A Woman's View

Music practice, torture or a gift?

Have you attended any piano recitals or school band concerts recently?

If you're the mom or dad or grandparent of one of the young performers, you barely breathe until the last note ends. A few who are blessed with the gift of music relish every moment and never need to be reminded to practice. Most youngsters, however, at least once in awhile balk and complain and beg to quit. It takes a motivated mama to refuse to budge when her darling wails, "I don't want to do this anymore!"

Our four girls did their share of moaning and groaning, too, but I stood my ground. Heartless? I didn't think so, because I knew how essential to keep going. I love music and have sung all my life, but I didn't stay with the piano long enough to play well. My parents thought if I had to be nagged to practice, it wasn't worth it. At the time I rejoiced.

Then I grew into an adulthood and realized I cheated myself.

Like every other mom, I discovered it's no fun being The Enforcer. Practice inevitably equals (boring) repetition. Yet that's the price of mastering any instrument--or just about anything in life, for that matter. 

What's a parent to do?

First of all, believe that music is worth the trouble. If you don't believe it, neither will your children. Then stomp your, umm, size six stilettos and stand your ground.

Focus on what music does for a child.

• Youngsters who have a hard time academically often make it through school because they play in the band or sing in the choir.
• Research reveals that music helps develop areas of the brain not reached by the visual or by language.
• Music (and art) can be the pressure release that keeps a troubled kid from blowing up.
• Learning to play an instrument--or carry a tune--builds self-confidence.
• Band and chorus members learn to work as a team and follow direction.
• Belonging to a group gives a sense of belonging.
• Performing in recitals and concerts develops poise in being before an audience. 
• Every one of these qualities can be useful in adult life, whether personal or in a career.

So if you're a mom who is weary of listening to your child complain about practicing, take fresh courage. Even gifted children need to develop their talents. That means practicing. And trying. And failing. And trying again. In between come the wailings and gnashing of teeth, your child's and your own.

Hang in there. Consider your child's music study worth the price of listening, comforting, prodding and encouraging, worth the cost of lessons and gas money. 

The point is not to develop star performers. It's to help your kids learn to persevere even when they want to quit. Stick with it for awhile. As they develop competence they'll begin to enjoy music, probably more than they'll admit to you.

Look at the bigger picture, at the character strength that will develop in your daughter or son as they learn to go beyond their moods.

You'll be giving your children a gift for life. Count on it.

Peace and JOY,

Lenore 

Need an injection of Christmas spirit? Find it here . . .

Around this time of year, as we look at our To Do lists, I expect some of us long for a "shot of Christmas," to get us energized.

I don't have a magic potion, but this YouTube should do the trick. You may have seen it, but if you take time once again, I promise you'll find yourself smiling by the end. 

Are you smiling?

Some of us have been hearing or singing Handel's Messiah for years, especially Hallelujah. Not so many know the story of how Handel came to write this glorious music.

Picture the scene. It is the summer of 1741, in a small house in London. Discouraged and miserably in debt, 56 year-old George Fredric Handel considered himself something of a failure. Not long before he had given what he thought of as his farewell concert. Then a friend passed on a libretto based on the life of Christ. Its writer hoped someone could write music to go with his script, all of it quoted from The King James Bible. 

Handel, a strong believer in Christ, read it through and was deeply moved. So on August 22nd, he set to work composing. After that no one saw him except the servant who faithfully brought him food, then every day removed the untouched tray.

One day the servant opened the door to find his employer with tears streaming down his face. Handel said, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself."

George Frederic Handel uttered those words just after completing the movement that ever after has been known around the world as the Hallelujah Chorus.

He wrote the entire work in an amazing 24 days. In that short span of time Handel not only personally inked each note of the four-part vocal score, but also the music and every instrumental part for the orchestra. (If you've sung the Messiah, you know just the choral arrangement plus piano accompaniment runs to more than 250 pages.) Whether we call it genius or divine inspiration, for more than two centuries this piece of music has been performed all over the world.

Handel died April 14, 1759, eight days after his final performance where he conducted his mansterpiece, Messiah. If you visit Westminster Abbey in London, look for his statue. He's shown holding the manuscript for the solo that opens part three of Messiah, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

It seems to me we can draw some lessons for ourselves. At the time, Handel would have been considered elderly and people around him considered him finished. So did he. It seems he never said, "Well, I can't do that because . . ." Maybe we, too, need to set aside our labels and our familiar thinking and step out in faith. Otherwise, who knows? We might miss out on doing something great.

As for getting in the mood for Christmas, I know what I need to do. I need to take my eyes off how much I have to do and focus on what Christmas really means. The Joy-Giver is just as capable of giving meaning and joy to our work as He was back in Handel's time. Sure, our "tune" may be small, but the world around us needs to hear it. So let's smile and give thanks, then go for it!

