Hold a Concert in Your House – Another Way to Make Music a Part of Your Family’s Life
Last Sunday evening I went to my friend Rae’s house, where she held a concert. It’s a tradition she started with her husband, Mike, a few years back. Every year, just before Mother’s Day, they invite their friends and family to gather together to play songs on their instruments for each other. The concert is in honor of both of Rae and Mike’s mothers who passed away.
Children and adults were invited to play.
I think this is a lovely idea. It’s a nice Mother’s Day tradition. It gives children and adults a chance to show off the hard work they’ve been doing throughout the year. It also bridges the gap between school and home – so children are playing the songs they learn on their instruments in a variety of settings.
I think of what Vince Bates talks about on his blog Musicing – about how learning music in school needs to be more a part of the child’s whole life. This approaches it from the other direction and says that the things the child is doing in school can be brought home and enjoyed by the student with his or her friends and family.
At the end of the concert, everyone was invited to join in together and play and sing, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. This gave even the littlest kids, and anyone who didn’t play an instrument, a chance to be involved. I recorded it for you! It’s a bit cacophonous – but it was a lot of fun! Click the link below to hear it, and come join in singing!
MP3 of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Here are some other posts about Mother’s Day, including some poems:
May 12th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Hi Lisa,
I enjoyed reading about the home “concert.” I come from a large family and we used to make music together quite a lot (guitar, piano, accordian, etc). We still do when we get together for family reunions. It’s a lot of fun and everyone participates; that includes quite a few people now that we all have families of our own. My sister typed up a book of over 100 song lyrics with chords. She visits elementary schools and sings with the kids. They especially like “The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the birthday cake. Itsy bitsy quickly learned he’d made a big mistake. He climbed up on the candle before the cake was cut and the itsy bitsy spider, he burned his little butt!”
I like the idea of including a few children’s songs in the family jam sessions…
May 12th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Sounds like a lot of fun!
May 15th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
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