Competition in Music Education: Changing the Approach for the Student’s Benefit

An influential component of music in modern schools is the participation in competition. The tradition of competition in music education is not a recent invention, but its longstanding history does not guarantee its effectiveness in teaching music to students. Competition in music does provide positive outcomes for students. While exploring these positive outcomes of competition, consideration must be given to the positive effects of competition that are directly benefiting the students and specifically their musical education. The approach that is taken to competition in music education attempts to create positive outcomes, but the nature of competition often distorts students’ views of music and diminishes their learning of and about music. If too much emphasis is placed on competition, which is not uncommon, then the nature of music can quickly lose its identity as a form of art. Since competition in music has benefits, it should not be completely removed from music education. However, since competition in music also has drawbacks, those involved in music education should implement the changes that would benefit the students and their education.