Living In A Musical House

If you are reading this blog, then it is likely that you think it is important for your children to have music in their lives. Whether you want them to learn to play an instrument, have the chance to become a professional musician, or simply to enjoy listening to music in any and all of its forms. I do too.

Music is absolutely brilliant for children. It is so good at helping them with so very many areas of their development – physical development, brain development, emotional and social development, development of motivational skills, not to mention helping children and their parents and carers bond with each other.

There is something you need to know, though, before you start encouraging your children on their musical journey. A consequence that you will need to be happy and comfortable with, or just willing to accept:

Your house will not be a quiet one.

Ours is a very noisy house. It was never going to be a quiet household given that I am a musician, but the noise levels have increased enormously with the children here.

To an extent living with young children is always noisy. If they fight with each other, if they are playing, if they watch the TV or play video games, all of these pursuits are quite noisy. But adding music into the mix as well makes for a sound filled home. One of my children is always singing away to themselves, or putting on plays, or dancing (often when I want them to eat their dinner), and now my eldest is learning to play both piano and trombone, and my youngest is starting to learn to play piano.

I will admit that at times I crave a bit of quiet – definitely after the summer holidays – but I know that the only way the children will be able to get to a stage where they can play their instruments well, is to listen to them when they are starting out, and when the sounds they produce are, shall we say, less pleasant. In truth, I love the noise most of the time, and I love the fact that my children might get to experience and love music as much as I do. There is nothing nicer than hearing children playing happily, singing their own songs and making up their own tunes.

I just wish they would do it before dinner!