Cassie and two of her students after the recital
Congratulations to all the students who performed in our Winter Recitals this past Saturday! I’m still grinning and glowing thinking of all of the awesome performances I had the pleasure of listening to and watching. I was so proud to host 4 recitals, in which about 135 students and their families came together to make music for one another. While I work extremely hard (as do all of Winterhalter Music teachers) to make these recitals happen, hearing our talented students perform and seeing the joy on their faces as they share their love of music and perform a piece they worked hard to master is priceless. It always reminds me why I choose to do what I do– I truly believe that an education in music and the arts has the power to positively transform the world. Talk about contributing to society. 🙂
When I was growing up, my piano recitals consisted of pretty much strictly classical music, which worked well for me. I took lessons from a teacher that catered to serious music students who practiced hours a day (I used to log 3+ hours/ day in high school) and who were on track to audition for music schools for college. I loved playing classical music. I found the pieces I learned to be challenging and rewarding to learn.
At Winterhalter Music, our recitals are a bit different. While classical music is certainly present to a large degree, it’s not the only style of music represented. On Saturday I heard such a variety of music which included: Beethoven, John Denver, Katy Perry, Mozart, and Train not to mention a variety of instruments including piano, voice, guitar, and violin just to name a few.
One of the keys to our students feeling so pumped up and excited about music has been that we not only let them, but encourage them to play the music that they love the most. This definitely motivates them and encourages them to practice and want to get better.
If you took lessons growing up, were you able to play the pieces and styles of music you were most interested in, or…. did you play only classical music? If so, you may wonder if your children should also stick with only classical music. Since this is a question we get asked a lot, I wanted to address it in today’s blog post.
I personally think that it’s most important to have a love of music. Whether that means playing pop tunes by Taylor Swift or Für Elise by Beethoven, there are many means to get there. When students begin lessons, they need to learn the basics of technique and note reading. After all, if you can’t read music or play with good technique it’s difficult to play anything classical or otherwise.
Once students have mastered some of the basics, I suggest that they spend a little time on each genre of music. A pop piece can really challenge your ability to play rhythm correctly. Classical music tends to stretch you to play with expression and musicality. Jazz helps you understand music theory.
It’s important to be a well rounded person, and music is no exception. Learn a pop tune for our December recital, but switch to a classical piece in May. If you mix up the types of pieces you learn, you will love more types of music than if you only stick with one composer, artist, or genre. You like what you are exposed to, so if you are exposed to more, you will like more. I wrote more extensively about how to foster a love of different kinds of music in this blog post.
Now I want to hear from you. Were you raised only on classical music in your music lessons growing up? If so, do you feel your children should play only classical or classical and other styles? Leave a comment below. Subscribe to the newsletter and “like us” on Facebook. Enjoy this December day, and thanks for reading my blog!
Sincerely,
Cassie
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
You hit the nail on the head, Cassie! In my view, learning different styles, composers and artists is a big part of becoming an inspired and well-rounded musician. Like the piano, the versatility of the trumpet opened doors to many styles when I first started taking lessons, and I can now say with some degree of confidence that I truly enjoy classical, jazz, baroque, pop, dixieland, Broadway, and many other sub-genres.
I would recommend a wide variety of musical styles to any parent of a beginning/continuing music student. Give them options. After all, once a child finds joy in musical expression and wants to learn more, it really doesn’t matter what the style is, right?
Hey Len,
Thanks for your comment! I agree with you completely! 🙂
Again a great blog, Cassie and I couldn’t agree with you more. I was trained in classical music, but my first teacher also allowed me to play popsongs when I felt like it. I wouldn’t say she encouraged it, but one time (when I took Al Stewart’s song “On the border” to my lesson) I remember she started to explain to me how the chords were built and used, which I quite liked.
You are so right in encouraging your pupils to try out all kinds of music and I too find that playing popmusic is great for developing a good sense of rythm, even though it can be a real challenge for the beginner. I use a special edition of Hal Leonard for todays popmusic, which is suitable for beginners. Sometimes it makes me smile, when I notice that the “bare” melody with one basenote is somewhat disappointing for the student, once all the bells, drums and background strings are left out! On the other hand, it gives them a great opportunity to appreciate the good music and most of the time they are eager to do the work in order to master it.
Very best wishes for 2014!
Thank you Marie-Astrid! I find nothing to be a better motivator for a student to practice than learning that special piece that they adore!