Comments?

Here's to letting our JOY show in this most wonderful time of the year,

Lenore

 

Music wakes up the spirit

    Have you ever watched someone come alive while listening to music? I have, just the other day ...        

    For the second time in a week our community chorus sang at a local retirement and assisted-living facility. Just the week before we had presented our two annual Christmas concerts. to appreciative audiences. But it always feels a bit anti-climactic to work on music for months, then finally perform it, and poof! it's over. So when we do appearances like this we enjoy the opportunity to sing again the music we love doing.

   It's always a treat to watch the faces of audience members, but especially this last time. Most came with their walkers or canes. Some showed up looking bored, but friendly.  Some individuals sat there, listless and glum or staring vacantly, due to memory problems. And frankly, some came only because lunchtime was nearing.                                             

    Then we began to sing and the transformation began. Faces brightened, lit by smiles. When our director asked them to sing along on familiar Christmas songs, they did. Even the ones from the memory care unit who had been sitting there silently, oblivious to those around them, began to sing with us. At first they were timid, but their enthusiasm grew and their body language changed. Dull eyes took on a sparkle. Looking around the room it seemed everyone had perked up noticeably. Some clapped in time. Some swayed to the music, not always with the rhythms.

   After we finished, we went around the room, introducing ourselves and wishing each resident a Merry Christmas. They thanked us for coming, but really, we got the biggest blessing. We were privileged to watch as music touched something deep within and truly lit them up from the inside.

    As I drove home I thought about God's good gift of music. A child banging a wooden spoon on a kettle has a drum and often can find a rhythm. So can an eighty-something like the one we sang to last year. She joyfully played her spoons--and played them in time--whenever we sang something with a beat. I remembered a friend telling how his wife, an Alzheimer's victim, nevertheless remembered the old hymns. Each day when he visited, they would hold hands and sing them together. "Those were the only times I felt as if she came back to me," he said, smiling through his tears. 

    So feed that memory bank! Encourage your children or grandchildren to try out different kinds of music-making. Playing in the band. Singing in the chorus. Piano. Guitar. Let them try different things. If you're part of a church family, that's the perfect place for kids to learn and grow. Even very young children can recite their lines or sing off-key with great gusto. Nobody minds. They're family, after all,  so they cheer them on. Love takes over and gives the embarrassed one a hug and a, "Don't fret. You'll do better next time."

    Through all the squeaks and squawks, patiently laugh and clap noisily. Give yourself a pat on the back for going the extra mile, too. Kids and teenagers gain poise as they make music, whether alone or in a group. When you expose your children to music, you give them a gift that's guaranteed to pay rich dividends every day of their lives. If you doubt that, just start singing or playing around an older person who seems to have lost that old-time spark. Then watch it flare again. It casts a lovely glow, even if it lasts just a little while.

    How about you? Wha Christmas music most touches your heart? Your comments welcomed!

    May you (and I) stay calm as we check off our To Do lists. Let's remember we're preparing to celebrate once again Christ-mas, the night when Hope was born.

    Lenore

Three cheers for music and school marching bands

    We spent last Saturday watching high school bands on parade. What fun! Our two youngest grandchildren are part of their high school's marching band, and their band marched in a "Band Spectacular" in a nearby town. This photo is not of their band, but believe me, last Saturday all the kids from all those bands were stepping high and looking proud!

 

    I came away thinking how much youngsters get out of learning to play their instruments and from being part of a band. For starters, here are some of them. 

    Think about it. *They learn to be under authority and to follow directions. *They learn to cooperate with others. *To put the good of the group ahead of what they personally want at the moment. *To concentrate on several things at once. *To follow the director's lead and be alert for instant changes. *To read the music and play their part of the composition. *To listen, so they don't get ahead or behind the rest of the group. *To do all of the above while simultaneously  fingering/blowing/plucking/strumming/tapping/drumming, etc. *Members of marching bands must do all of the above with their music memorized, while also putting down the right foot, at the right time, in lock step with the rest of the band.  

    That's a lot to be gained from something that's also fun. Think how that kind of training and the useful skills developed can translate into the rest of life. 

    Good for you if your kids are involved in music! Maybe they're just beginning to learn their instrument. That means you're sentenced to squeaks and squawks, or incessant drumming, or the playing of musical scales. In the midst of the din, smile and pat yourself on the back. You're giving your youngsters a gift that will last them for life--and enrich every day. (By the way, don't forget to thank the music teachers and the band's director once in awhile.)

    So hang in there when you're toting and chauffeuring your young people and their gear all over the place!

    Lenore

    Your comments welcomed! Any band stories to share?