Is GCSE Music Valued Enough Across the UK?

Did you know that barely 1 in 20 pupils took music last year as a GCSE option? Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory. Music in any form such as instrumental or vocal is enjoyed by everyone. It creates harmony; even animals enjoy the rhythm created by these musical sounds.

How does this make you feel, knowing that music is slowly being distinguished. Did you know that less than 5% of musicians make a living? 91% percent of artists are undiscovered? We all may love to hear a bit of Ed Sheeran, but little do we know that many talented people are yet to be discovered.

I grew up with a surrounding of music. Music helps me concentrate and helped me massively when members of my family passed away. My family have history of music and I follow in their footsteps. I have been singing ever since I was a toddler, and I taught I am self-taught on piano.

One of the charities I have heard great things about is a charity called Music For All. Music For All is a charity that believes everybody should have the opportunity to learn to play music.

For every pound they raise, the musical instrument industry donates £2. This charity has helped so many people as sadly many people are not fortunate enough to have access to musical instruments or ways to help them to learn and discover. This is where this charity comes in.

One way I can raise money for this charity is by hosting a talent show. In October time, my friends and I are on about hosting a talent show to raise some money. This will raise money as people who are interested in music and talent can experience some of the talent from around our community. By charging a little money to watch, we can raise money quickly. Couldn’t you spare a little cash to help such a wonderful charity ?

GCSE music is such a remarkable option to take. During the course, you get to learn about successful artists such as Bach and Beethoven. The course consists of three parts, composing, performing and appraising. You get to create your own music, how cool is that? We can make a difference by getting GCSE music popular again, as it is being abolished slowly, and nobody is there to do nothing about it.

Most pupils don’t realise how much GCSE music can have an impact on our lives. Music helps us relax, whether it is a genre of classical or reggae. Unlike subjects such as science or physical education, music has an impact on our lives and can help us through hard times. For example, artists such as Ed Sheeran have songs for different emotions, such as romance, happiness, loss, heartbreak and sadness.

Artists like this create such powerful songs that connect us emotionally. This is one of the reasons we have our favourite songs. For example, my uncle was a very talented musician. He got me into music by artists such as James Taylor and and the Rolling Stones.

When my uncle passed away, I found it hard to cope as we both had a passion for music , so when he passed away I connected to songs by James Taylor, such as "Fire and Rain," "You've Got a Friend," and "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones, which turned out to be special songs to me.

Music graduates have a wide range of career options available to them both inside and outside the industry, including: performer, teacher, administrator, songwriter, conductor, composer, recording engineer, manager, promoter, or music publisher. The range of roles can seem quite endless!

One man that has inspired me a lot is a man called Tokio Myers. Tokio Myers was the winner of 2017’s Britain’s got talent. He is a very talented musician , and believes that stereotypes about music should be broken.

"I want to push the boundaries and break stereotypes about classical music," he explained. "We live in a time when you can no longer judge a book by its cover."

Myers is an inspiration to me, and he says that he would love to one day be able to set up his own music school to mentor and inspire other people. He believes that if he gets a real shot at being successful, he would love to do talks at school, to help disadvantaged people.

He is even willing to spend his winning money from Britain’s got talent to set up this school, which is really inspirational and incredible to me. Do you now understand just a few reasons why music is such a good option to take ? How it is a great impact in our life? How it helps us?

Thank you for reading.