On the Musical Education of Children.
Sep. 5th, 2014 10:59 amMy children, especially. :) I started writing this as a comment to a post by
redqueenofevil, but decided I'd like to make it a post and throw it open to more potential input.
I REALLY want my kids to be huge music fans, like I was and am. I so vividly remember being fairly young, spending hours with my finger on the pause button of the tape deck to record favorite songs from FM radio, then taking the time to transcribe the lyrics, making mix tapes (especially once I got my first cd player and started a cd collection), eventually learning to play stuff on the guitar... good times, so formative and seminal for me. And that was then! It's such a different world now, where you can listen to pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want, and get deliberately exposed to new stuff as often as you like as well instead of just waiting for things catch your ear on the radio. It's a fantastic time to be a fan of music, so I hope they take advantage, you know?
But so far, though they like music, they don't really listen to it on their own. There's music when we're in the car, but not too much around the house most of the time. And in the car we listen to things the wife and I both enjoy, which mainly means 70s-80s AOR, some modern pop/rock, and country. I lean towards some heavier stuff personally, so I typically give them some 80s hair metal when I take them places alone--I had Amy headbanging to some Metallica the other day. :) But in general, music is background for them, not really a focus, you know? I'll hear them singing a melody from something we've listened to, or singing along to something on the radio sometimes, and I know some songs that they consider favorites (Hermione likes Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie"--NICE), but I wouldn't say they know much about particular artists and how music works in terms of albums and singles and all that. I have a few small mp3 players that they play with now and then, and Hermione has her tablet that she could use to play music. But they don't, really. And Hermione in particular--she's such a sensitive person, I think music could speak to her so strongly, and help her deal with some of her darker emotions. It's a tool I want them all to have, you know?
So I guess this is a question I'm asking: What might be a good way to get them more into enjoying and learning about recorded music? Maybe getting a little desktop stereo system for their bedroom so they can put on some tunes while they play in there? Maybe giving them lessons, for want of a better term, on classic and modern music and artists and albums? My wife is doing a great job with their practical education (we homeschool, for the benefit of anyone who wasn't aware), and she absolutely considers musical education crucial in terms of learning to read music and play an instrument. But for me consumption is a huge part of the creative process, you know? If you want to write well, read much and widely--if you want to be a musician, immerse yourself in other folks' music. Maybe it's just that they don't realize they have the ability to listen to music whenever they want.
Anyway, just one of the areas of their development I need to take more responsibility for, since I'm a lot more into it than the wife is. Gotta step this stuff up. :)
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I REALLY want my kids to be huge music fans, like I was and am. I so vividly remember being fairly young, spending hours with my finger on the pause button of the tape deck to record favorite songs from FM radio, then taking the time to transcribe the lyrics, making mix tapes (especially once I got my first cd player and started a cd collection), eventually learning to play stuff on the guitar... good times, so formative and seminal for me. And that was then! It's such a different world now, where you can listen to pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want, and get deliberately exposed to new stuff as often as you like as well instead of just waiting for things catch your ear on the radio. It's a fantastic time to be a fan of music, so I hope they take advantage, you know?
But so far, though they like music, they don't really listen to it on their own. There's music when we're in the car, but not too much around the house most of the time. And in the car we listen to things the wife and I both enjoy, which mainly means 70s-80s AOR, some modern pop/rock, and country. I lean towards some heavier stuff personally, so I typically give them some 80s hair metal when I take them places alone--I had Amy headbanging to some Metallica the other day. :) But in general, music is background for them, not really a focus, you know? I'll hear them singing a melody from something we've listened to, or singing along to something on the radio sometimes, and I know some songs that they consider favorites (Hermione likes Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie"--NICE), but I wouldn't say they know much about particular artists and how music works in terms of albums and singles and all that. I have a few small mp3 players that they play with now and then, and Hermione has her tablet that she could use to play music. But they don't, really. And Hermione in particular--she's such a sensitive person, I think music could speak to her so strongly, and help her deal with some of her darker emotions. It's a tool I want them all to have, you know?
So I guess this is a question I'm asking: What might be a good way to get them more into enjoying and learning about recorded music? Maybe getting a little desktop stereo system for their bedroom so they can put on some tunes while they play in there? Maybe giving them lessons, for want of a better term, on classic and modern music and artists and albums? My wife is doing a great job with their practical education (we homeschool, for the benefit of anyone who wasn't aware), and she absolutely considers musical education crucial in terms of learning to read music and play an instrument. But for me consumption is a huge part of the creative process, you know? If you want to write well, read much and widely--if you want to be a musician, immerse yourself in other folks' music. Maybe it's just that they don't realize they have the ability to listen to music whenever they want.
Anyway, just one of the areas of their development I need to take more responsibility for, since I'm a lot more into it than the wife is. Gotta step this stuff up. :)