The Rhythm of Habit & The Habit of Rhythm

“As for a musical training, it would be hard to say how much that passes for inherited musical taste and ability is the result of the constant hearing and producing of musical sounds, the habit of music, that the child of musical people grows up with,”1 Ms. Mason notes. “How to establish a habit of music in our home or school when we’re not musicians ourselves?” is a question I hear repeated by parents and teachers of music appreciation who are looking for practicable steps. And while there are curricula and playlists and podcasts available, as referenced in last week’s

post, something I like to share is that for habitual music listening, reading is largely underestimated part of learning to listen to music with discernment and enjoyment. The second Monday of each month, my plan is to post a review of a children’s book relating to music appreciation or performance. Stay tuned for the third Monday of the month, when I’ll highlight a book for adult readers.

Today we’re going to look at a very silly book for very young readers! Go ahead and read this page aloud. Is it possible to read without noticing rhythm in your voice and a smile on your face?

Read this book with children ages 0-6, and older siblings may be delighted to read to younger ones and to act out the rhythms. The last page even includes dynamics, a concept you’ll find in all music performance and appreciation study.

For older students, age 6 and up, take a look at this poem by Christina Rosetti:3

So, as far as practical suggestions might go, try making a minute for poetry with your students every day, and you’ll find that the habit of music is already underway. Strive for success and ease by attaching it to one of the “rhythms” of your day: whether at the table when lunch is winding down, or for the first minute of a walk outdoors, or the first minute of rest time indoors, or even the first minute of bedtime read-alouds. If the first timing isn’t successful, try switching it to a different part of your day’s or school’s routine until you find the sweet spot for you and your student. Plan a poetry time for every school day, and if some days it doesn’t happen, you’ll still be visiting this habit multiple times per week. Our poetry time is when we sit down to our 11:00 teatime each morning. After reading a poem aloud together, ask your students to tell you about what they heard in the poem. “How can you tell this is a poem?” At age 5, my daughter would come across poems in her McGuffey reading lessons and begin to sing them because she heard the music in them; while the prose pages she would simply read aloud. While she has studied violin from a young age, I think this quick turning of poetry to song was simply one example of her growing up with adults around her making opportunities for her to thoughtfully notice music where she finds it. Similar opportunities are something I believe any young child can be given, long before they ever take a formal music appreciation course or pick up an instrument.

These are poems with specific allusions music, but all good poetry holds an audible element of rhythm and musicality. Pursuing a habit of poetry is going to make moments magical when you come across future intersections of music and poetry in your music appreciation study, at church, at concerts, and in performance. Even today, in world news and events, many people watched and heard the intersection of poetry and song in the hymnody of the service at St. Giles for Queen Elizabeth. Whether beginning by noticing music in the rhythms or the subject matter of poetry, or both, I hope all readers shall be pleased to realize that a habitude of music is already in your reach!

1Charlotte Mason, Home Education: Training and Educating Children Under Nine. A section entitled “The Habit of Music” in Chapter 9, p. 133

2Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins, illustrated by Eric Gurney {reading time: under a minute and a half} 3Christina Rosetti’s “Tune Me O Lord” {reading time: under 1 minute}, p. 219 in edition printed for Everyman’s Library by Alfred A. Knopff of Random House, 1993. 4Service of Reflection, St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, Sky News In full: Service of reflection held at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh - YouTube