Music Exploration – west coast swing and the national anthem
I can’t believe we’re a month on already, and I’m thinking I need to get back to playing N music in a specific sit down appreciation session…or at least playing music a lot more at home so he’s more aware of it.
This month we’ve been
Singing
The national anthem – yes, God save the Queen. N’s been coming home from school singing it. I’m not sure why although he says they’re singing it in assembly. She’s not coming to visit, and it seems a bit far in advance for her birthday in April. I don’t think I knew the National Anthem until I started at Brownies, but I suppose it’s useful to know.
The pancake song. This is a mystery to me because it was the song his class were singing for their slot in the end of term church service which I couldn’t go to. From what I saw and heard, it was celebrating pancake day, and there were actions involved. Mixing and not flipping!
Playing
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There’s been a lot of ukelele playing this month. N’s been grabbing it every chance he gets, and strumming away. Thankfully it’s not too painful to listen to, and we’ve talked about how when he’s in year one we might want to put his name down to start lessons when there’s a space. Personally I’d rather he started on a more classical instrument, and probably more orchestral based for a more well rounded and disciplined way of doing music, but I’d be happy for him to really be into any instrument if he’s going to enjoy it and stick at it. It’s been proven that studying music helps with other school work, in particular maths, and obviously the team work and self discipline as well, so it can only be a good thing.
Watching
West coast swing dancing on Youtube.
Now usually N’s viewing habits on Youtube can be summed up as the Yeo Valley farmer rap, kids playing and acting out superhero stories, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig and Peter Rabbit, remote control and real tractors, people playing on farming simulator, and The Wurzels. An eclectic choice. But after I went for a freestyle night of dancing at the end of last month, he wanted to see what dancing I did. Ceroc never looks quite pro, but I’ve plenty of west coast swing saved, so we watched a bit of that. Music and dancing is great for children to watch – we watched some faster dances to pop music he already knows, and some funkier more relaxed improvised dancing.
I did try to persuade him to have a dance round the room with me, but that was taking things too far for him.
I didnt realise that learning an instrument can help with learning maths, we have been toying with encouraging some sort of up take when Monkey starts school. Neither of us are musical so he may not take to it but we want to give him the opportunity.
It’s worth giving them a go even if they don’t stick at it. It’s just hard making the first decision, especially about the instrument
Having played lots of instruments growing up I’m a big fan of music in children’s lives. We have child sized guitars in the house, drums and other percussion instruments. They all love music making it, singing and listening to it xx
How fab that you are encouraging such creativity. I haven’t heard of the pancake song either. I’m sure my little one will teach me at some point too. Perhaps the dancing will come in the future x
I think it’s important for children to grow up with music in their lives! It’s awesome that your son plays ukulele, I’ve always wanted to give that a go! We have a guitar which no one can play in the house and my daughter always gives it a go, I’d like for us to learn at some point!
Well, he’d like to think he plays. Strums is more like it! I’d like to play other instruments, but really I need to start playing my piano again.
I think that learning an instrument is a very important thing for a child. It is a whole different way of learning from what they are used to as well. My children play the guitar and the piano, which was painful at first, but is now quite pleasant!
Growing up with a love for music is a wonderful thing. I used to play the clarinet, but gave it up. I would love to be able to sing though x
Snap. My clarinets are in the under stairs cupboard, and my saxophone. I’d love to join rock choir near us, but it clashes with dancing (and is pricier!)
I’ve played cello from the age of 5 and spent an inordinate amount of time at Saturday music schools, orchestra rehearsals, quarter rehearsals etc. etc. Whilst I obviously had a good grounding in classical music, it did mean that I found things like improv really difficult and informal session stuff – Scotland has loads of gatherings in pubs where people play together but you need a really good ear or to know the popular tunes. I read sheet music and this isn’t a feature! So… that’s a long winded way of saying, I think a good base in something like the Uke is really good – it forms the basis for a different type of relationship with music that perhaps is a lot more social. Orchestral stuff gets very disciplined and maybe isn’t as fun…
I think what you’re doing with your little one (music appreciation) is a great thing! My daughter has cello lessons at her school and she loves it. Wasn’t really expecting her to stick by it (after all she’s only 5), but thankfully, she seems to genuinely love it! 🙂