13 November 2010

the music is in her

a pair of new pencils 
 +  a collection of glass, wood, and marble
+  an innocent voice with a hint of bravado 
=  an impromptu after-school concert just for Momma

She's got the music in her.


percussion 5
percussion 1
percussion 6
girl

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We've yet to begin any type of formal music lessons for her.  She and Richard play with fingers on the keyboard and fingers on the strings, and she and I belt out duets in the empty house or turn it up and rock out in the car. Diverse music fills our playlists, a mix of mine, his, and hers. Naturally she memorizes the lyrics, but just as naturally for her, she identifies the sounds and follows the rhythm and beat.   When she hears a new song, she listens first to the music, eager to identify the instruments.

He says she's too young for much more.  Don't push.  It'll come.  She'll ask for more when she is ready.  Her current level of interest is age-appropriate.  She's on the path. Let her be. Encourage her, but. . .
Let. Her. Be.

He is absolutely correct.
I know it.
As a mother, as a teacher. . . I know it.
I wish I had his patience, his experience.

I see the music in her, her father's gift of music, AND I am so damn excited for her.


4 comments:

  1. How wonderful that she is developing a talent for music. I have tried with my boys, but they have no interest except the littlest who likes to sing with me.

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  2. A musical talent is one to be nurtured. I have an interesting theory all the musical people I meet also seem to be good at languages. :)

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  3. It's hard to know when it's the right time to give the right push in the right direction. She's just transitioning to a new life as a school kid, so enjoying music with her parents seems the right way to do it for now.

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  4. How wonderful. I saw that too when my kids were little. My husband is a musician too, and taught piano for many years. He always says that the most important thing you can do to help develop a child musically is to sing with them and expose them to lots of different music early on. Voice, he says, is the first instrument.

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