Role of Music in the Society (Essay Sample)

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Role of Music in Community Development
Topic Statement
Since ancient times, music has been used in various communities not only for entertainment purposes but also to educate members on important aspects of life. Through music, different people from different communities have been brought together in ceremonies where they freely mingle and exchange ideas, consequently resulting in formation of new and cementing of already existing friendship bonds. My study on how music has enhanced community development will incorporate findings from previous research works that yielded positive results that relate to my study. Also, through my incorporation of both past and recent studies, I seek to determine the historical trends in the role of music on community development.
Literature Review
Reviews of the role of music in development have often focused on the effect of music on the physical and mental health on children and adults (Parbery-Clark 5; Hanna-Pladdy and Alicia 11). Particularly, these studies have sought to determine the ways in which music programs for young people, children and adults could be harnessed into the aspect of development. There appears to be a common pattern in these studies with regard to the kind of themes that have been explored. Some of the themes revolve around the capacity of music programs to foster a common culture, the role of music in harnessing social action, and the relationship between music and ethics.
A range of studies have explored the ways in which music may be used as a tool of social development; harnessing the diverse skills, talents, knowledge and other abilities of groups towards a singular purpose. Case reviews have explored cases where music has created artificial communities with a clearly identifiable work ethic and objectives (Southgate et al 6; Kraus Nina and Bharath 12). Such examples range from Australian pop culture to the emergent of secret organizations that use specific anthems to unite their members towards specified goals. Music programs for growing children can be used to inculcate the value of teamwork and cooperation among the young. They help to expand the worldview of children from the constricted views defined by family and parents to a world of peers and other members.
For young children, these programs, according to a range of studies, could be exploited in various ways to provide the force for positive personality development. According to some studies, music programs for children are important tools for socialization. Character and ethics develop in accordance with the environment in which a child grows. Reality and personality, according to these studies, are social constructs. Children often learn to use various aspects of development for the purposes of tested their value and position in the world. Some of these studies focus on the role of music programs as a means of creating a virtual world in which values, character, associations, priorities, and identity is constructed.
The synergies of character, personality, and ethics as created by music could be appropriated for the purposes of development. Among adult groups, one of the roles of music programs is the collating of energies towards a singular or common objective. The value of music might be seen in terms of its capacity to overcome conflicts in order to create an enabling environment within which forms of social development take place. Music programs for adults often involve the development of themes and messages that provide some kind of dynamo to drive social development. Naturally, adults have a higher sense of independence as compared to children. In the opinion of development analysts, this sense of independence often works at their disadvantage in the sense that it fails to recognize the opportunities that are resident in interdependent associations.
As such the ...