Start Them Young

NickImageA couple of events have coincided during the last day or so to bring a question to my attention. That question is essentially, What music should I provide for my small children to listen to? I would like to answer that question by providing general suggestions concerning music to Christian parents for their children. For the most part, these recommendations will reflect the approach that I took with my children when they were small. As a parent, I wanted my children’s music to meet several criteria.

First, it had to be good music, worth listening to in its own right. Like good children’s literature, good children’s music should be as worthwhile for an eighty-three-year-old listener as it is for a three-year-old listener. In other words, it should be seriously musical, even when it is not being serious. Children’s music can certainly be humorous—even uproarious—but it should not be merely silly, trendy, or vapid.

Second, it had to be music that children would enjoy listening to. By this I do not mean that a child should get to listen to everything that she or he wishes to hear. What I do mean is that the music should be interesting enough to attract and hold a child’s interest, especially with adult involvement. Children’s music should be capable of seizing the imagination—and not only the imagination of a child.

Third, I wanted music that would allow me to engage my children in conversation. I wanted it to be music that we could discuss while and after listening to it. Good music provides the opportunity for teaching both about the music itself and about the extramusical world.

Fourth, it had to be music that was readily available and widely heard. Just as one purpose of play is to prepare children for adult responsibilities, one function of children’s music is to prepare children for participation in real culture. I wanted my children to hear and understand music that they would be hearing for the rest of their lives rather than music that they would abandon after adolescence or that they would find embarrassing outside of their cultural ghetto.

In addition to the foregoing, I relied upon the distinction between music that is heard and music that is overheard. I would play one kind of music when I specifically wanted my children to listen. I might play different music for them to overhear in the background while they were doing other things.

These principles apply equally well both to music for general listening and to music for Christian instruction. At the moment, however, I am not particularly interested in discussing Christian music per se. My suggestions are really aimed at music for general listening, the kind of music that will help children to become active listeners to music of all kinds.

Three compositions stand at the center of the children’s listening repertoire. These are Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Camille Saint Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, and Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. All three of these pieces fulfill the above requirements admirably.

Probably the first composition that captured my son’s imagination was Tchaikovsky’s Overture Solonnelle “1812.” The music uses readily distinguishable themes and moods as it tells its story. Even a two or three year old can tell when the music is happy, when it is sad, and when it is angry. For our children, identifying these moods became a game. My son used to pester his mother and me with requests for the “happy and sad and mad music.”

Nearly any piece of program music can be used in a similar way (though not all programs are equally suitable for children). The opening movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, or Smetana’s The Moldau all tell stories that are enjoyable for a child to learn and follow. Borodin’s On the Steppes of Central Asia is a hauntingly beautiful tone poem that also initiates children into an acquaintance with counterpoint.

In their active moments, children love a sound that is bold and brassy. They may not be drawn to Sousa’s marches, but they will almost certainly like some of the noisier stuff put out by the Empire Brass or the Canadian Brass—particularly when it is accompanied by pipe organ. This is music that they will enjoy both hearing and overhearing.

Small children tend not to focus attention upon a single thing for a long time. Longer compositions will often be lost on them (unless, like the 1812 Overture, the music varies considerably within the composition). Collections of shorter pieces are more likely to appeal to them. Brahm’s Hungarian Dances, for example, offers a selection of twenty-one lively tunes that are good accompaniment for playtime. Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, Handel’s Water Music and Fireworks Music, and selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker are also collections that appeal to many children.

When playtime is over and quiet time comes, gentler music is in order. Gentle does not have to mean dull, however. What the music lacks in drive it should make up for in beauty. Some of Christopher Parkening’s guitar recordings fulfill this requirement wonderfully, as does the sound track from Ken Burns’s Lewis and Clark.

Speaking of sound tracks, parents should not overlook film music as a source of children’s listening. Not that children should be subjected to entire film scores—that would be too dull even for most adults. Nevertheless, some of the anthologies from Erich Kunzel or John Williams provide interesting music that is quite accessible to children.

