Hear Music, Play Music, Read Music

I was reading this article on Psychology Today about whether music is a universal language or not.

Here is the checklist I found at the National Institute of Health. You can compare your young child’s development with the typical progression of skills.

Music is a language in the sense that it helps convey emotions by changing pitch, rhythm, and tempo.  Like any language, it can be learned by hearing and experiencing before it is read or written.

Piano lessons often get this progression backward. We, teachers, tend to gravitate toward reading music, using books.

Here is the episode I mentioned, Episode 075: Piano Doodling.

Tips for Supplementing Hearing and Playing Music

Listen to music in the car

Sing in the car

Listen to Episode 010: Ten Ways to Encourage a Love of Music

Attend Concerts

Sing at church and have your child involved in the church children’s choir

Attend school musicals and concerts

Watch these fun YouTube videos from Episode 040

Give your piano kid time to babble or doodle at the piano

Let them “Get SMART” with their music (Episode 036 and Episode 039)

The saying “See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil” has been popular in my family. Here is a silly picture that was taken with my father and Tracy when we visited the Ice sculptures at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas a few years ago.

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the following new subscribers to the website: Cametra, Susan, Luis, and Nistha. Thank you for being here!

Thanks to eRinehart 93 for leaving this nice review on iTunes, “Getting some great value from this podcast as well as insights into the piano parents’ mindset…”

Save this chart for the March Photo Challenge: