Encourage Your Kids to Compose

Mozart wrote his first symphony at the age of eight in 1764. Granted, he didn't have distractions like an XBox, iPad, or free WiFi... and he was a likely bonafide genius. But he also had the advantage of growing up in a supportive environment rich with music, one of the keys to learning the aural art of music.

In learning any language children first begin by mimicking; using vocabulary for self expression naturally emerges even before the child has an extensive vocabulary. (Ask the parent of any toddler whose favorite new word is "no!") As with speaking, reading, and writing one's native language, the second language of music can also be spoken (or performed), read, and composed. Each activity supports further development of the other, enhancing one's ability to both communicate and understand increasingly complex ideas and themes. 

Maybe your child likes to write original song lyrics, noodle around on his or her instrument, or scribble notes or simple tabulature on scrap paper. Encourage it! 

Just tonight as we were winding down a brief practice session (during which my daughter played her upcoming recital solo of "I'm a Little Monkey" both beautifully accurately and very professionally to my great delight) she began writing notes for me to play- interesting groupings of eighth notes scribbled on the back of a family sketch made during our last Chuck E. Cheese outing. 

I then told her she could also write down letter names that I could play as long as she only used the letters A-G. She scribbled away and would look up occasionally to ask, "No 'I' right?" or "Is 'F' one I can use?" She then presented me with my "music sheet" and asked me to play. When the piece was too short for her and Daddy to dance to, they added more notes together to make it longer. She knows very little about the staff and she's not ready for key signatures, so I improvised my way through her melody. She loved it! As Maria Montessori said, "One test of the correctness of the educational procedure is the happiness of the child." 

Is she a budding Mozart? Oh, probably not; but as parents and teachers, we provide our children with various tools and the opportunities to use them. Combined with their dreams, our children can build, explore, and create in any number of inspiring and often surprising ways. Nourish them and let them grow in their own beautiful way! Let them dream, noodle, and scribble away! Even Mozart had to start somewhere...