"School band." What were the first images that came to mind when you read those words? The group of students no one really noticed during football games? The famous lines "This one time at band camp…"?

In today's academic society, elementary through high school band programs are generally not given their deserved attention or appreciation. This lack of attention is easily derived from the constant practice of underfunding musical programs. State- and nationwide, music curriculums and ensembles are among the first to have their budgets cut and face certain death in their own schools.

Why is this allowed to happen? Basically, music is seen as an accessory, when in fact it is practically necessary. As a result, teachers and programs that are not supplied with sufficient money cannot correctly teach this ancient art form in the classroom.

The two most valued -- and funded -- subjects in primary education are English and mathematics, perhaps with foreign language, science and physical education next in the pecking order.

Music can and does involve all of these subjects. The raw nature of music is described and translated in mathematical terms that involve addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions and rhythmical algebra; all of these mathematical concepts are considered both basic and essential.

As a musician, one learns how to interpret what is being suggested by musical notation and auditory passages, including major pieces of work that are known to evoke certain themes and emotions in their listeners, just like the study of English and its literature.

Music is a foreign language. It is written with completely different symbols and often words and requires musicians to recognize and produce different sounds, chord combinations and note progressions.

A performer must understand how his or her instrument works, as well as the foundations of sound production. Knowledge of such topics entails comprehending scientific ideas such as harmonic oscillations, intermixing sound waves, intonation theory, weather-to-material relationships and room acoustics.

On the physical side, an experienced musician has developed muscles of the respiratory and pulmonary systems and hands and arms. An even greater degree of physical fitness is needed for the demands of drum corps-style marching band.

Overall, music is not about producing notes on a page -- computers can easily do that. It is the 100 percent mental focus and understanding required of the emotion that make music.

In other words, what doesn't music include? Every subject in school calls for either the "mathy" or "arty" side of the brain; music needs both sides of the brain as well as minor physical demands in order to be performed.

Music has to be one of the most complex studies known to man, so why should it be so easily ignored in a scholastic setting? Music is not some extracurricular "liberal art," but a composite of all the basic scholastic studies taken even one step further, giving the illusion of a completely detached field of study.

The solution to funding is simple: Music is composed of elements of all other funded subjects, so shouldn't it receive at least the same amount of monetary and intellectual attention as, if not more than, these other subjects?

Cory Robles is a senior at Temecula Valley High School.