How I Got My Son to LOVE Classical Music

My son, Devin, conducting and
singing. What a cute kid!

Hello again!

My son, Devin, LOVES Classical Music! Not only does he enjoy being around musicians and examining musical instruments, he loves listening to it. Every day when I pick him up from daycare he asks me one two questions as soon as we get to the car:

"Can we listen to Beethoven?"

or...

"Can we listen to Tchaikopsky?" (not bad, right??)

I finally tried to get a video of him singing Beethoven's 5th. He used to just sing the first motive, but today he started singing the B theme. And then he got camera shy. I still think it's pretty cute...

So how did my son get to this point? I know I'm really proud of Devin's love for classical music. I love to brag on him, and other people are amazed by it. I'm amazed by it. So I thought it might make some good blog fodder. I hope you enjoy it!

Live Music

Exploring Instruments and Singing

Devin has always been exposed to live music. I just graduated from college, and Devin is a little over 3 1/2, so I was a music major for all of his life up until a few weeks ago. I typically tried to practice at the school, but over the summers I had the instrument at home, and when I needed additional practice time during the semester I would also practice at home, sometimes in the evenings, and often over the weekends. Devin loved to look at the tuba. He was fascinated by it. I would invite him to try to buzz, and let him push down valves while I held out a note. He eventually understood to give me alone time when I needed to practice, but if I wasn't in a hurry then I would try to let him have some fun exposure to it.

Oddly, during woodwind methods, he was often afraid of those instruments. And perhaps justifiably so! I'm kidding of course! 

His mom also sang to him as a baby, and still sings to him sometimes. She doesn't have a lot of musical training outside of two years of high school choir, but she does have a lovely voice. Most importantly I think, as Devin got older, she was very engaged in teaching him to sing songs. 

Eventually Devin started to improvise song lyrics with familiar melodies. That lead to improvising melodies and lyrics. Not only is it awesome to hear him do it, and love it, but it's simply adorable. And his melodies actually make sense most of the time!

And since he wasn't old enough to buzz on a mouthpiece, we would get him toy musical instruments at almost every opportunity. Sometimes I would play for him and his mom, and likewise we would encourage him to play for us. Pretty soon he was giving little concerts on his toy saxaphones or violin, or singing over a mic, or playing on his keyboard, or banging on drums. You get the idea.

He still loves playing with those toys. I've added a baton to his arsenal, and sometimes I'll play youtube videos of the songs he knows and either let him practice conducting, or conduct along with him. Of course, I haven't tried to show him much in terms of technique, other than to stay with the beat, and occasionally we'll talk about big conducting on loud parts and small conducting on soft parts. Of course, that was after he could recognize loud and soft parts in music. Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself?

Live Concerts

Devin has watched me perform in marching bands (at half time and on parade), but mostly as part of a Wind Ensemble. Additionally I have taken him to Brass Choir and other concerts. We don't go all the time, but we do go. Not only does he see people he knows (friends of mine) performing, but it gives him the chance to hear live music, to feel the vibrations all over his body, and to learn concert etiquette. Granted, we frequently have to run to the restroom, and he can wiggle around a lot, but it's worth it, even if I have to miss out on some of the listening experience. 

Between the above mentioned things alone, he already wants to play the tuba in the band some day. That and play football.

Using "Tubby the Tuba" as an Introduction to Masterworks

The early and frequent exposure to instrumental music was important, but I don't think that would've gotten him to be the classical music fanatic that he is now if it were not for my old friend "Tubby the Tuba". For anyone who is unfamiliar, "Tubby the Tuba" is a children's story about a tuba (named tubby) and his quest to play beautiful melodies (instead of playing oompah all the time). I first was introduced to the story when I was hired to give live tuba demonstrations and read the book to K-3 students for the local symphony orchestra as part of their educational outreach. 

