WOH Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Music: The Tapestry of Life by Jill Brown, Music Specialist
What I enjoy most about teaching music to students in all grades from preschool to middle school is seeing the progression of skills and the joy students display as they sing, dance and learn to play instruments. Research has shown that music education benefits students’ academic subjects such as reading and math. However, there is an utmost importance of preparing students to be able to participate in music throughout their lives as part of worship, family, and cultural events. Over Memorial Day weekend, I attended my niece’s wedding in the mountains of Colorado, where there was a harmonious joining together of American and Albanian cultures. In the dancing that followed, the sheer joy on the faces of the youth and young adults immersed in the music of both cultures, reminded me of the teachings of Dr. John Feierabend, and why a solid foundation in music education is so important.
Dr. John Feierabend, one of the leading authorities on music and movement development in childhood, states that children should be “tuneful, beatful and artful,” so they can be a participant in the music that is interwoven throughout life. Adults who are tuneful can sing lullabies to their babies, “Happy Birthday” to loved ones, and sing in worship services. With a sense of beat/pulse, people can rock a baby to the beat of a song, dance at a wedding, and clap along with the beat of music. Those who have learned to appreciate the artfulness of music will seek out opportunities to attend live performances and participate in a variety of musical experiences throughout their lives.
According to Zoltan Kodály, “What a child has heard in his first six years of life cannot be eradicated later. Thus it is too late to begin teaching at school, because a child stores a mass of musical impressions before school age.” It is therefore important to influence the musical spirit in young people through exposure to quality music and quality literature. In our music room, you will find a timeline of composers, children’s literature based on songs or that can be set to rhythm, and music to listen to and move to, from across the globe and throughout the ages. Students learn increasingly complex instruments, rhythms, melodies, and the notation of those rhythms and melodies as they progress throughout elementary school. While it may look like our youngest students are playing and having fun (which they are,) the experiences in music class are the basis for many important musical skills throughout the years.
With this foundation, should they choose to continue making music in their teens or adult years, they will do so in a more musical manner; if they do not choose to pursue music, their lives will still be enriched by having a foundation upon which to share the music in their daily lives. The greater Seattle area has a wide variety of opportunities for children and people of all ages to participate in music and the arts. Please contact Mrs. Brown at jbrown@hopeseattle.org or jbwoodwinds123@gmail.com if you would like referrals to music lessons, summer camps, classes, and performing groups such as youth or community choirs, bands, or orchestras.
