Plato and Aristotle on music and music education: Lessons from ancient Greece

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Athenian views of music and music education as these are presented in the works of the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and to suggest ways in which the issues raised by them are still relevant for music education today. Their philosophical and practical views on music education, apart from being an excellent and very up-to-date source for advocacy, can also initiate thoughts and promote solutions on problems that still remain unsolved. During the study, of their works, the reader surprisingly realizes that these philosophers had stated 2,500 years ago what the music education community has, just recently, come to realize concerning the value of music education, children's musical development, and instructional strategies in music.