When I was a baby, my mom would sit at the piano in the living room and play Beethoven, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff, and she would sing Romantic pieces such as ‘The Holy City,’ ‘Gesu Bambino,’ and ‘O Holy Night,’ exclaiming how wonderful these works were and how she didn’t really do them justice --- and I absorbed every nuance of these experiences.
Mom would put on old records of Mendelssohn played by Menuhin, and Rachmaninoff played by the composer himelf, and Dvorak played by a great orchestra and conductor, and she would exult in the experiences she had had listening in person to these great artists, and she would rave about their expressive genius.
I was hooked: I began to value the greatest music and search for ways to absorb the greatness of the finest of the musicians, both Classical and popular. I began to listen in my own world to the recordings of the masters, say, at three years old, on my own. Weird? Not necessarily!
In recent times I have heard many a young parent say that they can no longer do their music because they have to give their children precedence.
WHAT?! Isn’t music-making part of the experience children should have? If you are a musician or a music listener, shouldn’t you share your personal appreciation with your own children?
This is indeed putting priority on your children as they grow: sharing your own musical life with them.
Let it be a significant part of your nurture of your children!