This guest blog post by Sabrina Peña Young was originally published on my previous Play On Education website on March 1, 2011.
Sabrina Peña Young is a celebrated avant-garde composer and video artist with a wide-ranging background in music education. She recently became a mother, adding a wonderful new dimension to her enjoyment of music…
My toddler has loved music since the womb. As the lucky daughter of a composer, my baby girl has listened to everything from experimental electronic music to Tchaikovsky to opera to the Dave Matthews Band. Even before her Halloween birth, my opinionated offspring kicked my ribs angrily when daddy put on Metallica or mommy jammed too loudly on the drum set at church seven months into pregnancy. It’s no wonder that today her favorite activities involve singing “dadada” into a Lego Rock Band microphone, jamming on every drum in sight, and plucking spastic melodies on my old Yamaha keyboard.
Music fills our lives from morning until night. Celtic music, silly tunes from Patch the Pirate, tropical salsa, and contemporary classical from Philip Glass play continuously from iTunes. Our living room has a dozen instruments for my toddler to play, like a kid-size djembe, preschool xylophone, maracas, and a busted electric guitar I found at a thrift store. Mondays we enjoy a Mommy & Me music class and Tuesdays a local church hosts a morning of storytime, music, and art. Each night baby Eva falls asleep to Mozart and Bach playing quietly in the background.
You don’t have to be a musician to add a touch of music to your children’s lives. Loving music is natural for kids. They love to bop, hop, and stomp around the living room to every musical style. Kids’ nondiscriminatory musical tastes enjoy everything from reggae to polka to symphonies equally. Plug in your iPod or hit play on an internet radio station like Stumbleaudio or Pandoa and enjoy boogying with your child. Download free lullabies for your baby from EasyEarTraining.com. Fill a cardboard box with noisemakers like whistles, homemade maracas, old instruments, and sticks and stage an imaginary parade for the neighborhood. Enroll in a fun music class or sign up your child for beginner piano lessons or Suzuki violin classes. Older children can enjoy a kid-friendly performance of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet or an outdoor jazz festival.
If you would like to check out some more fun ways to add music to your child’s life, you can check out my Music & Life series from Easy Ear Training. There are even specific articles for expectant moms, the special needs child, and lullabies. It’s a fun series, and I hope you’ll enjoy taking a look.
Well, I have to run. With a toddler, mommy’s composing time is scarce, and I have an opera to write! It was great sharing with you. I hope you and your children have the opportunity to enjoy a little bit of music in your life today!
Musically Yours,
Sabrina Peña Young