Kids Love Music
Children’s Music Education is too important to be minimized or overlooked.
Articles and lists of why children need to be learning music are easily found on the net.
Everything from improved brains to social and educational benefits. So we can conclusively establish that learning to play a musical instrument is vital for everyone.
Yet, educational authorities have allowed music to be marginalized in many schools.
It seems kids have stopped listening to classical music or learning to play an orchestral instrument? And apparently, 75% of high school students in the US never or rarely take lessons in arts or music. This is not looking good.
I would like to see every school with orchestras, bands, choirs and a good supply of musically competent teachers. Because there’s nothing like enjoying an orchestra playing your favorite music to help you feel great as it rebuilds you from the inside out.
Anyway, what does Richard Gill the highly respected advocate for Children’s Music Education say?
“Don’t be fooled into thinking that because children are listening to pop music at school they are receiving a music education. Indeed, just listening to music of any kind is not music education. What’s more if you peel away the pop jargon, the music the kids are listening to is essentially a simple melody – lots of rhythm and just a waste of time.”
Call me grumpy perhaps, but I have to say, nothing annoys me more than seeing children choosing entertainment through technology.
For instance, kids on a device. IPhone, iPad, spending time scrolling through Facebook and Pinterest images while sorting out twitter feeds.
And there is more. In general education, formal learning is under fire. Have you read about the growing attitudes of some groups of children towards learning in general. A ten year old said this in our local newspaper.
“You Don’t Do School and you just live and learn things…I do whatever I feel like I want to do.”
Mmmm – he will struggle learning music with this attitude. Music is a privilege and a joy but does include attitudes of commitment and hard work.
So! How can we motivate kids to Learn To Play Music? And, how do we motivate the reluctant ones to do so?
Perhaps we might learn something from Youth Sports?
Many children participate in youth sports each year? Viewed as a rite of passage in a child’s development, parents believe that youth sports are good for their kids.
If the clichés that permeate sports broadcasts and locker room speeches are to be believed, sports participation teaches children the value of hard work, builds character, and develops future leaders.
Young children follow and like their sporting heroes and want to be as good as them.
I’m not going to beat about the bush. I think it’s time we considered this a model for Children’s Music Education? Finding music heroes for children to choose to like and follow? Asking this question: ‘Who is your absolute favourite classical musician?’
The real problem is so often children don’t know what music they don’t know about! The music they haven’t heard.
They don’t know what they’re missing until they hear it. And, by tapping into their inner core that loves music, and selecting music outside their experience which will inspire, encourage and motivate, kids can be encouraged to turn around for another look or listen or both. And then it’s: “Oh! I lOVE this music!”
As a former teacher and musician I realise that Kids think classical music is all too complicated and long. My conversation with Kids can go a little bit like this.
“Oh! Chrissy! You actually like Classical Music? Oh I’ll never listen to Classical Music! I don’t like it at all”
“Classical Music” I reply, “should be a grand excuse for stepping out of the world to share exquisite moments of sheer bliss. There’s the have to have music you love to listen to, over and over again. And the magnificent music that keeps us spellbound – the music that you don’t want to ever end.”
As my friend Ginny says: “With classical music you never know what you’re going to get. Some concerts are so exquisite I have to stop myself sobbing out loud.”
Teach Kids Music!
Anyway, moving on. Whether kids play an instrument, sing along, or enjoy the music played by others, every child deserves an adult who will understand how a child can become the very best they can possibly be.
To be sure, teachers who patiently sit through countless music recitals and question their sanity at encouraging those trumpet or violin lessons need do so no longer. A musical moment shared with even one other person, is a treasure that exists at no other time, in no other way.
To be honest I believe the way forward is in ‘Live Music’ being a part of everyone’s day to day. Yet it is not for the majority of people. So why be part of it? Why not we need to ask?”
Stephen P Brown says: “Think about what your plans are tonight or this weekend. Are there simply not enough concerts? Yes – I did just say that.”
When most people think of classical music they think of an orchestra at a large concert hall, but music is far greater than being confined to an exotic square box for a night out once a month or twice a year When someone comes home from work without anything in the calendar (i.e. kids’ sports or band practice, etc.), what do they do? They think of going to a movie, or a restaurant. Perhaps visit a museum at the weekend, or a walk in the park. Some like to annoy a neighbour or family, whilst others potter in the garden.
The more concerts we host, the more they will enter people’s minds; the more the press will include them in the “what to do” listings online and in their papers; the more they will be accessible at times and places more convenient than now. The more concerts you arrange, even for a handful of people, the more music grows to become an essential part of their lives, and at the moment that is truly a God-given gift that most people are missing out on.
Now, hold that thought! On this theme of ‘Go to a concert’ Everyone likes Street Concerts!
