Music and Sport. Two fundamental parts of anyone’s life. But which is more important? A question which may prove near impossible to answer as the pros and cons of each are weighed. But that may Just be the point. For on one hand there is sport, a feat which when undertaken can push an individual to their physical and mental peak. It can also provide an escape from everyday stresses, and allow that individual to pour out these stresses in a positive and productive manner.
Yet on the other side of the spectrum there is music, a truly admirable pursuit that can allow anyone to express their creative side, and create an art form that sparks inspiration for not only themselves but countless others among them. Undertaking a sport encourages and requires top mental and physical performance. It allows people to test their skills in a very friendly and constructive way against others in their chosen field. The fact that most, if not all sports require the undertaker to be fit physically is an obvious benefit in itself.
People can live longer, healthier and ultimately more fulfilling lives by means of regular exercise. Not only this, but there is also a positive social aspect to sport which cannot be overlooked. Team sports allow participants to meet a wide range of new people, and learn the invaluable skill of working together to meet a common goal. The benefits of playing a sport can be adeptly summed up by Sue Castle, an Executive Producer of PBS Sports, who said “The evidence supporting sports participation for young people is overwhelming…
It has the power to combat everything from racism to low self-image, to the high-school drop-out rate” which illustrates the immense power sports can have to change a young person’s life for the better, to combat everything negative a hill’s world, and to give hope for a better life. A lot of sports also require a great deal of mental approaches, such as the obvious thought strategy required for the game of chess, or the more subtle yet still prominent tactics required for competitive sports such as rugby or football. These skills are transferable into the real world and a use in day to day life.
Learning to think in this manner will other help individuals to succeed outside of the playing field, and ultimately achieve a lot more in their lives. The statistics for the benefits of playing a sport are wide and many. For instance, an investigation by the Woman’s Sports Foundation of the United States found that female’s high school athletes are 92% less likely to get involved with drugs 80% less likely to get pregnant and 3 times more likely to graduate than non-athletes. That is a staggering fugue, and a stunning example of the sheer beneficial effectiveness playing a sport can have on an individual.
The advantageous aspects of sport are beyond debate, and as such it is a worthy field for any individual to take up. Playing a musical instrument can be Just a worthy an undertaking as playing a sport. There is a lot of cross over in the benefits of the two fields, the encouragement of creativity and development of mental ability strong aspects in both. Like sports, Music vs. Sport, a Superfluous Rivalry By peaceable Musicians are taught to use their brains regularly as they strive for precision and perfection in the mastery of the instrument they have chosen.
To learn how to and play instruments the musicians themselves often achieve at a higher academic level than they would have otherwise. A 2009 study based in Switzerland looked at the correlation in academic achievement between children who were involved in music ND those who weren’t. It concluded that “participation in music correlates with higher academic performance in elementary grades” with a clear positive relationship between the two. Music is also an expedient creative output.
Musicians are able to express themselves to others in a way they might never have been able to before, sharing a little bit of themselves with their audiences. In that sense it can be pinnacle in the social development of people ranging from whether they are shy, and might not talk to other’s much, or are completely incapable of expressing themselves in any way other than musically. In that sense them learning to play an instrument to them could be a miracle beyond belief. A musician’s music can become a sort of voice, a way for them to speak to the world.
Famous Jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker once said “Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn” showing how music is essentially a way of expressing one’s inner personality to the outer world, giving them an insight into who the musician truly is as a human being. The one thing music has that is perhaps not so prominent in sport is the ability of musicians to inspire a great deal of others who do not even have to be involved with music themselves.
Music becomes a channel for ideas to be spread into audiences, and hence can positively affect a huge amount of people when the ideas in themselves are positive. In today’s culture a hit song can reach millions within days of it’s release. And all those people are listening intently to what a song’s lyrics are saying, and the style of music that has been presented. Such an influence would be unheard of fifty years ago, and as such can and has been used as a driving Orca to persuade listeners on current and important social issues at the time of a songs release.
Music and Sport are two truly expedient areas that provide countless benefits to those involved with them, with very little if any downsides. Both encourage mental success and a higher concentration amongst those encompassed. Involvement in sport produces physical wellbeing and a greater development of social skills. Music gives a sense of creative outflow to its inductees, and can allow them to release their own personal voice. Both offer invaluable life skills and similar career prospects: a elect talented few making it big on the world stage, or those with a real passion staying on to teach the next generation.
But in the end which one is really more useful? A question which I believe cannot be answered. The areas are simply too different, each offering its own unique benefits. So maybe instead the question to be asked is, why not take up both fields? Reap the benefits of both, which collectively produce double the amount of advantages. Two fields which are so beneficial on their own, and exponentially more helpful when used in conjunction. An infinitesimal amount of benefits to offer to anyone wishing study them.
With sports providing physical and social benefits, and music providing a creative outflow that can positively influence the musician and the audiences they share themselves with, and both encouraging academic brilliance, there is a lot to be said about either field. Fields that are, in my opinion, as equally as important as each other in the sheer amount of positive use they offer any undertaker. And brilliant though each field is on its own, I’m sure that a combination of the two will produce individuals that are truly well equipped to handle the world, a live an overall more fulfilling and happy life.
