Life without music would be a mistake.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Does music make kids smarter?

How do I find the right music teacher for my child? How do I separate my child from the wrong teacher?

Private music lessons are not an option for my kids right now – are there other alternatives for them?

Will my child regret quitting piano lessons when he's older? Is that enough reason to force him to continue?

My son has a gift for music, but he hates to practice. I don't want to force him, but I don't want to waste the money for lessons, either. Can I help him get more out of this opportunity?

My child is having trouble sleeping. Can music help her?

I find that my daughter relaxes when I play certain kinds of music. Can I use this to help her manage her moods and emotions?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions? Do you wonder how music can help you parent your child? Would you like to know more about music as a tool for enriching your child’s life? If so...

Welcome to Notations, a monthly column that we have added to our site devoted to helping you nurture your child through music. In this column, we will explore together the special gifts of our children and how we can grow and develop them through music. Our topics in the coming months will include spotting and nurturing musical talent in young children; great things music can help you do for your child; choosing music programs for your child; using music to positively affect children’s moods, concentration and sleep patterns; and others. We will aim to inform and encourage all parents of young children. Whether you are considering formal musical training for your child or seeking ways to use music to enhance and enrich your child’s life, we hope this column will be a resource for you. Our aim as always is to empower parents with information, creative ideas and practical tips for their use in nurturing, loving and educating their children.

This column will focus on music not only as an end but also as a means for parents in their journeys with their children. It will explore how musical education can help your child grow in unique ways, and it will explore how you and your child can use music in ordinary living to enrich your lives and enliven your experiences. We hope that you will find here both the familiar and the unknown, the comfort of music’s universality and the excitement of new territory as we explore music's many facets and how we can use it to positively affect our children, their relationships with the world in which they live, and our relation- ships with them.

Music is not only a universal language but is easily accessible, particularly in this age of inexpensive electronics. We can all offer music to our children, on some level, in some way, that will entice them, soothe them and challenge them. This column will offer ideas for how to do that. It will offer encouragement to parents who struggle with music lessons, practice time and performance anxiety for their children. Most of all, it will welcome you into the world of music, a shared love of all humankind, in all its forms and intricacies.

Whether your child’s dream includes performing at Carnegie Hall or singing in the shower, music has a unique power to enrich and befriend him along the way. Whether you hope to open a door to a musical career for your child or to share with her the joy that music in different forms can bring to daily life, we hope that you will join us in this column as we explore these questions. The study of music can bring tremendous satisfaction to children and can help build confidence and self-esteem in children and adults alike. The experience of music in its many forms is one of the most powerful forms of self-expression avail- able to us and to our children. We hope to help you unlock the power of music in your children’s lives, to share this gift of music with your children, and to help you realize the richness of the gift you will have given them by welcoming them to the world of music and their own unique place within it.

Join us here each month for a new journey into the world of children, parents, learning and love that is the hallmark of our website. If you like it, let us know. If you have questions, ask them. If you have ideas for additional columns, share them with us. Most of all, engage with us, and with your children, with music as our muse, and share with us your successes and your fears, your challenges and your joys. There are parents here who will be better for having heard from you. At the end of the day, that is what this website is all about.

When words leave off, music begins.
-- Heinrich Heine

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