Music of the Sphere

Music, as I write about it here, is not the "music of the spheres" used in the Medieval sense that the Sun, Moon, and planets emitted a harmony of inaudible hums,  but it is the music of our earthly sphere that transcends national boundaries.

     The Gangnam Style of South Korea's PSY and the earlier popularity of the Spanish Macarena testify to music's universal appeal. How often we see Mexico's Mariachi bands in movies and music videos! TIME magazine (January 28, 2013) noted that U.S. musician, Sixto Rodriguez, recently learned that his recordings were as popular in South Africa as those of Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Canadians, Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen, have no doubt they are popular in the United States.

     Listening to Mozart may or may not help children mature or develop a higher IQ, but music definitely can transport young listeners to different cultures. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art store (store.metmuseum.org) sells a "Global Glowball" that enables children six months and older to light up and play a regional song when they touch one of 39 areas on the globe. Babies also can shake their rattles to the Latin rhythms of the samba, cha cha, rumba, salsa, and bossa nova, and they can fall asleep listening to a lullaby passed down from immigrant ancestors. Later, they can learn to play an instrument according to the method developed by Japanese musician, Shinichi Suzuki, polka around the house, and play musical chairs to Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" or the South African township rhythms on Paul Simon's "Graceland."

     Just as we did, children can learn to identify orchestra instruments by listening to a recording or live performance of "Peter and the Wolf" by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Kids also can listen to 10 classic children's songs on their own wind-up Fisher-Price Record Player, recommended for children 18 months and older and available at YoungExplorers.com. Nowadays, they even might to learn to play instruments from other countries. For a Jamtown bag of fair trade world music instruments the whole family can play, go to multiculturalkids.com. Or check out the list of pan flutes sold by boliviamall.com, the global music gift basket of a hand drum, flute, tambourine and ju-ju seed shaker from SERRV (serrv.org/1-800.422.5915) or the rainsticks, maracas, and didgeridoos at musiciansfriend.com.

     Children also can play music on homemade instruments, like those spoons that can bang out rhythms on pots and pans and combs that serve as harmonicas when covered with tissue paper. In the news 9/20/2013 was the variety of bottles someone in Copenhagen uses to play Mozart. TIME magazine (May 27, 2013) mentioned that astronaut Don Pettit had made a didgeridoo out of an International Space Station vacuum cleaner hose. TIME also reminded us that globalization may be only the first stop in the universe, since Chris Hadfield, from the International Space Station, serenaded Earth with David Bowie's "Space Oddity."

    Music can bring people together around the world. After years when the Taliban banned music in Afghanistan, concert goers in Washington, D.C. and New York City recently had an opportunity to hear boys and girls playing traditional and other instruments together in the 48-member Afghan Youth Orchestra. When traveling around the world, be on the lookout for museums that are devoted to musical instruments. I was surprised to read that there is A World of Accordions Museum in Superior, Wisconsin, that not only features accordions from Europe, Japan, and Africa but also houses the piano, organ, guitar, and accordion method books by Willard "Bill" Palmer that have been translated into 17 languages. You can read more about this interesting museum at museum.accordionworld.org.

     When my daughter was young, I remember reading that a good ear for music indicates a child may find it easy to pick up languages. In case there is something to that, you might want to go to the blog post, "How Do You Say?" to pick up some ideas for introducing youngsters to foreign languages.