Music with meaning

THE VIEW FROM HERE                                                                          

     Let me start out by saying that I think that I just might have the best job in the world.  A goodly part of my income is made by going around to schools and performing music  for children and teachers.  Ideally, I do this in the hope of brightening up everyone's day, and my own as well.  Responses to my "work" have been affirmative in this regard and I consider myself fortunate to be able to do what I do.  I get to see all kinds of children in a happy state where they leave the challenges of the school day behind them for a little while and just allow themselves to be kids; where they can just relax, sing songs and watch a 'real' person entertain them.

     I also have a firm belief that music that is fun, clever and safe is important in the positive development of youth everywhere.  I talked to the owner of a children's book/toy store recently and she told me that the sales for children's music had gone down sharply over the last number of years.  This is something that I have noticed as well.  Determining the cause of this drop may be speculative, but we both agreed that, despite certain factors like downloading and poor distribution of children's music, the main reason for the decline was probably that many parents are just not exposing their children or grandchildren to that kind of music as much anymore.  Many parents think that the music their children hear on television and in their videos is enough for them.   Some parents might also feel that if the kids just listen to the kinds of music that they themselves listen to, they will learn to like it and be content with that. 

     I disagree with that notion and I feel that children need their own kind of music.  I have heard parents attest to the fact that when simple and good quality children's music is played, the child will respond to it.  They know it is 'their' music.  It is not a good thing to deny children quality music that speaks to their particular age in a simple and joyful way.  Despite the fact that it becomes cool, at a certain age, to despise Barney the singing dinosaur, the music of the TV show itself, from what I have seen, is fairly simple, but uplifting and professionally produced.  Simple songs need not be dismissed as shallow songs.  This is true at any age.

     If music, no matter what kind it is, has a good spirit about it, it should be celebrated.  As children approach their teenage years, the good spirits that are found in quality children's music can sometimes be overrun by the trendy attitudes of pop music.  Those attitudes can sometimes be cynical or even angry.  I suppose that this kind of change in one's musical tastes might be inevitable and we all do need to grow up eventually, but I can't help but think that there should be some kind of musical bridge between a song like 'The Wheels On The Bus' and a song like 'Do It To Me One More Time'; between the music of Barney or Raffi and the music of Shaggy or Brittany.  I know that there are such musical bridges available, but it may take some investigating for parents to find them.

     Personally, when I do concerts, I like to sing fun songs that are a little 'on the edge'; songs like 'Brother For Sale' or 'My Teacher Turned Into A Fish' or 'My Pencil's Out To Get Me'.  I call them my 'bratty' songs, but they are fun and quite harmless. Sometimes they even have a good message behind them.  The children love them.

     I often get letters from schoolchildren, usually at the behest of teachers and it is sometimes amazing what they say in those letters.  In a nutshell, their messages often indicate to me that the songs I play for them simply make them feel good.  The stories make them laugh.  For example, a young grade five student whose family immigrated here from Iran wrote to me once and said that he did not know that music could have such joy in it and that I had opened up a new world for him.  All of this is gratifying for me, but it is also disappointing to learn that many children in our society seem to be underexposed to imaginative and uplifting music in their lives.

     I also think that aside from hearing good music, they should also be encouraged to sing it.  Band and orff classes are great in school and have been shown to improve the mind, but I always encourage teachers to, regularly or even once in a while, just let the kids sit back and belt out a lively tune.  Let them experience the greatest musical instruments in the world, their own little voices.  They do not need to learn anything from it.  When they express themselves in a physical and emotional way through singing, it makes them feel better about themselves and the world around them.

     So as parents, grandparents and educators, I think that we should remember the importance of letting children be children and to try to supply them with substantial fuel for their imaginations to feed on; fuel that is geared for their own particular perceptions.  Barney may not be your cup of tea, but there is a wide variety of good children's or 'family' music out there.  When it is sophisticated enough, mom and dad can enjoy it as well as the kids.  It may take a conscious effort and perhaps a well informed store clerk to find such music, but it will be worth it to the child when it provides them with a singable and uplifting source of music from which to draw.  It might even be a meaningful experience if there is a good message in the songs.  Such music, even though it may be simple, can be strong enough last them for a lifetime, or at the very least, a long motor trip.