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Music moves us. Our bodies vibrate to different sounds and resonate to different frequencies, keys and instruments. Some jangle our nerves, others lift and delight us. What music moves or soothes you?
For those of us who are musicians, music is everywhere. Sitting in a meeting with the sound of an air conditioner, fan, or some other industrial noise can be very distracting because we cannot help but be moved by the sounds, the rhythm, and the beat of the “music”. Others who would not consider yourselves musicians, still enjoy music and may even surround yourselves with it. We are all plugged into music on our I-pods, our cell phones, and the sound tract that seems to follow us everywhere we go.
Personally, I need to listen to music, dance, sing, or play my guitar when the time is right. I need lots of quiet, and avoid having music on all the time. My own need for quiet necessitates that music be purposeful and not ever-present. So when I put on a piece of music, it is with the intention to listen to it. I dance and sing to much of what I listen to. I sing my heart out to Andre Bocelli’s “Amapola” or “Somos Novios”. Just tried an experiment, and no, for me it is impossible to do anything but sing and dance while listening to Andre sing Amapola!. On a Sunday afternoon I might sit and turn the volume on a symphony performance of Stravinksy’s Firebird Suite or Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, letting the strains and beauty of the music fill up the house, the garden, and the valley where I live. My guitar is saved for times when I’m introducing my Grand Daughter to anew song or accompanying her dance and song to Old MacDonald Had A Farm. The guitar is something play when I am alone, longing to learn to play a piece I love to sing. I learn music by ear, meaning I listen to a song and then pick it out on an instrument (piano or guitar for me). That takes concentration and quiet. It is fun to play with friends. Gathering friends with drums, guitars, and the piano is a great way to celebrate music and life. Everyone comes with their music...those pieces near and dear to their hearts and lives.
Teaching my Grand Daughter the scales on a piano keyboard, reminds me of my Mother playing piano. I can still hear her play Bora Chita, Debussey’s La Mer, or one of Chopin’s etudes. A classical pianist, my Mother would play while I would sing together at her piano. Creating new music experiences with our grandchildren is a special way we not only encourage appreciation for all types of music but also connect our children and grandchildren to their musical and historical heritage and cultures. I also use You Tube video clips to introduce my grandchild to some of the great music of film and stage. Excerpts from “Fantasia”-- “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Tchaikovsky and “The Firebird Suite” by Stravinsky as well as other great performances of musicians are available on You Tube.
Supporting children to learn about music reminds me of a special room I recently visited at Mission San Antonio de Padua. The room with its thick adobe walls and high ceilings is devoted to music. It is filled with cases of old instruments that no one plays any longer. However, on the white-washed walls the faded markings of a giant musical scale can be detected. The scale is filled with musical notes, painted into the wall filling up each measure. In Spanish were the words to the tonic scale...evidently used for teaching the indigenous people how to read music long ago. Mission San Antonio de Padua is known for its orchestras made up of the indigenous people who remained in the mission community. There on the wall, for anyone who had ever learned to read music, remained a song. It reminded me of the musical scales I draw for my granddaughter as I seek to make music an integral part of her education. Using the language of music so she is as familiar with it as she is the barnyard animals, numbers, letters, colors, the alphabet she is learning.
Share your appreciation of music, your own musical history and abilities with your grandchildren. If you are not familiar with musical information, learn a little. Learn the keyboard of a piano or the names of guitar strings and chords. Learn a little about reading a tonic scale. The four spaces spell out the word FACE (starting at the bottom space with the note F and working up), and the lines (Every Good Boy Does Fine). If you don’t like the words, make up your own. Enjoy learning more about music and sharing your gifts. I have my father’s CD collection which includes Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Jo Stafford. Reminds me of waltzing around our living room in my Daddy’s arms.
Here in San Francisco there are endless opportunities to share music of all types with our grandchildren. Attend local children’s productions, rehearsals of bands or orchestras. Create a family or neighborhood band, or invite fellow musicians over to jam. Help organize a talent show for family and friends. Play your old CDs, tapes, or records and pull out any instruments and sheet music you have and see if you can pick out a tune. Take a music lesson, make a CD together, or organize a music night. Teach the children a folk dance that may be in danger of getting lost. Share your culture and keep the music alive. Music is also a great way to share language. Pass it on. Create music memories and let me know some of the ways you share music with your children and grandchildren. “Happy trails to you...”
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