M is for Music: Themed Activities

 

Although I lead our music team, I am not particularly gifted in music. 

I did take viola and flute classes as a young person in school. I learned some piano and was part of the choir. I am fair at reading music and singing and I use those skills but they are not highly developed. These skills are valuable though because music is a language that reaches across cultures and throughout history. It spans all ages and touches people and restores them in incredible ways. 

Music bonds people together. It is something that can be enjoyed individually or en masse. Music has as many personalities as the people who create it. I do not simply mean genres of music or styles. I mean music has a voice that represents the one conveying it. It may be the deep resonance of a cello or the high trill of a piccolo or the rhythmic beating a drum. It may be a soulful crooning, a booming crescendo or a gentle strumming or humming that conveys a story unique to the one telling it. Music has power to reach the deepest emotions of a person and convey experiences likes trembling fear or glorious celebration. 

There was recently a post to see how many songs I remembered from the 50s which is well before I was born and yet it was fun to see that I knew over half of the options. It shows that even though I am not an active consumer of music, I am a passive recipient of music. It infiltrated my mind and took up a place of residence so that I would recall the song years later and connect it to other experiences to add meaning to it. For example, my mom mentioned a song she danced to on her wedding day and it stuck.

It is great exercise for memory to 'name that tune' and even more amazing when you realize the sheer number of passages of music that you have learned over time as you find you are able to complete full or partial lyrics to song after song. Music reaches a different area of the mind and helps you commit to memory otherwise challenging pieces of information. I like to teach Bible memory verses that have been put to music as they are easier to recite. There are also study songs for the bones of the body or the elements of the periodic table and many a student has sat tapping to the rhythm of the song as they go through it to find the answer for an exam question. Consider even the alphabet song. When we want to write out the alphabet or put something in alphabetical order we repeat the song over and over until we find the place we need and discover what is next. The technique works!

I think Happy Birthday is an example of a song that most people do not sing well and yet the collective singing of it is so meaningful, that the power of joining together to sing a traditional song overrides the performance of it. It is similar to karaoke songs. It isn't about how well you do but it is the fact you are part of a collective group enjoying a song that makes it meaningful.  

Music themed parties, campfire sing-a-longs, vocal competitions, Christmas caroling and creative versions of music bands are all a part of the world of music. It is truly a part of culture that has limitless possibilities. Every culture has an element of music that is integral to their traditions for you to discover. With your child, try having a cultural theme night once a week and feature different musical styles as a part of the festivities, perhaps accompanying a meal from the land. For example, Israeli dance tunes can accompany falafels and hummus; Jazz can be played with jambalaya; and rice and curry can accompany carnatic or bollywood music for an Indian themed meal. Try listening to a variety of songs and see if you can identify what part of the world it originated from based on instruments, tunes or the language of the lyrics (if any).

Play instruments with your children or have fun creating your own instruments and march around the room with your homegrown band. Sing along to your favourite songs or even write your own. Teach your children new songs or test their knowledge of popular or classic nursery or Disney songs as part of a game that is perfect during long car drives. 

Whether you like to sing, dance, play an instrument or listen as you relax, find ways to include music in your experiences with your child(ren).  It will enrich your days on so  many levels.