for materia s is NOTHING compared to the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars that get laid out for kids sports.

Pro sports individuals may argue about team work and learning to win/lose and building physical activity that is needed into players. What about the benefits of music in those areas?

Physicalness -- involves posture and strength of wrist, arm and fingers to play well. It also involves stamina in the sense of focus and mental ability and challenge in reading music and developing concepts which are key to strategy building, language development and higher academic success. Sports can not do that. Academics
with sports is about scholarships for who can kick higher, run faster or throw farther. What happens when the shoulder goes out? The knee breaks? the back is injured? It's all gone. You could injure your back, break your knees and your child still play most instruments. In sports you get dropped or sidelined.

Team work -- music lessons encourages appreciation for those who are not as far as one's self AS WELL AS the appreciation for those
who are more advanced and having something to work towards accomplishing. Musicians also learn to be poised in group settings, professional in their appearance and mannerisms, as well groomed and neat and goal setters/reachers. These too are very valuable skills for the professional world and life.

Winning, Losing or Tie -- when music students win, they accomplish goals and have the knowledge they gain by learning to play a piece well. Losing does not exist in music because everyone wins through the enjoyment and satisfaction it brings. There is no competition to be faster, stronger or better than anyone else. Music exists simply to enjoy.

If I had to guess, I'd say that for every 1,000 kids that are in a little league type sport program, maybe only 1 actually excels enough to play in the pro leagues when they are adult. If you had 1,000 kids that are in private music lessons you'll have various degrees of talent and ability. Everyone of those 1,000 music students will still be able to appreciate, enjoy and play music into adulthood, retirement and some as grandparents.

Perhaps sports get more attention because we pay our athletes millions in this country and teachers and musicians very little to nothing in comparison. As for me, I'll take music. When I'm retired and old, I will still have my piano. The guy down the street who did little league and school sports, he'll just be sitting there on the sidelines and unable to play sports.

--Kelly

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