Hello Everybody!

What do you think about JOY! It’s something that we, at TipToe Music, feel every time we enter a classroom. 

Not JUST because we love being with everyone (though that is a big part of it - being back in a real community of music-making families is particularly awesome after the last three, dare I say it, pandemic years) but it’s because making music brings us a particular joy. 

In its own right, music making is JOY-filled!

I’ve been making music all of my life, for as long as I can remember, and frankly I can’t imagine my life without it. From silly songs with my Mum and sisters as a little one, singing along to the soundtrack of The Sound of Music on the school run each day (and yes everyone got very bored when it was on repeat AGAIN!).  Singing along to Abba, Brotherhood of Man or the song Africa (the original - yes I'm that old) on car trips on family holidays - I distinctly remember my sisters asking me to stop lol! 

Singing has always been completely normal to me - it's like laughing at a joke, or answering a question. It's been a way to communicate and connect with others both informally and also in formal music settings. 

Friends here in Canada even say have a sing-song voice when I say "Hello" - I just can't help mysef!!  

I've sung and performed in choirs and groups across the world, taken Music Together® classes with my  kids in Hong Kong (thank you Miss Andrea), played the violin, flute, piccolo and piano. And now I make music with hundreds of children each week in our classes… Music-making for me is both joy filled and it's a way of life.

Back in March this year my family and I made the long overdue trip back to see our extended family in the UK - it had been nearly 4 years since we'd seen any family and I'm sure you can imagine it was an intense week with huge emotions. 

Mid-trip my husband, kids and I decided to take a day out to visit Salisbury in Wiltshire. We needed to take some time out. We walked up to Salisbury Cathedral and, as is my way, I started giving my boys the history on how it connected to my past, memories of what I used to do as a girl there and more. We entered the cathedral and I was stopped in my tracks!  

I immediately transported back to my teenage years when I used to sing in a choir there… and it felt like yesterday. Exhilarated, I was witnessing a local school choir rehearse for an event, with an amazing acoustic they were singing so beautifully, it was music very similar to what I remember singing and I was completely entranced!  All I could do was sit and listen and remember! It was amazing and, you guessed it, JOY filled!

The impact that music can have on you and your memories is quite incredible. 

Singing and dancing lowers our stress levels and connects us to one another, which is good for the whole family. It’s common to think of music as something we listen to on our headphones, or in lessons” or “choir practice.” 

However, in reality music is much, much more. 

Music is emotion, connection, ritual and has complex layers. It’s something we turn to again and again to mark important life transitions, to help us cope with loss and celebrate love, and to gather in shared purpose and community. Music is a uniquely human way of knowing and understanding the world around us, of learning who we are and how to be—and it starts when we’re very young.*

That's what I wanted to share with you today - WHY I talk about JOY and music-making all the time and why I feel it is important to make music with your child - so that you and your child can feel the same way - feeling the power of music throughout your lives too!

So if you’re on the fence about singing with your child, taking them to a music activity or even trying out something brand new with your little music-maker, then try to remember this… there is science behind it!

Music will have an impact on your life!  Music may change your life!  Music can become a way of life! But ultimately, you can use music to enable your child’s development to support them when they need it most and it will bring you, quite simply, Joy! 

My life is the way it is because of music! 

Sing with you soon!

E-J

PS if you’d like to read more about the science behind music making check out these articles from Music Together®*

Miss E-J teaches with TipToe Music in Oakville and Burlington every week

TipToe Music offers classes for birth - 8 years olds and focuses on enriching families lives so they can experience the joy & benefits of music making together. 

You can also join E-J for pop up classes across the West GTA.

TipToe Music is a licensed Music Together® Centre. Music Together is a research-based music curriculum which is taught in over 60 countries and 3000 communities since 1986.

Sources:

• Music Together Worldwide

• National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2004). Children’s emotional development is built into the architecture of their brains: Working Paper No. 2. Retrieved from http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu.