Hi everyone, well this is my very first blog post so bare with me while I learn the ropes. Before I attempt to provide you all interesting and innovative musical education content (life goals!!), I thought I would start with something a little easier and introduce myself.
I am a teacher, musician, wife and mother to my beautiful son Lucas who is a huge part of the reason I am starting this blog. (more on him later with obviously biased adorable pictures to follow)
Now for anyone who knows me, or had known me in youth, my love and interest for music was not discreet. I was naturally drawn to music as a child and would always be that annoyingly keen bean volunteering myself to partake in any activity that involved making music.
I have had a fortunate youth, filled with an array of musical opportunities from choirs, youth orchestras, brass bands, private tuition, and the opportunity to study at the Junior Conservatoire of Scotland. Now would be a good time to give a shout out to my mum and dad who fitted the bill for most of this and the instruments, music and never ending ‘Dad taxi trips’ that inevitably accompanied such a full on extra curricular schedule! (Thank you parents - I am forever indebted!!)
What has the benefit of all of this been? Well stating the obvious, it provided me with the necessary skills to gain a place at educational institutions that allowed be gain qualifications to have a career in music. Arguably, I am also better than average at a variety of instruments with a decent singing voice – not hugely beneficial to anyone out with a career in music. However, and more importantly, learning music has made me a well-rounded human being with a list of transferable skills a mile long (social skills, resilience and perseverance to name a few.)
I can honestly say that I would be a completely different person today if I hadn’t had the experience of learning an instrument, playing and singing with others.
There is a plethora of research exploring the multiple benefits of music for children, some of which I will be sharing in future posts. Being partial to this information as well as experiencing this first hand, I have dedicated my career to inspire pupils in school and private students to enjoy playing and signing music and hopefully reap the benefits.
More recently, I have been reading about the early developmental benefits of music in babies and toddlers, which has opened up a whole new area of enthusiasm for music education that I had not previously experienced.
Meet Lucas, (look at him <3) 7b15oz of joy and the apple of my eye.
Like other mums (I’m sure/hope), I have googled child development to death to the point I am a little embarrassed of my search history. Of all the wonderful (and not so wonderful) articles and advice found online, I stumbled across (copiously researched) the benefits of classical music and other musical activities for babies and wow. Let the musical baby initiation training commence!! Kidding - kind of.
Now 16months, he is crazy about anything musical. He loves nothing more than dancing, singing and making ‘noise’ on various instruments. I’m sure he just loves copying mum and dad, but I like to think that I have done something to spark a love of music. Who knows?!
So the whole point of this blog, is to hopefully share some very interesting reading, share Lucas’ and I’s musical journey and hopefully inspire parents to sing, play and enjoy making music together as a family.
Please share your thoughts and experiences of music below. I would love to hear from you. Nicole x
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