Inspiring Music Appreciation in Young Children

I think (and write) about the harmonica A LOT but what I've been thinking about lately is broader: How important playing an instrument, any instrument, is to inspiring music appreciation in young children. Personally, I started to play harmonica when I was a kid. Further, my whole life has been a perpetual process of picking up and putting the thing down. Lo' these many years later, I now have my own children. Even more, they are both budding musicians--a fact I'm extremely grateful for. Call me immodest, but, I take a little bit of credit for inspiring their "playing." Here's why...

When my children were four or five, my harmonica life was in one of its "off" periods. That was understandable, I think, because we'd been busy raising twins (still are); and believe me, that can take up the better part of the day. Still, I very much knew I wanted them to play an instrument someday and that I wanted music to become an organic part of their lives. But how to lead them?

Eventually, I made a conscious decision that I now see was driven by a single desire: Whatever I did as a father, I did NOT want to preach, "practice, practice, practice" at them. I find that kind of daily berating (especially if it comes from someone who doesn't themselves even play an instrument) counter-productive.

Rather, I decided instead I'd immerse my kids in handmade music by giving off a good, daily dose of sound from my only real instrument, the harmonica. And believe me, what I produce isn't always a beautiful sound. I know I'm not the greatest harmonica player in the world; and even if I was, I know as well as anyone that too much of a good thing...

Upshot: My kids now play. And, I think, it's not because anyone ever told them to (neither parent ever did). Rather, they play because they both got to a point somewhere along the line, after hearing their parents regularly pick up an instrument and make something come out of it, when they each said, "I want to play piano," and "I want to play violin." In other words, the decision was all theirs, occurring against a backdrop of actual, authentic, handmade musical sound ("recorded" sound is not a substitute for what I'm talking about here).

In sum, it's extremely important for young parents who want their children to become musical, to themselves try to derive pleasure on their own from "playing" a musical instrument (it's no mistake that it's called "playing" music). Set an example and keep the "practice!" speech to an absolute minimum. Trust me on this one, folks, take steps to make music a fun, playful part of your life and it won't turn into something that's like "work" (a fact which your kids may someday thank you for).

Jim McLean is the inventor of the world's first and only playable harmonica USB flash drive, the "FlashHarp" (Pat. Nos. D602,940 & D624,550), which may be purchased at "Arts & Artisans" stores on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, as well as at the "BackyardBrand" store on Etsy, "the all things handmade" Web site. FlashHarp is a registered trademark of FlashHarp Music LLC. "The Backyard Harmonica Teacher," McLean instructs the video harmonica lesson that's available on the FlashHarp. See McLean demo the invention at http://www.harmonicausbdrive.com. See him perform a bit at http://www.FlashHarpMusic.com. FlashHarp is also available boxed together along with a full-size, 10-hole harmonica, "The Plug 'n Play," in a product called the "Musical Combo." Both are products of Backyard Brand®.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_McLean