CPE ESSAY SAMPLE ON MUSIC

CPE ESSAY SAMPLE ON MUSIC

Taken from: http://cpesamplewritings.blogspot.com.es/2015/03/cpe-essay-sample-2012-exam.html

Write an essay summarising and evaluating the key points from both texts. Use your own words throughout as far as possible, and include you own ideas in your answers.  

The effects of music

We humans are a musical species no less than a linguistic one. This takes many different forms. All of us (with very few exceptions) can perceive music, harmony and rhythm. We integrate all of these using many different parts of the brain. And to this largely unconscious appreciation of music is added an often intense and profound emotional reaction. Shakespeare referred to music as the "food of love", and for most people their lives would be poorer without music. Music is capable of stimulating both passion and compassion, speaking to our very core and taking us to the heights and depths of emotion.

Music in schools? 

There is little doubt that regular exposure to music, and especially active participation in music, may stimulate development of other abilities. Some argue that music is as important educationally as reading or writing, and suggest that a musical education advantages those with mathematical aptitude. What people do not agree about, however, is which kind of music is the most educationally valuable. Some regard classical music as the only kind of music that should be taught in schools. However, leaving aside the problem of defining "classical" in different cultural contexts, there is a strong case that all types of music are equally valid in stimulating an individual's potential.

Write your essay. (220-280 words)


THE POWER OF MUSIC

It is widely acknowledged that music has been ingrained in our brains since primeval times, accompanying  mankind  throughout history as a core stimulus. Both texts analyse its global effects on  human psyche and personal development, although from different perspectives.

According to the first passage, not only does music enrich our sensorial experience, but it may also be regarded as vital to facilitate emotional intelligence, social relationships and even moral sensitivity.  Not surprisingly, the author pinpoints its universal power when it comes to awakening a wide range of feelings, which is an influence from which few can escape.

In contrast, the second text seems to be biased towards convincing the readers of the usefulness of melodic sense in order to enhance  those cognitive skills which are primordial to achieve academic success, including logical and abstract reasoning.  Moreover, it argues that schools should devote as much attention to music as to traditional subjects, on the basis of its interaction with a wide range of abilities, to whose improvement it significantly contributes. As a case in point, dexterity with numbers is said to be promoted by the sense of rhythm that the awareness and study of musical patterns provide.

On the whole, it may be stated that both approaches to music are not incompatible, as its use as a tool to favour mental balance and cultural understanding does not necessarily hinder the possibilities of different kinds of songs to allow for faster advancement of school performance.  However, relegating it to a practical instrument  to reach the most valued goals within a materialistic society may lead to a lack of respect for the emotional side of music, thus annihilating its presumed transversal character as a hallmark of our mind.

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