Broaden Your Child's World Through Music Appreciation
Learning about (and learning to truly appreciate) great music exposes our children to the cultures and histories of people around the world.
Recently, in one of our SQUILT LIVE! lessons, a student said to me, "You didn't tell us this was going to be a geography lesson!".
A-ha! No, I didn't - but I am SO glad they noticed! (I hope they also realize that I'm sneaking in literature, history, science, and MORE through our lessons as well.)
As we learn about Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" overture, we travel to Scotland and read about the mythical giant, Fingal. When we sail to the Caribbean we encounter a blend of African, European, and Indigenous influences that created a unique musical style.
Each piece of music, each musician, each instrument - they all tell a story of a time and place that is new to children. What a beautiful, organic way to foster understanding, empathy, and a love of beauty.
Our approach at SQUILT Music is to broaden your children's world through exposure to music from all over the world, a diverse array of performers, and lesser known composers and musicians. Very few stones are left unturned as we give children a comprehensive music appreciation.
World Music
When we teach our children about music from different corners of the world, it is inevitable that their horizons and tastes are broadened. In the past few years we have included lessons from the following locations:
- Venezuela
- Mali
- Scotland
- Rome
- Germany
- Russia
- Ukraine
- The Caribbean
- France
- Australia
- Japan
- Indonesia
- South Africa
- America
- (and MORE!)
Performers
Using a piece of music is a wonderful starting point with children, but oftentimes I love to use a PERFORMER as a starting point. There is so much to be learned from a musician's STORY that leads children to an appreciation of their music.
Consider the following musicians we have learned about:
- Itzhak Perlman
- Yo Yo Ma
- Wynton Marsalis
- Gustavo Dudamel
- Christian Sands
- Trombone Shorty
- Figures from the Harlem Renaissance
- Vladimir Horowitz
- Andrea Bocelli
- The Three Tenors
- Guest STUDENT artists who share their talents with their classmates
Lesser Known Composers/Musicians
Of course we will learn about the "obvious" greats of music. Composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Copland, John Williams, and others are definitely worthy of study.
We have an opportunity, however, to highlight lesser known musicians - which gives the children a chance to dive deeper than the "mainstream" music history allows.
Consider the following musicians we have studied:
- Amy Beach (we have a free lesson about her!)
- Florence Price
- Clara Schuman
- Fanny Mendelssohn
- William Grant Still
- musicians of our Armed Forces ensembles
- Charles Ives
- professional guests from symphonies, opera companies, and folk groups
Resources for Music Appreciation
Check out our archive of over 170 recorded lessons (with 2 new live lessons being taught each month!) in the SQUILT LIVE! PLUS membership. The fun thing about these lessons is that they are in a SEARCHABLE database, so you can find lessons to coordinate with your current studies. 
We also have a free Spotify playlist with a fabulous sampling of much of the music that has been taught in our lessons over the past SEVEN years! This playlist gives your children a variety of eras, styles, and performers - something fun to play in the background or in the car!
The world is your children's oyster, and studying beautiful music can transport them to so many beautiful destinations!