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Jade Ngo
Ms. Shaffer
English 1 GATE
27, January 2017

[The Benefits of Learning a Musical Instrument]

[Music is more than just notes and rhythm, the benefits of music will lead to a great impact in
life]

Passion/Learning Opportunity: (Which passion is your project helping your pursue? What do
you expect to learn from this project?)
I have a great passion in music. I have been practicing the cello, and drums since middle school
and have been craving to know more about the music world. I have always been told that
learning and/or playing a musical instrument makes you smarter, but I did not expect much from
my everyday routine of rehearsal except for improving my musical talents. For this years 20%
Project, I have decided to learn more about the fact that music makes you smarter, but ended
up learning many reasons why you should play a musical instrument. After doing some brief
research, I have decided that this is a perfect opportunity to introduce the joys and benefits of
playing a instrument. I will make tutorials of how to play the cello, violin, drums, guitar, and
possibly piano. I will try to post a video on weebly every 2 weeks on lessons on the different
instruments and tell students that if the presentation happen to change their mind in learning a
musical instrument, they are welcome to go to my weebly and learn from my videos.
Needs/Opportunities: (Why is your project worthwhile? Is it solving a problem that currently
exists? If so, how?)
I have been playing many musical instruments for a good time of my life. I find great joys in my
passion and believes that everyone should know how to play a musical instrument. One of the
greatest quotes I hear from many music instructors is Once you learn music, it will always stay
with you your entire life. Learning music is similar to learning a different language, except that
music is an international language that everyone will and can understand. There are many
people who underestimate the power of music and the great benefits it provides you. They do
not realize that you are surrounded by music, whether it is your favorite song on your playlist or

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the noisy crowd at the schools football games. I want to clarify to everyone that music is much
more than notes and rhythms. It is filled with care, love, and passion.
Audience/Client/Users: (Who will benefit from your project? How?)
My project is believed to benefit everyone worldwide, but the audience that I am especially
targeting are teens my age. School would be the same old routine everyday, they is not
anything different or out of the blue. When I started music, everything changed quite a bit. I
gained more friends, received better grades, and found my confidence to approach crowds.
Music helped improve many aspects of my personal life during my early teenage years. Now
that I am in high school and became mature, music was my getaway from all of the stress,
projects, and finals. Being a teenager is difficult, there are so many troubles that you can not
find a way to cope with. I believe that music will be an effective way to cope with many of the
regular teenage problems and drama. Not only music will most likely reduce your stress levels,
it will also improve your grades. High school is hard on grades because good letters are what
colleges are looking for. I believe that all teens should at least know the basics of music.
Timeline: (What tasks do you need to complete? Create a timeline that you and I will use to hold
you accountable.)

Date

Task
1. January 23 - 29
2. January 30 - 5
3. February 6 - 12
4. February 13 - 19
5. February 20 - 26
6. March 27 - 5
7. March 6 - 12
8. March 13 - 19
9. March 20 - 26
10. March 27 - 2
11. April 3 - 9
12. April 10 - 16
13. April 17 - 23
14. April 24 - 30
15. May 1 - 5

1. Project Proposal Due

2. Research on topic
3. Make a video of the basic of
rhythm (Introduction)
4. Edit video
5. Make a video (cello)
6. Edit video
7. Make a video (violin)
8. Edit video
9. Make a video (drums/Viking
drumline)
10. Edit video
11. Make a video (guitar)
12. Edit video
13. Make presentation and
practice
14. Practice Presentation, make
any finishing touches
15. Project Presentation (TED
talk)

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Product: (What is the final product or goal that you will be creating/accomplishing?)
I want to influence more teenagers to give thought into learning a musical instrument during
their teen years. I also want teenagers to appreciate music and using the opportunity learn a
musical instrument at our school Viking Band. Not only I am spreading the news of the benefits
of learning a musical instrument, I also would like to recruit people in YOSAL (Youth Orchestra
of Salinas). YOSAL was the first to introduce me in the music world and they are like second
family. Currently, we are looking to older students what are willing to put out their time and effort
to be part of the orchestra. I believe that YOSAL will play a big role in my product in the 20%
Project because I plan of interviewing and recording the orchestra in rehearsals to show to the
class how music not only benefited my teen years, but also the life of many other students.
Needs/Possible Issues: (What do you need to accomplish this project? What problems or
issues do you foresee that might cause you difficulty or challenge you?)
In order to perform this 20% Project, I will need to find a participant that will learn how to play a
musical instrument throughout the semester. I am planning to recording the participant over the
months and keep track of their math and science grade to see if they are improving, stabilizing,
or decelerating. I problem with this is trying to find a participant that is willing to learn a new
instrument, dedicated in practicing on his her own, and will not give up in the middle of the
lessons. If they do give up during the lab, it will ruin that whole part of my real life evidence. Not
only I would like to have a student learn a musical instrument, I would also take this as a chance
to make tutorials of how to play the cello, violin, drums, and guitar. I may also need to learn how
to edit a video so that I can show a good quality video to the class for the TED Talk. Since I am
not the best at technology, this may be difficult for me. I will also need to think of creative ways
to engage the audience with my presentation by adding some class participation and/or maybe
asking questions.
Conclusion: (Wrap up your thoughts and inspire us! Why should we be enthusiastic about your
project?)
Music is much more than notes and rhythm. It is another language. A language full of meaning,
feeling, and pleasure. It is a language that everyone can understand and communicate with.
Just knowing a learning a musical instrument will benefit you in many different ways. It will
improve your academic and social skills, it can reduce stress, create happy moments in life,
make you smarter, and much more. Teenagers have the tendency to not recognize or not
appreciate little things in life. Music may seem like a nice pastime to have, just to keep you
going, but the little knowledge of music may lead to the urge to play an instruments, which will
eventually lead to great benefits. By doing this project, I will help teens understand that

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everything grand and amazing all starts on the simple idea and will to do something. In my case,
it is music will lead to a future with great benefits.