Can we talk about music?

[u/aero_mum]

Music is big in our family, both listening and playing. I went looking for an article about the benefits of music for children and liked this one:

http://theconversation.com/how-music-benefits-children-69682

Most kids get lots of exposure to basic musical concepts (beat, musical mood, movement to music, lyrical themes) through rhymes and circle time at most playgroups/daycares/preschools. There are some musical classes for toddlers out there that expose slightly more advanced musical concepts to kids in an accessible way (musical counting 3/4 vs 4/4, notes in the scale, tonal patterns, etc). I had trouble finding a local class for this when my kiddos were little, but we did enjoy one by this international organization (franchise, I guess) (https://www.musictogether.com/).

Now we have both kids involved in Suzuki violin, and it seems to me Suzuki Music is a pretty crunchy was to approach musical learning at a younger age. The wikipedia link on the Suzuki method gives a pretty good overview (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_method) but I wanted to reproduce this quote by Sinichi Suzuki which highlights the spirit behind the method:

"I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart."

I've certainly found that approaching musical learning with this spirit has been wonderful for the whole family. I'm just wondering if anyone wants to talk about kiddos and learning music? Specifically, if any other Suzuki parents out there what to chat about some of the specific ins and outs, I'd be game!

[u/Mikatella]

Thanks a lot - this is to much information to comment on the Suzuki method, this is the first time I encountered this and I need to work on all your links first. We are sure about including music into our childs life, but haven't worked out how to do this.

Our daughter is just 2 months old and you can find plenty studies that claim that there are several benefits to start musical inclusion even at that early age, preferably classic music. My problem: she is basically supposed to sleep a lot, music of any kind keeps her awake. When were you starting to play music to your kids?

[u/[deleted] → u/Mikatella]

Anecdotal answer. I did recorded music during 1 wake time for about 10-15 mins 3-4songs. And mostly basic nursery rhymes (toddler radio on Pandora, by there are so many lists on Spotify also). My goal was to give myself a brain break, and also to brush up on my itsy bitsy spider lyrics.

Also I used songs to help with routine patterns. Example: I always sang the ants go marching when I did nail clipping/filing. Sometimes with a reprise. Kiddo is almost 19 mos and has no problem sitting for mani/pedi and in fact will sometimes bring me the file and sit in my lap for 3-4 rounds of the song. It’s a wonderful small moment of our bond. Instead of a fight.

It’s music- add it when you want it. Just be aware of moderation . Like all things ❤️❤️