The toddler is sitting at a table and when suddenly, he begins drumming on it with a spoon. The rhythm makes the parents flush with happiness. It’s musically perfect! Proactive parents will take this opportunity to nurture their child’s potential rather than treat is an exception. In past decades, a child’s exposure to music was arguably limited. Today, it’s a different story. Technology has led to a groundswell of music; in fact music has never been as portable as it is now. Research reveals that children today are exposed to music 80 per cent of the time — through toys, computers, mobile phones, television, radio, even people. If you think your child has a musician in him waiting to be heard, it might be a good idea to register him for a trial session with a qualified music teacher.
When a child comes in for his first trial class, the teacher should be attentive to his set of musical skills. This includes musical listening, ability to spot different rhythms, creative imagination, identify high, low and middle pitches, a feel for fast or slow motion and finger flexibility. It is important to make sure that the teacher taking the test knows which of these musical tests will uncover all his skills.
If a skill or two is missing, there is no reason to worry because in time, you can develop the missing abilities. Older methods of teaching music were rigid, but today, there are amazing education programmes for children to learn music without too many encumbrances. Music courses of today are mostly taught through engaging learners in visual games, making it easy for them to understand.
Why does music matter?
Humans have a material body and an inner self. The world around us also has a material shape, but what makes it come alive are sounds and music - sound is considered a component of music. Music is the soul of this world. It is everywhere — in birdsong, peals of thunder, murmur of flowing water, rustling of leaves in a breeze... But these sounds in isolation, stripped of their context, do not inspire us. For example, we do not thrill to alarm clocks, or the shrill sound of an ambulance. Similarly, we do not drive to work listening to the singing of birds as a sound track. Individual pieces of sound don’t have a positive, uplifting impact. Music is the wonderful amalgamation of organised sounds of different pitches and rhythms coming together harmoniously. If there is one thing everyone should learn in life, it is to play a musical instrument.
(The author is a musician and piano teacher at a music school in Dubai).
