Hello,
I recently read about Laszlo Polgar, a hungarian psychologist. He had three daughters and decided to make them the best chess players in the world. He thought that he would be able to turn any healthy child into a genius by early and focused concentration on only one subject. He was convinced that the world's geniuses, let's say Mozart or Beethoven, were talented, but only became overworldy by early and earnest dedication. Polgar found a wife who was on board with his plan, to form their future children into geniuses by exactly this way. With success: all their three daughters became largely succesful chess players, two of them amongst the best chess players of all time. Read more about the family on Wikipedia, if you like.
It is common wisdom that if you want your children become musicians, it is much easier, if you practice music, too. If they see that you dedicate time and effort on a regular basis, they (presumably) pick up the habit way easier.
I like these two "stories" a lot.
I have three children now, they are 4, 2 and 3 months. I don't want them to be famous or genius in any way, like Polgar did, but I would like them to enjoy music, being a musician, because it is by far my favorite form of art. I know that you should not try to force a behavior or hobby on a child, and i don't want to. But i can imagine making music and musicmaking a more central part of our lives. Not by forcing them to learn or study, but by making music "normal", like Polgar did with chess. By far not as extensive. But similarly. We often watch music videos on YouTube, instead of Peppa Pig, and they quite like it. The 4 year old already mentioned that he would like to learn to play the drums and the piano (but he also wants to know the names of all the dinosaurs - he just wants to know a lot :-))
Now the big problem: i don't play any instrument. My wife doesn't either. There is nothing i regret more : never having learned to make music on my own. Only listening. Which is great! But which leaves me a bit empty and envious at times.
Now the question : since we're not VERY old yet ;-) my wife and I would very much like to learn to play an instrument. Maybe even more than one. Not only for our own pleasure, but also to create a slightly more "musical" environment for our children. I want it to be normal to make music in our home, even though it doesn't have to be perfect.
This being sad, now two questions:
Imagine you are Polgar, and you would like to make your children "geniuses" in music. Which instruments would you chose to have at home? Which books would you always have around? Which films would you watch, which posters would you put on your walls?
And please also consider our situation : which instrument can thirty-somethings easily learn? How do you spark interest in small children to make music on their own, at home?
I hope i chose the right sub for these questions. I also hope that you excuse any errors in spelling, grammar etc, since i'm not a native speaker.
Submitted October 09, 2021 at 05:53PM by Alternative_Dot8184 https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/q4ttf5/the_chess_method_for_music/?utm_source=ifttt