While some parental selectivity is necessary, children are often delighted by Peter Schickele writing as P. D. Q. Bach. While this music is often silly, it is never merely silly. Even at his most farcical and satirical, Schickele usually has a musical point to make. As a child grows in sophistication, these lighthearted parodies can be highly instructive, particularly when the child is in a position to compare them with the original music that Schickele is spoofing.

Naturally, I have not provided anything like a comprehensive discography here. How could I? The world is full of good music. All one has to do is to take a few moments to find it. Even so, these suggestions should offer a starting place from which interested parents can explore on their own.

Of course, with the easy availability of computer rips and downloadable tunes, parents can tailor their children’s listening as never before. Parents are in a position to provide their children with richer listening more easily than at any time in history. As a father with two grown children who love music, I suggest that the investment is worthwhile.

from A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day, 1687
John Dryden (1631–1700)

When Jubal struck the corded shell,
His list’ning brethren stood around,
And, wond’ring, on their faces fell
To worship that celestial sound,
Less than a god they thought there could not dwell
Within the hollow of that shell
That spoke so sweetly and so well.
What passion cannot Music raise and quell?

As from the power of sacred lays
The spheres began to move,
And sung the great Creator’s praise
To all the blest above:
So, when the last and dreadful hour
This crumbling pageant shall devour,
The trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,

Discussion

Developing my kids’ musical aesthetic was, unfortunately, not something I thought much about when they were littler. Had I the chance to do it over, might have tried a few of these ideas.

As it is, though, the two of them have very different tastes despite being raised the same way… which suggests to me that shaping the aesthetic sensibilities is not as simple as exposing them to the best stuff and insulating them against other stuff. The latter is nearly impossible in our culture now… and there seems to be some mysterious factors in the whole process.

But there’s no question that what they grow up with is strongly influential in developing tastes (aka affections/aesthetic sensibilities).

I haven’t found that serious high culture music holds their interest, but have found that songs that tell stories are much appreciated. For that dynamic to work, you have to have vocal performance that is focused on telling the story (vs. getting your adrenaline and hormones pumping through heavy background music)—and it helps a great deal as well to use accompaniment that helps tell the story too.

Having long loved English, Celtic and some American folk music, it’s been fairly easy to mine that for great story songs. And my kids love them as much as I do. So… though they have not yet acquired an appreciation for Mozart or Mahler (for me, that genre started with Beethoven and not until high school), I’m gratified that at least they have a strong appreciation non-pop-culture music.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

Thanks for the link.

I think the general idea that we should not allow our children’s tastes to just form however they will—more or less randomly—is a really strong one.

(I’m gratified though that I was raised mostly on 2nd Great Awakening “hymns” and Lawrence Welk and some southern gospel, my folks picked up some classical recordings while grocery shopping one day… and we had a good high quality stereo system. I still think, on a gut level, that Beethoven’s 6th on a good system with the volume up in a quiet room would have to hook almost anybody… but in reality that has not been my experience…. and today I favor an old folk song with a small acoustic band—or a film score)

Edit: want to add that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with “merely silly …or vapid.” This is part of being a kid. If they can play silly games with toys, why not enjoy a bit of silly play with music? But avoiding pop like the plague seems prudent. We’re at a cultural low and this stuff appeals instantly to the “low” in us, including kids… they will be influenced more than enough by the popular stuff just by being in public places.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

How our kids develop their own musical tastes is a mystery to me. I love classical, especially Spanish guitar, the hubby loves Gershwin, but my dd prefers Celtic, one of my boys enjoys opera, and the youngest likes folk music (think The Fox).

I agree that we should expose them to good quality music, and severely limit fluff and twaddle. They develop their taste in music much like we develop our tastes for certain foods. You have to try it to like it, and usually you have to try it more than once. For some reason, you don’t have to teach them to love junk food, but most of the time they do have to be ‘coerced’ into loving salads and veggies.

there are other great marches. My tastes run to Pipes and bands of the Scottish regiments. Then there is walking along on a family outing singing “Scotland the Brave”, “Men of Harlech” and “The Rising of the Moon.”

Hoping to shed more light than heat..

