Dear friends and followers,
I would be so very grateful if you could please help me raise the funds needed to purchase a Soundbeam 6 musical instrument for our work with children living with disabilities in Lagos Nigeria.
Please watch the video and donate whatever you can towards the €3,500 goal. God bless you as you do. Please share with your network and acquaintances also.
Here is the link to donate: https://gofund.me/898250ce
Thank you.
Kx
I first started teaching Dolu when he was aged four years old. At that age, Dolu was more interested in sitting under the piano stool than on it.
We developed an understanding around Maltesers which helped sweeten Dolu’s lessons a great deal for us both!
One of our favourite games for learning keyboard geography was “hide and seek”. Lessons typically consisted of a series of short, focused activities, woven around actually playing the piano itself.
Sadly, I wasn’t able to continue with Dolu’s lessons and he subsequently developed an interest in the violin. So lovely to see him grown up and confident as he continues his pursuit of music.
Well done Dolu! So proud of you! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
One of the first families who attended my early years music classes in the UK were the Price family.
Mum, Melanie, started coming with Lauren probably one to two years after I first opened a centre in their local area. Lauren happens to share my birthday and is therefore, naturally, my favourite 😁.
It was a pleasure to witness the family grow as Melanie fell pregnant with her subsequent two babies. She would bring them to classes, initially in their car seats, until they were old enough to take part themselves. Occasionally, their father, Jonathan, would attend classes if Melanie wasn’t available.
I remember Melanie being gently supportive of her daughters during the sessions. She modelled the behaviour she wanted them to emulate, actively joining in with the singing and the actions even when, especially as toddlers, the children had other ideas!
For three years from 2006, 2007 and 2008, I was invited to run music workshops for the girls birthday parties.
My favourite was the “Music Around the World” party which was held on the 14th of June 2008, for Lauren’s 5th birthday where we “visited” France, Australia and Hawaii among other nations.
I thoroughly enjoyed playing the didgeridoo, wearing Hawaiian leys and grass skirts and singing a song in a terrible French accent about making pastry.
I recently caught up with Melanie to find out how the girls are doing and this is what she said:
“All three of my girls are still all very involved in music today.”
“Lauren has achieved grade 5 piano and grade 6 singing and is due to take her grade 6 flute next term. She plays in school ensembles as well as in a flute group”.
“Her real passion is singing and she is a member of a local Youth Choir and has been in church and school choirs since primary school”.
“Charlotte is working on her grade 5 piano and has just passed her grade 6 violin. She is a member of our local Youth Symphony Orchestra and also plays in a local ensemble as well as school ensembles”.
“Abigail is working on grade 3 piano and has just passed her grade 4 violin. She is part of an Intermediate orchestra and plays in school ensembles as well as a local music ensemble. Abi also sings in church and school choirs”.
“I definitely credit their early years music and movement classes with giving them a love of music from an early age. They all loved the classes and have always enjoyed listening to and playing music.”
“I have such fond memories of attending the baby music classes.”
I am so thrilled to learn that all three girls have continued to pursue music alongside their other passions – athletics and gymnastics being other areas in which they have excelled over the years.
The gentle, yet dogged commitment of Melanie and Jonathan to supporting the girls’ music education right from infancy has yielded great fruit of which they should be proud. It’s been a honour to play a small part in sparking the girls love for music.
I leave you with this recording of Lauren and members of her youth of choir giving a beautiful, virtual rendition of “Fix You” which I am sure you will agree is absolutely beautiful.
For those of you who despair whether your inattentive toddler will ever settle down long enough in baby music class to learn the finer points of rhythm and pitch, I say NEVER, EVER give up!
You have got to play the long game… Keep the prize in sight. Stay positive, keep engaging, keep persevering. They do eventually click. And the rewards, as I am sure the Price family can testify to, are immeasurable.
Don’t. Give. Up.
Earlier this month I caught a glimpse of a New Nigeria.
It was full of creative, confident and courageous young men and women who were courteous, clever and of upstanding character.
This New Nigeria was compassionate, respectful of the rights of everyone to basic human rights, regardless of creed, sexual orientation, tongue or tribe.
Her citizens were tenacious, yet respectful, dogged and determined yet responsible. They were accountable and transparent. I was so proud!!!!
And while their ascendancy has been momentarily and cruelly interrupted, I am confident that they will be back. Better organised, laser focused on their mission. Unstoppable.
In my privileged position as a Music Educator, I get to interact with future generations of this New Nigeria. The ones to whom the baton will be passed in the not too distant future and I feel the weight of responsibility that lies upon my shoulders and on the shoulders of Educators up and down the country, to do good by them.
To provide them with the tools that they need to realise our collective dreams.
To build their Character, to instill in them the Courage to do hard things. To grow their Confidence to speak up in a room full of strangers. To inspire and ignite their Creativity and to develop their Cognitive skills through repeatedly tackling seemingly impossible tasks.
This is my calling. I have no other purpose.
So today,
I renew my pledge to present and future Nigeria
To be faithful, loyal and honest in executing my responsibility
To serve present and future Nigeria with all my might
To defend her unity
And to uphold her power and glory
So help me God.
I have just finished a lesson with one of my young learners where I witnessed a small miracle. A few weeks ago, we started learning scales on the piano and, as is my custom, we started with his right hand only. Gradually his fingers got accustomed to the motion needed to realise the required sound and soon it was time to learn to play the left hand. Again, gradually, he was able to realise this also and we then started on him playing both hands together. The first few times he attempted this, the results were not pretty at all. He stumbled and fumbled and got all mixed up. I left it with him, gently coaxing and encouraging him each lesson to keep trying. And he did. Today he played that scale hands together, effortlessly. It was as if he was always able to play it just like that. The pain and frustration of the past had become a distant memory. And my heart was filled with joy because of what I realise had happened, unnoticed, in his brain to allow him to execute a near flawless scale.
Neurology helps us understand that when playing the piano with both hands, we are forcing both sides of our brains to work together and by so doing, we strengthen the nerve cells that run between the left and right sides of the brain – the corpus callosum. A strong corpus callosum enhances the brain’s capacity to process information faster. By being persistent at learning this skill, my student had strengthened the section of his brain that was needed to process this particular task. And those “brain muscles” are here to stay. The more he continues to practice this and similar skills, the stronger that part of his brain will get and he will be able to use that enhanced processing capability in other areas of life. Not just music.
Neurology tells us that learning to play an instrument permanently alters the shape of a musician’s brain – for the better. So, when we moved on to his next task, which was to play the left hand of one of his pieces, I smiled to myself as he exclaimed – “but that’s impossible!”. Slowly, we worked through each bar of the piece and when we got to the end of the first page, he exclaimed – “actually, that was easy!”. And it was easy – due in part to the fact that his brain recognised some of the patterns in the piece and was able to quickly direct his hands on how to move.
I love the fact that my music room – both virtual and in-person – is in some ways like a laboratory and a gymnasium combined, where I get the satisfaction of watching my learners develop muscles and tone in places they never imagined they could. This is one rewarding experience that I will never tire of. Ever.
Musings on Music, Motherhood and other Mysteries 