Tag Archives: enjoying music

Mini musicians

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Little and large

This week is a big week for my daughter for several reasons, one of which is that she will play her first notes on the viola. She’s been attending Suzuki classes since the beginning of January and each week brings one private lesson (shared with another little girl), one group viola lesson, and one musicianship group. Quite a lot of lessons, so why, you might be wondering, has she not played a note yet? Half-way through the last lesson it all became blissfully clear.

She and her lesson partner are now handling their violas and bows comfortably, landing the correct part of the bow on the string, and then taking it off again. They’ve been told if their positioning is perfect next week they’ll be able to start playing. The two of them stood side-by-side, violas in position, teeny tiny bows resting on strings, quivering with barely contained excitement and exchanging conspiratorial glances. My daughter moved her bow a cm on her A-string and swung around wide-eyed to see my reaction.  And suddenly, I could see all the benefits of the protracted process. It’s obviously important that they get the basics right from the start – and in the meantime, they’re also learning rhythms, getting to know the parts of the instrument and watching others play – but it has the desirable side-effect of building their anticipation to dizzying heights.

Watching two four-year-olds wriggle and giggle in their little chairs made me realise I could learn a lot from their attitude to music. The novelty of just making a sound with the instrument is still fresh and exciting to them, and it’s very sweet to watch.

‘SING, SING, SING…’ and other ways to introduce children to music

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Gerry Mannion knows a thing or two about how to get very young children singing. Almost 20 years ago, she set up Tick Tock, a music group for under-5s in Islington, London. It’s run by professionally trained actors and singers and has been a rip-roaring success – there are now branches all over London and beyond. There’s a big element of performance to each session: the team of three perform a new routine every week and it generally involves several instruments, half a dozen costume changes and an eclectic repertoire of songs from ‘Old King Cole’ and ‘Wind the bobbin up’ to ‘Feed the birds’ and ‘All the nice girls love a sailor’. We’ve been going along for three years and in that time I’ve seen cartwheels, robotic dancing, and some surprisingly convincing animal impressions – the energy of the team is something to behold.

I asked Gerry some questions about children and music. And this is what she said:

What can music, song and rhyme do for very young children?
Listening to music can transport you to another place immediately. In the early years, singing and playing music help to develop your child’s listening skills. The repetition of songs and nursery rhymes increases their vocabulary but also helps them to think imaginatively and sensitively, while different sounds and rhythms encourage musicality and song identification. And of course, it’s so much fun!

What do they get from attending music groups?
A sense of belonging and making music together; enjoying and engaging in role play and gaining confidence with encouragement from the group; learning awareness of others, how to participate as part of a group and understand the role they can play as individuals.

And if they seem reluctant to join in?
Remain positive and respect their decision on what they want to be involved with. If they sit and listen and watch, then they are absorbing it and will probably talk about it or certainly return to it during the week. We will always gently encourage the quieter members to engage. If your child seems unresponsive don’t worry, sometimes songs and rhymes are repeated, sung and enjoyed months later.

What can you do at home to encourage them to develop an interest in music?
Play lots of music, anything you like from pop to classical, and talk about the instruments and how the music makes them feel. Make your own instruments using saucepan lids and wooden spoons and rice and beans in jars. Have a music box to keep instruments in. Encourage them to sing and play percussion and tap out rhythms. And SING, SING, SING to your child. Make up your own songs about getting dressed, having breakfast, walking down the street, anything!

What do you like most about what you do?
The children: watching them week by week grow in confidence and musicality, seeing their imaginations grow and developing as little people. Over the years we’ve have had incredible feedback on how the sessions have inspired and initiated a love of music and drama, which has led to enjoyment and success in playing of an instrument and in some cases some fulfilling careers in the arts.

 

 

children and concerts

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Part of my motivation for returning to music has been child-related – it’s both a way of escaping from them at times and a way to encourage them to play themselves. When all this began, I signed us up to a host of musical events and activities (treading that fine line between enthusiastic, stimulating parent and scary tiger mum). And so it was that yesterday I took them to one of the LSO’s lunchtime concerts for the under-5s. It was led by a lady called Harriette Ashcroft – she’s terrific, full of quirk and bounce with some great tunes to boot. She and a team of five musicians gave playful introductions to each of their instruments: guitar, piano, violin, flute, trombone and double bass. There was a classical variation on twinkle twinkle, a Slavonic dance, a delightful toy owl who swooped through the audience, and a bit of dancing.