Rob, know where to find good recordings of those? All three of them sound like just my thing. And I do enjoy a good battle ballad.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

For the words, I’d wikipedia the song titles. For the music, I’d look at amazon for The Black Watch Pipe Band. Also, Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” has words written by the maestro himself (available via a Wikipedia search on Stars and Stripes Forever). For Scotland the Brave, I usually hear John McDermott’s version of the lyrics (see wiki).

All else fails, they are great tunes for kazoo band.
[Aaron Blumer] Rob, know where to find good recordings of those? All three of them sound like just my thing. And I do enjoy a good battle ballad.

Hoping to shed more light than heat..

If I hadn’t already struggled through this myself, after reading this article I would be left with more questions than answers about what to have my children listen to. Am I a bad parent Christian parent because I don’t like this music and don’t force my kids to like it either?!! I’m asking this half-jokingly. However, a lot of Christian children struggle with the question of why they have to be forced to like or acquire a taste for the “good” music while the rest is just considered fluff or downright wrong! I know I struggled with it for years.

Ricky

I don’t think it’s about forcing them to like anything, but by exposing them to good music on a regular basis, they will naturally develop a taste for it.

I think of Judge Bullingham’s comments to Rumpole of the Bailey. “Just use your common sense.” I appreciate the careful thought concerning music for children, and I value the suggestions, but…

Does that mean we leave out Copland’s “Rodeo” and “Appalachian Spring”?

Shouldn’t kids enjoy Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite”? You’ve got to love the donkeys and the thunder.

And don’t you want to feel the waves on Rachmaninoff’s “Isle of the Dead?”

And what if God’s creation of the world included more than Europe? What a joy to listen to Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing Amazing Grace. Kids should hear that. And for that matter, they should hear Jubilant Sykes singing spirituals. I wanted my kids to know “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”

I’ve probably listened to more Bach than any other composer, but surely David wasn’t dancing to Bach. And the disciples weren’t listening to NPR in the boat. You like brass? There can be no more upbeat joy than listening to England’s Black Dyke Mill Band play “A Lincolnshire Poacher”. I played that for my kids a few weeks ago. They are all in their 30’s but I didn’t want them to miss it.

There are so many great artists in Brazil. And if I go to a Chinese restaurant, I don’t want to hear Mozart’s Mass in C Minor. (But, his Gloria in Excelsis Deo is unbeatable.) Stimulate conversation. Develop appreciation. Enjoy.

And last night I was thinking of the songs we sang together and one in particular came to mind.

“A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, twiddle dum dee dee.

Don’t ever sit on a woodpecker’s knee.

A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, twiddle dum dee dee.

Come on and sing along with me.”

Silly? Fun? Memories of joy? Yes. And in our joy God was glorified.

What a privilege to share the riches of good music with kids.

Richard Glenny



Good music seems to be a relative term though that isn’t exclusive to classical music (R Glenny illustrated this very well). Honestly, there is some of it that I can listen to and enjoy, but there is a lot more out there that I would like my children exposed to as well.

Ricky

Can a particular genre of music sond good when played on an accordion?
[RickyHorton] Good music seems to be a relative term though that isn’t exclusive to classical music (R Glenny illustrated this very well). Honestly, there is some of it that I can listen to and enjoy, but there is a lot more out there that I would like my children exposed to as well.

Ricky

Hoping to shed more light than heat..

[Susan R] I don’t think it’s about forcing them to like anything, but by exposing them to good music on a regular basis, they will naturally develop a taste for it.
I think you’re right, Susan. You’d be surprised what kids will like-I had one group of my fourth grade students obsessed with a particular 16th century madrigal, and a group of fifth graders that loved organ music, particularly Bach fugues!

[Rob Fall] Can a particular genre of music sond good when played on an accordion?
Can a particular genre of music sound good when played on an accordion?

Hoping to shed more light than heat..

It’s really not a European focus so much as a Western and historic focus. See if this rings true:

a. Not all cultures are equally good

b. Not all cultures are equally influenced by Christian beliefs

c. Western culture (of that period) was influenced by Christian beliefs far more than “eastern” culture of that period

d. 17-18th century western culture was influenced by Christian beliefs to a greater degree than thereafter

So… “old” and Western is a good place to start and a good “center” for developing an aesthetic. The better serious music of modern times is still strongly influenced by trends in the West a few centuries ago.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.