“I strongly believe that Music education
can help young people expand their horizons.”
- Dr. Marc Garneau
Marc Garneau's Music department offers four types of music courses:
Choir
Guitar
Keyboards
Wind Band
Find out more about what our music program has to offer by linking to our MCGI Music website.
Why study music?
Everyone knows that playing a musical instrument or singing is fun and entertaining.
But did you also know that performing music is scientifically proven to benefit people of all ages. Playing music positively affects the development of student’s cognitive skills. It builds confidence, self-discipline, intellect, and inspires creativity. Also playing music can increase productivity and help kids and teens connect socially with their peers.
A study by Patricia Shehan Campbell, Ph.D., of the University of Washington, called “Adolescents’ Expressed meanings of Music In and Out of School,” reveals the meaning and importance of music participation in the lives of middle and high school adolescents, including those enrolled and not enrolled in school music programs. Some of the findings conclude that teens:
- See music as their “social glue” and as a bridge for building acceptance and tolerance for people of different ages and cultural backgrounds
- Look at music as an opportunity in school for engagement as performers, composers and intelligent listeners—activities and qualities that appear to be deeply meaningful to them
- Associate playing music with music literacy, listening skills, motor ability, eye-hand coordination and heightened intellectual capabilities
- Believe music helps adolescents release or control emotions and helps coping with difficult situations such as peer pressure, substance abuse, pressures of study and family, the dynamics of friendships and social life, and the pain of loss or abuse
- Feel that playing music teaches self-discipline.
- Believe that playing music diminishes boundaries between people of different ethnic backgrounds, age groups and social interests
- Indicate making music provides the freedom for teens to just be themselves; to be different; to be something they thought they could never be; to be comfortable and relaxed in school and elsewhere in their lives
- Believe that music is an integral part of life, and that music reflects culture and society; there were 333 mentions of the skills that music education can provide access to, including the historical and cultural significance of music in civilizations and societies.
Find out more about Music: