How can I interest my child in classical music ?

The benefits of classical music have been made widely known to many, and it is no wonder that parents would want to interest their child in actively listening to works by Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and other great composers. Here at Chamber Music and Arts Singapore, we too believe that exposing children to classical music from a young age positively impacts their development and growth, and have thus been working to bring quality classical music, in particular chamber music, to children across various ages and social-economic backgrounds.

The key to fostering interest in classical music for your child is to create an environment conducive for his/her appreciation of it. It is definitely not ideal to simply play classical music to your child without unravelling this experience and breaking it down into ‘bite-sized’ pieces for them. We highly suggest providing visual context, storylines, guided play, opportunities for expression through visual art, movement or writing, and more. Offering an easy doorway through which they can enter into an experience with classical music. That way, your child has a greater chance of creating happy, fruitful, exciting memories from it. In the long run, they will gradually develop a positive relationship with this artform.

The first step forward is to grab the attention of your child – to invite him/her into the desired environment. This can involve incorporating short excerpts of classical music into fun games and activities for them. As the attention spans of young children are relatively short, keeping to short excerpts combined with activities they already innately connect with, is an easy and effective way to start.

One good example of accomplishing the above would be to play a game of musical chairs with your child, using excerpts of classical music (you can head over to our Facebook page for excerpts of Mozart’s pieces, as part of our #calmwithmozart Seasons !). Musical chairs can naturally and effectively encourage your child to pay close attention to the music, as he/she needs to anticipate and catch the sudden pause in the music.

Beyond initial exposures like the above, it is then important to create an effective sustained environment for your child – whether it is allowing for quiet space if possible eg. a music studio at home, or supporting him/her with regular access to live concerts and interaction with peers their age who also enjoy classical music, and more.

Creating an effective sustained environment will greatly aid the development of your child’s interest, so it can eventually arrive to the point where your child will actively initiate interactions with this art form and its presence in his/her life.

Other pathways to achieve the above is to set aside weekly bonding time with your child, where you can explore stories of musical works and composers together. And to conclude your bonding sessions by listening to these works in an open-forum-discussion manner. For example:

Allowing oneself to move (or conduct) with the music naturally
Allowing any person to stop the music at various points to make comments (remembering to give one another the space to express unique thoughts !)
Creating a craft related to the storyline of the music and much much more !

One can definitely be creative and make light preparations for this quality weekly time together.

Providing your child with context for the musical works, their creators ie. the composers, and the musicians involved in bringing the music to life, can effectively engage their minds and hearts, thoughts and feelings. Understanding can generate interest. By creating many possible entry points, there is a greater likelihood you’ll be able to locate a doorway or two through which your child would voluntarily enter through, together with their innate unique qualities and all !

Once there is voluntary entry into the music through their preferred doorway(s), retention of these experiences will be much easier for them. And you may even be treated to an added bonus, if your child finds in the creative masters, a role model or two – through whom he/she is inspired to own character traits like resilience, diligence, and perseverance.

Fostering interest in your child for classical music requires your patience, your creativity, your love, your time and your efforts. It is a sustained process which cannot be completed overnight. And if you find yourself with little bandwidth left to create such an environment for your child, we may be able to help.

The Glasshouse can be a wonderful support for you and your child.

A creative sphere to engage meaningfully with music and the arts for personal inner growth, The Glasshouse provides a nurturing environment for children ages 0-12, by constantly exposing them to classical chamber music in a fun and engaging manner.

In The Glasshouse #origins, classical music stories come alive by way of colourful illustrations, light animations and gripping listening opportunities – on top of activity sheets for reviewing knowledge gained and canvases for self-expression, forming unique monthly collections through which parent and child can look forward to an environment of fun and learning and precious times of bonding with one another.

In the upcoming year, children within the #origins programmes of The Glasshouse can look forward to immersing themselves within the stories of Bach, Beethoven, Bartók, Bernstein, Brahms, Debussy, Grieg, Haydn and more !

For those who are particularly interested in hands-on experiences, you and your child can also try the #blossoms journey in The Glasshouse. Although originally designed for children & youths with special needs, this hands-on experiential programme is also highly recommended for children with regular needs !

In The Glasshouse #blossoms, fresh musical and artistic experiences are offered each month, through guidance and play that incorporates music with visual arts. Created to aid and guide your child in his/her development of emotion regulation, calming, creativity and self-expression, as well as positive self-talk and reframing, these monthly themed creative activities will ignite a sense of imagination and freedom of expression in you and your child.

Membership to The Glasshouse also comes with complimentary individual access to a Buncee account – a highly interactive child-friendly creative software, through which your child can interact with the storyboards, activities and canvases, and freely create his/her own Buncees, thereby encouraging independent thought and self-expression.

In The Glasshouse, you and your child can also meet like-minded families through Buncee Boards where children can pin their completed canvases, as well as at our end-of-the-month LIVE engagement sessions on Zoom with our creative artists, when the children will be treated to wider stories, more music, guided activities and more !

Joining The Glasshouse is definitely an easy way for you to interest and engage your child in classical music, and we know it will effectively bring classical music into your child’s life as a daily companion throughout his/her growth into adulthood.

Begin your journey in The Glasshouse now ~!