I grew up around music. My dad was once a guitar teacher, and although he doesn’t read music and does not have formal education in the subject, he taught for many years by ear. He also built guitars, banjos, mandolins and more.
When we were young, our parents got us a piano. This was a big, ancient-looking piano that was most likely just old-looking and not all that expensive. We took piano lessons because my grandfather had visions of us playing at parties. As the oldest, I went first. I couldn’t stand them and quit. I’ve never been a hit at parties anyway. My sister and brother continued on.
All three of us ended up picking up other instruments as time went on. I started playing the French horn when I was eleven, and two days ago I marched with it in a parade with my five-year-old. My brother is in finance and lives in a small apartment but makes room for his drum kit. He went through jazz studies before settling into the financial world. My sister lives in a little apartment in England and true to her quirky nature, decided to move a piano into her small space so that she could play.
Much as been said about the connections between music and math, and I will talk about those in my next post. However, as schools cut music budgets and music moves from a regular part of life to something that is done infrequently, if at all, I am sad. I hold a story time at work and we sing, and so many adults feel like they can’t “do” music, not even for their small children.
You may not be able to teach your children piano or clarinet, but by integrating some singing, some listening, and potential music lessons in the future, you’ll develop your child’s appreciation of music. Whether they simply love listening to it as an adult or continue to play an instrument far into the future, I think that love and enjoyment are the best reasons to introduce music to your child. Music is a lifelong pleasure, and it can start when your child is very young.