Teaching Moment: Music Appreciation
I've always hoped that my children would be interested in music. As an elementary schooler, I learned how to read music playing the flute for two years, then was in choir throughout all of junior and senior high school also teaching myself how to play the piano. I was never recital worthy, but it was enough for me to enjoy dinkin' around and having the occasional jam session with friends and family (gotta love "Rock Star"). For awhile, I even wanted to be a music teacher slash choir director, but knowing that I lacked the real talent that that requires (and, boy, do I have friends and family with SERIOUS musical talent in that department), I ended up just doing my Associate's in Fine Arts with a music emphasis before going on to regular elementary school teaching. I never completely let go of that dream, though.
So, the last couple of days, I was going out of my mind with the incessant humming and singing of my boys as they have been ever caught up in their Star Wars daydreams (it sounds harsh, but when you've been listening to the same eight bars of the Star Wars Theme repeated over and over and over and over....and over, you become nearly suicidal). I finally couldn't stand it another second so I just said, "OK, guys, how about we just put in the CD?" (Then, at least, I could hear the rest of the song played all the way through and they could play to their background music of choice.) So, I put in the soundtrack and prepared myself for some mental peace. But then came the questions from Caleb. "Mom, which part is this?" "Where is this part from?" "What's happening now?" Caleb already knows the story line inside and out, but he was feeling the need to have me confirm every single track on the darn thing. I was in the middle of writing emails at the time, too, which dampened my concentration, but then I finally stopped and turned to him, asking him to tell me what HE thought it was. What did the music sound like to him?
At first, he was completely confused and told me that it didn't sound like anything. It was just music. That was when a light went on in my brain. AH, a teaching moment. That was when I explained to Caleb the nature of instrumental music - "the kind without words to tell the story" - and how the composer is depending on the audience to use their imaginations to figure out what kind of story they are telling. Did the music sound sad? Or dangerous? Was it happy? Or exhilarating? How does it make you feel? We talked about guessing if it was a battle scene, or a scene where something good or sad had happened. Before long, he was telling ME what part he thought it was and would explain why he thought so. It was great! His first little lesson in music appreciation. Next comes identifying reoccuring themes and patterns in the music. :)
So, the last couple of days, I was going out of my mind with the incessant humming and singing of my boys as they have been ever caught up in their Star Wars daydreams (it sounds harsh, but when you've been listening to the same eight bars of the Star Wars Theme repeated over and over and over and over....and over, you become nearly suicidal). I finally couldn't stand it another second so I just said, "OK, guys, how about we just put in the CD?" (Then, at least, I could hear the rest of the song played all the way through and they could play to their background music of choice.) So, I put in the soundtrack and prepared myself for some mental peace. But then came the questions from Caleb. "Mom, which part is this?" "Where is this part from?" "What's happening now?" Caleb already knows the story line inside and out, but he was feeling the need to have me confirm every single track on the darn thing. I was in the middle of writing emails at the time, too, which dampened my concentration, but then I finally stopped and turned to him, asking him to tell me what HE thought it was. What did the music sound like to him?
At first, he was completely confused and told me that it didn't sound like anything. It was just music. That was when a light went on in my brain. AH, a teaching moment. That was when I explained to Caleb the nature of instrumental music - "the kind without words to tell the story" - and how the composer is depending on the audience to use their imaginations to figure out what kind of story they are telling. Did the music sound sad? Or dangerous? Was it happy? Or exhilarating? How does it make you feel? We talked about guessing if it was a battle scene, or a scene where something good or sad had happened. Before long, he was telling ME what part he thought it was and would explain why he thought so. It was great! His first little lesson in music appreciation. Next comes identifying reoccuring themes and patterns in the music. :)
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