PUT! ART! IN! YOUR! HOUSE! Part II

I previously discussed creating an art nook and using it to enrich history learning and to learn about art history at the same time. 

Today, it's time for music.

Music history is one of those areas easily ignored or given short shrift, but given how sticky music is for minds, it need not be. And listening to music has demonstrable positive effects on mood, memory, and brain function. (The more involved a person is with the music, the greater the effect; so, inattentive listening may not produce more than a mood boost, where playing an instrument boosts executive function, among other things.)

Short of committing to a serious music program, one may still curate a musical curriculum that will begin to familiarize you and your children with new music. The more exposure a person has to music, the more likely she will be to engage with music more fully in life. So I see this as a sort of initial step, a necessary condition of music literacy.

The good news: it's as simple as playing music, every day, with intention.

Think about how you learn the songs you know. Perhaps you remember hymns from church or rhythmic songs from the playground or songs from the radio. In each of these cases, it's likely no one taught you in any sort of formal way. But after listening to the same song repeated over and over, you probably remember the tune and many of the lyrics. 

The reason you know these songs is because you heard the same song, repeatedly. If you add an element of intention, you and your children can begin to learn beyond popular music. All it requires is choosing a time each day to play a playlist of chosen songs. 

This is how I do it:

• I put together a half-hour playlist. During the summer, when we dive into history curriculum, the music is tied to the history we're learning (so features a lot of international music). During the school year, I focus on the Western canon.
• For reference, I use the Norton Anthology of Western Music CDs as a guide for choosing my "classical" music. Vol. I, II, III. (I choose from these and play full songs DL'ed from youtube rather than Norton's clips.) Finding good collections of world music is trickier, but the Smithsonian Folkways collection is a place to start.
• The playlist is attached to our Google Home, and I have an alarm set to 7:00 AM that begins to play the playlist. Other options:
• Use your phone to play your own mp3s
• Use your phone's Google Clock app to play from Spotify or YouTube Music
• Use a portable mp3 alarm clock
• I post the country, artist, genre, and time period on a white board near the music.
• I repeat the same playlist for 1-2 weeks, at which time, I continue on to the next playlist.

I should note that the songs I choose are a compromise between music I think my kids will enjoy and remember alongside music I want them to hear. I might play Japanese court music for a few days to give them some exposure... but Japanese court music is tricky to the modern Western ear. It's interesting! But pleasant? Maybe not. Japanese taiko drumming is far easier to enjoy and thus remember. I look for music that might have some of the following attributes: hummable, energizing, rhythmic, soothing, impressive, bombastic. Those are things kids tend to enjoy. 

Listening is the most critical piece, but you can easily bone up the education in some of the following ways:

• Post the artist, country, genre, and time period information someplace nearby.
• Do a periodic focused listening session of each playlist or a song/clip from each playlist. This might include a discussion of what they hear, whether they like it, how it's similar or different from other music they've heard, etc.
• If the music comes with a visual element (e.g., puppet theater or ballet music, opera, or Bugs Bunny parodies), this can present an opportunity for kids to connect in a different way.
• Include an occasional short class about what they're hearing, historic background, etc.
• Weave in some basic music theory ideas (if you have the background to do so).
• Attend concerts periodically.

It's unlikely this enrichment will result in a fully educated listener, but it will familiarize your kid with a broad scope of music and give them a sense of ease around it. Start early enough (before peers exercise too much influence), and they may grow to enjoy things you might not have imagined.

One of the unanticipated consequences of beginning this musical program is that I'm far better about putting on music as a default in my house, even outside of this morning ritual. I'm really enjoying this little bump in intentionality regarding music.

Good listening!