And, what can be more exciting for most people than the involvement in sharing live music, whether it be classical, jazz or pop!
Which brings me to the very recent street concert in Sydney. “Visions of Vienna”
The sails of the Sydney Opera House were alive with moving images of paintings by famous Austrian artists. And the music presented in the Opera House Concert Hall by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Austrian Conductor Ola Rudner was a colourful selection of polkas, waltzes and marches. As the music played the people in the street began to dance. It was wonderful, colourful and glamorous!
I think it’s time we found new and innovative ways to make music training more widely available to young people, and to start this during childhood.
When his Auntie left him a piano in her will, Welsh singer, Aled Jones decided he wanted to learn to play Beatles Songs on his very own piano. Needless to say this intriguing beginning began his career with the end result – Aled’s first self-titled album by the time he was 11.
We’ve reached the beginning of the end.
Which brings me to Kids’ Educational Stories about Music. You see, I can’t resist the opportunity to once again mention my children’s books. Just thought I’d throw in a plug for it while we’re all here.
Classical music! Coffee and a good book!
Sounds like a plan!
Cheers Chrissy
We have been traveling, and I started this post when we were still in England, visiting family. (Post about that to follow when I finish the posts about Spain.k) We got back late last night (actually early this morning), but I had promised to get back to two events in the earlier part of our Galicia visit, and here they are:
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| David and Pepe |
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| David and Terri |
FIRST: The Friday after our arrival -- April 11th -- We went with friends Terri and David to what is known as a "casa rural," but also includes a restaurant/bar and week-end entertainment. The name is Torre Vilariño, and it is co-owned by a cool hombre named Pepe. Alas, I don't know his full name, but here he is with David. And
here is the website, which has lovely pictures of the rooms where one can stay, as well as the restaurant and patio.
On this particular Friday, two main musicians were playing. We had dinner first (around 9:30), and the music started around 11:00 p.m. One of the musicians sang, both of them played, and they went through a whole gamut of popular songs from the 80s -- in English. They were really good. Here are a few pictures:
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| The main duo. |
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| The singer. |
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| Hearfelt guitar work. |
Occasionally a third musician joined them and sang along. They had a good sound! (I wish I had gotten the name of the group.)
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| Jamming! |
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The servers thought they were
pretty good, too. Singing along
with great gusto! |
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| Susana, server extraordinaire! |
The SECOND event was the
Fiesta Medieval that takes place each year at the end of
Semana Santa (Holy week). It used to only take place on Saturday, but now it has grown to include the entire week-end. We went both days. We love this fiesta, many locals dress up in costume, and small skits and re-enactments are put on in main streets and plazas. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:
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Processions . . . this is a special
galician bagpipe called a gaeto. |
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| A medieval damsel . . . |
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| A verrry young knight Templar! |
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| From one of the plazas. |
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| And the little ones on burros! |
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| Entertainers on stilts. |
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I don't know how
they do it! |
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This woman was really into
her role. |
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The ever-present
witches. |
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I suppose this is where the knights
collected their helmets. |
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To defend their king and queen.
(Isabel and Ferdinand). |
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| King of Castile y Leon. |
Another feature of this festival each year that we particularly enjoy is the showing of the raptors -- hawks, falcons, owls, ravens . . . Two trainers have taught them to do tricks, and they are always fascinating to watch, not to mention what beautiful birds they are:
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Such beautiful birds! I think they said
this unusual raven (with the white stripe) is distinctive to Galicia. |
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| The horned owl is so commanding! |
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But this hawk is pretty
impressive, too. |
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| One of the trainers and a snowy owl. |
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The other trainer watching
a falcon he released. |
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They finished off the show
with an interval when people
could pet one of the birds. |
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And who would you guess is petting that snowy owl?
Yup. Yours truly. It was really an awesome experience. |
So there you are: Two "local" events we thoroughly enjoyed. I hope you enjoyed them too.
How about you? Do you enjoy historical fairs and festivals? Have you ever petted a wild bird?
In five days, the authors are going to be loose! That's right, local authors from around Central Florida are going to be signing books and meeting fans in downtown Mount Dora.
Authors in the Park will take place Sunday, Dec 16th from 2PM to 6PM at the Mount Dora Community Bldg Green Room (520 N. Baker, Mt. Dora, FL).Why is it called
Authors in the Park if they are in a building? Well, this is our first event and we did not want to take a chance on the weather. We are literally across the street from well-known Donnelly Park and we will have a Welcome Booth set up outside, along with live music performed by the Round Lake Christian Church Youth Band.
Inside, we will have 9 authors representing a huge variety of genres for all ages. There is absolutely something for everyone.
We will also be an official Baby DJ drop off location, as heard on XL 106.7 FM. Who knows, maybe one of your favorite on-air personalities will put in an appearance!
