Classical Music in Everyday Life

My first exposure to classical music occurred when I was a child, taking piano lessons. Each lesson included a brief, age-appropriate, biography of one composer. Also, upon accomplishing certain things the teacher would award a small, marble, bust of one of the composers. Just this much exposure to classical music was enough to make me kind of take it for granted that this type of music was a part of life.

Once I had grown up and had each of my babies I kept a small radio in the nursery, and I'd set it on the classical music station (with the volume on low) for each baby. As my children grew, they, too, took music lessons. When we'd be in the car I'd put different things on the radio, and classical music was one thing to which they were accustomed. Their father did the same thing. We generally had a peaceful, positive, atmosphere at home anyway; but the children were raised in an environment where classical music was just as commonly played as any other kind of music.

My three-year-old daughter had seen Itzak Perlman on Sesame Street and taken a liking to him. I bought her a video with him performing on it, and it she became a little obsessed with watching it. Later, she would ask to violin lessons, so I put her into a Suzuki program nearby.

I've made my trips out to Tanglewood, but as nice as those Tanglewood visits were, they didn't really impact my life. It was the smaller and more subtle, day-to-day, sharing of classical music that made our home a little nicer and made our children a little more tuned in all that music is, rather than just knowing what the latest rock recording is.

My husband and I and our children sat through sitcoms, like most other families do, but having classical (and other) music just as big a part of life helped my children appreciate the difference between classical and other music. More importantly, having classical music in their life was one of the things that contributed to the kind of people they are today.