The CD Introduced Him to the Sound of the Symphony Orchestra

I practiced reading/narrating with Devin, and I also let him listen to the CD while we followed along. That CD became crucial! There were a few times when I read the story to Devin at night, but usually it was a little too long for our bed time routine. Instead, I offered to let him listen to the CD during the car ride home from day care each day. The CD is a narration of the story, but accompanying the narrator is a symphony orchestra, which plays music that correlates to the story. For example, when the orchestra laughs, you hear music that sounds like laughing. Characters are instruments, and so when the violins quiver "with great indignation", you hear the violins. I liked the idea that Devin, who could already recognize the sound of a tuba, was being introduced to other instruments using this story.

I can't tell you how many times I listened to it. We listened almost every day for months. Several months, maybe. I don't know for sure. But one day, I finally got tired of it, and offered something else.

"Can we listen to Tubby the Tuba?"

Transitioning to Classical Music

"Actually Devin, would you like to listen to some music that sounds like Tubby the Tuba? I think you'll like it. It's not Tubby the Tuba, but it sounds like it." 

"Yeah, that's okay!"

And so I popped in something or another. Something I had on my mp3 player. Probably something with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. We listened to their Discoveries album once in a while in place of "Tubby the Tuba", although he still listened to it at least every other day.

But eventually I had this awesome idea.

Transitioning to Beethoven (and other Masters)

"Hey Devin, I have some new music to play for you."

"Okay."

I popped in Mvt. 1 from Beethoven No. 5. Keep in mind that by now he was already well acclamated to the sound of a symphony orchestra thanks to "Tubby the Tuba" and the Discoveries album by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra with Gustavo Dudamel. So we listened to it. In the car, of course.

"Did you like it Devin?"

"Yeah!"

"Well that's called Beethoven. If you want to listen to it again, just ask me if we can listen to Beethoven and we will."

"Okay."

The next day I picked him up from daycare.

"Can we listen to Beethoven?"

Awesome! So we did. This went on for about two weeks until I was tired of it, and I decided to introduce a different piece.

"Actually, I have some new music for you. This one is called "Finale from Symphony No. 4", by Tchaikovsky. He listened to it attentively for its entirety, which at this recording's brisk pace was about 9 1/2 minutes. He loved it. I reminded him to ask for Tchaikovsky, and helped him a little with the pronounciation. The pronunciation is something I've worked with him on over the weeks, and now he can almost nail it. He's gone from "Shaikopsky" to "Tchaikopsky". Not bad, though!

Pretty soon I thought, "How many composers names can I get him to know?" So far we have introduced Leonard Bernstein's "Overture to Candide" and Igor Stravinsky's "Festive Overture". He likes both of them, but prefers Bernstein to Stravinsky. And Beethoven is still king, though Tchaikovsky runs a close second. 

My Guidelines for Listening Examples

Devin is 3 1/2 years old. That said, I didn't underestimate him in thinking he could handle nearly 10 minutes worth of music with the Tchaikovsky pick. What I have noticed, however, is that he prefers music that is loud and fast. So I basically have three criteria for choosing music for him to listen to:

1. Only choose masterworks.

I occasionally have him listen to other stuff with me, but I don't bother tying a name to it. Those tracks are more for me than for him. When I pick something for him, it has to be among the best music ever written.

2. The music should, for the most part, be loud and fast.

It's what he likes. It's exciting. The most important part is that he is excited, so the music I choose has to be exciting. That said, if you follow the first rule, masterworks have contrasting sections of soft and loud, which means you'll typically get a variety of moods anyway. 

So if you use Beethoven's 5th, don't use a boring recording! Which brings me to a fourth rule...

3. Use exciting recordings!

Live recordings with great symphony orchestras work really well.

4. Only one piece of music per composer.

I have told him the full names of the works we've listened to, but to keep it simple I just have him name the composer he wants to listen to. If he says Bernstein, I know he means "Overture to Candide".  

Well, I hope this article has provided you some food for thought. In Ben Zander's book I learned that an elementary school aged girl could listen to all of Mahler's 9th Symphony in total captivation, and since then I was hoping for a way to start building Devin up to that level of love for classical music. It's safe to say that, at least for right now, he's going gonzo for it! 

Thanks for reading, and until next time, take care!

Musically yours,

Mr. Cooper

PS. What are some masterworks you would recommend for Devin? Please let me know in the comment section. Any ideas are appreciated! Just remember, I already have Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein and Stravinsky covered. Thanks!