Here is the amazing part: Local Mount Dora businesses, supporting the arts, have donated close to $1000 in gift certificates and merchandise to be used in our gift basket raffle. That means we will have 10 baskets with almost $100 worth of gifts in each. Winning is simple, but you have to attend to win. For every $5 you spend with one of the
Authors in the Park, you get one raffle entry. Even if you don't win a basket, you still win with a great book!
Check out the authors scheduled for Sunday:
Janet Beasley
Julie Compton
Jean E. Lane
Amy I. Long
Mark Miller
Theresa Oliver
Amy Sellers
C. Kevin Thompson
Rebecca Wilson-Shore
Can you believe that talent? Who would have thought so many gifted authors live right next door?
Here's some of the fine print. The event is presented by
JLB Creatives and
MillerWords.com. It is sponsored by the Mount Dora Library Association (
www.MountDoraLibrary.org). We would like to thank the City of Mount Dora Parks & Rec Department for their excellent cooperation. We would also like to thank all of the local businesses that have generously donated to our gift basket raffle:
Amy Sellers Art Gallery, Barrel of Books and Games, Copacabana Cuban Cafe, Cupcake Delights, Debbie's Dog Treats, The Frog and Monkey, Gold in Art Jewelers, High Five Frozen Yogurt, Home & Garden Treasures, KaDee Kay Gourmet Kitchen Products, Ken's Place, Long & Scott's Farm, The Lost Parrot, Maggie's Attic, Merrill's Market, Mt. Dora Veterinary Clinic, Mt. Plymouth IGA, Oakwood Smokehouse, The Olde Clock Shoppe, One Flight Up, Permanent Solution Hair Salon, Race Car Diner, Stoneybrooke Publix, Whispering Winds, The Windsor Rose Tea Room
Please visit
to learn more about the authors and our supporters.
Check out the Facebook event page
and let us know you're coming!
What more can I say? We hope to see you there!
Merry Christmas
and Happy Holidays!
There were times this election season that I thought if I ever heard the name "Joe" again I might commit someone grievous bodily harm, particularly if that name were followed by "the" and an occupation of any sort and used in the context of a political discourse.
But over the weekend, the Webmeister and I revisited our college days and spent some time savoring an altogether different type of Joe. Pre-November 4th, he would have been called "Joe the Pianist", but now that we're thankfully past that whole rigmarole, we'll just call him the amazingly awesome Joe Jackson.
He played a wonderful mix of old favorites and songs from his new album, Rain. And guess where he's living these days? One of my favorite cities, Berlin. Unlike his plumbing namesake, this Joe is witty and incredibly talented.
The highlight for me was when he played one of my favorite songs of his as the encore:
In other news:
1) It was the Webmeister's bday recently and one of his gifts was the complete DVD set of SIX FEET UNDER. I'd never seen it, but it's one of TWM's fave shows. Well, I've been fighting off (unsuccessfully) this really awful head cold, so we sat around all weekend and watched the entire first season. It's so awesome. I'm hooked. It's a good thing TWM is going back to Boston soon or I'd never get any work done.
2) Some animal has left something really gross and smelly in the garden. Guess who decided that it smells like the sweetest perfume and it must be rolled in?
3) I'm writing as a boy for the first time and I love it. I just have to keep reminding myself to shut up and stop being as wordy as I am when I'm a girl.
Okay, time for my date with Jon Stewart!
While we were out in California, I got a voicemail from my sister thanking me for letting she and her husband stay at my house while their apartment was being painted and asking if as a thank you present we wanted to attend a Bruce Springsteen concert with them.
We thought about it for like - A NANOSECOND. I'm embarrassed to say that it had been 23 years since the last time I'd seen Bruce, and now I'm wondering why the heck I left it so long. It was AWESOME.
My sister's friend, Charlie Giordano is now playing keyboards for with the E-Street Band, and thanks to him and his wife Sarah we had passes to the E-Street lounge, where we and about a few hundred others were able to hang out and get very expensive beers before the show. We also got to meet with their adorable little daughter who is friends with my nephew, D, and who was seeing her daddy perform live on stage with the Boss for the first time. She had her very own pair of very cool ear protectors and modeled them for us.
Then it was out to the floor!
The concert started an hour late, but they played non-stop for 3 1/2 hours. It poured down with rain for about ten minutes towards the end, but none of us cared.
One of the things I love the most is seeing a performance by someone who genuinely loves performing.
It was like that when I saw Roger Waters last summer and it was like that with Bruce. It goes back to what I tell kids when I go to speak in schools - find a way to make a living out of your passion, because you'll be better at it and it'll make it much more enjoyable to get up in the morning and go to work. There's an energy, a magic, that's created when all these musicians perform together on stage with Bruce leading the festivities.
They don't call him "The Boss" for nothing.
