Getting Started Musically part 1

Getting Started Musically part 1    

            The next three posts are taken from an unpublished monograph “Finding Truth in a World of Musical Deception” by Rachelle Wolf and is used here by permission.  Ms. Wolf holds a BA in Christian Music ed. From God’s Bible College and an MM in violin performance from Miami University.  She is an experienced string teacher, is Suzuki certified and  is an elementary and secondary Christian School music educator.  The thoughts for the day are mine. GLW

            The first musical experiences that we have take place in the home. Children derive their first tidbits of knowledge from their homes, from their parents. They determine likes and dislikes, they develop appreciations, they learn to hear and internalize information.  A child will follow the example they see in their authority figures, and music is no exception. For this reason I believe that it is imperative that parents instill an appreciation for music in the lives of their children.  “The first three years are the most critical for musical stimulation...Each year after that is critical, but the effect on nurturing the musical aptitude is a little less than the previous year... How clearly you are able to hear and respond to tunes at age nine is approximately the same as how clearly you’re able to hear tunes as a grownup.”  Fuller, C. How to Grow a Young Music Lover: Helping Your Child Discover and Enjoy the World. Wheaton, Illinois: Harold Shaw Pub, Colorado 1994, p.11. 

            I began taking music lessons at a very young age and I am also a violin teacher, and I have seen firsthand the necessity of parent involvement in a child’s education. “We would do well to review Deuteronomy 6:7, which instructs us to use every opportunity to teach children the commandments of God. We are to impress them on our children. We are to discuss them when we are at home, as we walk along the road, when we lie down, and when we get up.”   Menconi, A. . Communicating Spiritual Values Through Christian Music (Helping Families Grow). Elgin, Illinois: Chariot Family Pub.,1991, p5.   

Thought for the Day

The statement in Proverbs 22:6  “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Is primarily referenced to parents.