It’s been established that learning music can have a great impact on the minds and lives of young people. Learning an instrument is great for kids’ math and reading development, hand eye coordination, confidence and more; but what about the creative side of things? In art class, students get to express themselves as soon as the paint brush is put in their hand. Why is it then that traditional music education requires students to vault so many barriers of ability and accomplishment before allowing them to make something of their own? It’s never too early for kids to start coming up with their own music and “painting with sound”.
Here are 5 ways they can get started:
- Recording Free Play. Although the sound of a new music student “discovering” their instrument by just hitting keys/strings/drums etc. may not sound like “music” to us, there is a lot happening developmentally in this type of experimentation. One trick to get kids to sharpen their senses during this process is to use your phone or computer to record them doing whatever they like on their instrument, and then have them listen back to it. The more you repeat the exercise the more they think about exactly what key/string/drum etc. they hit at which point and why.
- Super Simple Songwriting. Writing your own songs sounds daunting, but it can be really simple. As soon as a child knows three notes on their instrument, encourage them to rearrange them into their own song. Sometimes helping them come up with a title is a great way to start, then just play a note, then another note, there’s no wrong way to do it! Music books start out with songs that are only 1-2 measures in the first few pages, after they’ve learned a few of those, get them to write one themselves either by just playing it or writing it down first and then trying to play it.
- Writing Lyrics. Some kids will love the idea of just writing lyrics out and then trying to put them to music by either singing them alone or while playing a chord or two on their instruments. The trick to this is to focus on the process with them, just put one word after another and then sing it however you feel, you can’t go wrong. Again, we don’t need 3 verses and a bridge or anything, our song can be as short or long as we want it to be.
- Beat-Making. There are a number of software programs designed for on the fly composition, Garageband for Apple devices being a popular one. They allow you to mix and match sounds and create your own electronic music with an interface that’s easy to use and understand. Even younger kids can take part in this kind of music making if there’s parents there to guide them, it can be as simple as pushing different buttons and hearing how your choices change the sound we hear.
- Making Music Videos. Sometimes having creative music making folded into a larger project can really make it easier and more fun. Challenge your kids to make a music video and see if they can come up with a title or theme that excites them.. Sometimes the music and lyrics can flow out of the theme or the on camera action in such a way that the kids don’t even realize they they’re writing a song! Plus they have a fun thing to show their friends!
There are a lot of ways that – as a parent of a music student – you can get your kids dabbling in the creative side of music making. The main takeaway is to encourage and reward the process, not the result. For whatever reason, the fruits of early music making are more uncomfortable for most people to listen to then finger paintings are to look at, and kids (and adults) can become shy about expressing themselves musically if they feel judged. The most important thing for kids to do while getting creative with music is to have fun and not think too hard about it.
At Sunburst School of Music, we encourage all of our students to get creative with their music making from day one. Our Spring Break and Summer Camps are all geared towards taking kids (some of whom have prior music experience and some who don’t) and unleashing them on a week long musical project. Some of our projects for 2018 include putting together an album of original beats and songs, writing and performing a rock opera, programming a robot orchestra to play an original piece of music and planning a DIY punk tour.
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