The great thing about the LSO concerts is that they really do seem to accept the realities of an audience of under-5s. The concerts last 45 minutes, the atmosphere is very relaxed and the musicians incredibly good-humoured about the chatter and fidgeting, the widespread munching of organic snacks and the occasional toddler wandering through their ensemble.

Despite all that, it doesn’t always work out taking small children along to these things. Our first attempt a few weeks back was not an unqualified success: tears and tantrums aplenty, and they were far more interested in whether there were chocolate chips in the snacks I’d brought along than any of the patient demonstrations by members of the LSO. This time was better, the three-year-old seem to take quiet pleasure in it, sung along to some of the songs, followed the actions, did a little dance. The one-year-old swung between rapt attention and tearing around the hall generally making a nuisance of herself, but on the whole she seemed to be having fun. So, it gets easier.

 

 

What it’s like to watch a symphony at a train station

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So, following on from my last post, I dropped everything, grabbed a travel pass and small child, and made it to the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Pop-Up’ rendition of the finale of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony just in time to see the four soloists glide down the escalator and join the waiting orchestra on the lower concourse at St Pancras station at 1pm today.

(My photos don’t really do it just justice but, in my defence, I was balancing a three-year-old on my right hip so that she could see the orchestra, and snapping with my iPhone in my left hand.) We managed to get a spot very close to the action and there was a terrific buzz in the air. The concert itself was every bit as joyful as you’d expect the Ode to Joy to be – and all the more captivating for the fact that the soloists and orchestra were obviously having such a great time. The woman next to me was almost in tears by the end – she’d just stumbled across the concert after seeing her boyfriend off on a train.

Here are a couple of very short video clips (warning: very wobbly filming, may cause motion sickness):

Tenor Allan Clayton in action

The choir – supplemented by some passers-by who the BBC invited to join in at the last minute – singing that famous bit:

And finally, here’s a shot of Simon Russell Beale, who introduced the event and presents the BBC series, conductor David Robertson, and soloists Ailish Tynan, Daniela Lehner, Allan Clayton and James Rutherford.

From left: Allan Clayton, Ailish Tynan, David Robertson, Simon Russell Beale, Daniela Lehner and James Rutherford

Ailish Tynan and Daniela Lehner were very sweet and offered to have their photo taken with my daughter, Jess, but she came over all starstruck at the last minute and buried herself in my coat. I think it’s a lunchtime escapade she’ll remember anyway. I certainly will.

The BBC’s Symphony series starts at 9pm tomorrow on BBC4.

 

Noisy toy with a silver lining

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This is the guitar that a malevolent well-meaning guest gave to my daughter at her third birthday party.

I’m sure you can imagine the noise it makes. Naturally she and her younger sister are completely enchanted with it and would happily play with nothing else if I didn’t occasionally ‘lose’ it for weeks at a time.

Anyway, the point is, children will always love things that produce a big noise and, much as it pains me to say it, it probably all helps to reinforce the idea that making music is a lot of fun. For the sake of your sanity it’s worth erring more on the side of tinkly triangles than lurid pink electric guitars during the early years, but you know which one your children will enjoy most.

Coming soon: some more constructive thoughts from a professional on how to give your children a good musical start in life

What was the first recognisable piece you played?

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At the weekend I caught the end of a conversation with oboist Ruth Scott on Radio 3, in which she talked about the thrill she got the first time she was able to play a piece that other people would recognise. Hers was Ronald Binge‘s The Watermill (written for the BBC’s adaptation of The Secret Garden), which they played ‘in celebration of amateur musicians’.

I don’t remember my first recognisable tune on the viola, but I do recall feeling quite pleased with myself when I learnt to play Acker Bilk’s Stranger on the Shore (a favourite of my Dad’s) on the clarinet. The Dance of the Snowman on the violin was another high point. Not the Aled Jones one, just so we’re clear, the music from the party scene

Dance of the snowmen (© Snowman Enterprises)

Any early musical triumphs you’d like to share?