Only The Good Notes

I'm assuming you've all seen the incredibly sweet scene of The Holiday I pasted above.
"I used only the good notes."
What's a girl got to do to get a guy to say that to her? I just love that scene.
Music can simply melt you into pieces. Good and bad pieces of course.
Some songs can take you to a place you once lived, a time with good friends that happened decades ago and even bad times that you wish you could forget.

Yes, I am that girl that fell hard for a guy who played music and was in band. I thought I'd get that info out of the way. So those of you who have had bad experiences with musicians you can just quit reading now.

Music is not only a wonderfully expressive art but it is a language as well.  There are about a million studies and reports for the benefits of kids playing music.  They learn a skill not everyone has, they learn to read music and how to keep a beat/rhythm. Most importantly they learn how to express themselves in a new way.

My youngest child (blonde ponytail) playing the violin at a concert recently.

I did "make" all four of my children take orchestra. I know some of you are totally cringing at the idea of screeching strings filling the air in your homes, but honestly it hasn't been so bad.
A lot of schools now cut the music and arts programs due to funding. I think that is really sad because as with life in general you should have hard work to do yet balanced out with fun stuff like music & art.  The one huge noticeable benefit that my kids seemed to have received from all the music lessons they've had, is that they are all excellent in math. Each one of them has different levels of talent with music but they all know the language of music. My youngest who has only been playing for a few months took it upon herself to research the theme song to Zelda and taught herself how to play it.  She didn't ask for help, she just researched it out of curiosity.  That really made me smile and feel proud. Curiosity like that is really admirable.

Varieties of music fill the rooms of my house daily. My teenagers, one in particular likes to make music and gets serious about classifications of genres and styles. It's really like a bad sitcom around here somedays, but they have learned to appreciate sounds and music. Sure some of it is the crap you'd hear if you turned on the radio but they are teenagers. We all assault our parent's ears with horrible music from our teenage years, it's a rite of passage.

I won't lie to you and tell you music lessons even the school classes aren't expensive. They are. I about shit myself when I saw how much a violin was. You can buy instruments used, lease them and some schools offer financial aid or other loaning programs for them. Choir is beneficial as well because you learn to read music there too. With the popularity of Glee many schools have brought those back too.  
I do get asked often about my kid's music classes because its now viewed as something "fancy", maybe it is but my kids have really benefited from it and it does show in other areas of their studies. I feel like the expense has been worth it. We also have passed down instruments so that was really cost effective for us.
Mom to mom here promise me that if your kid comes home with a flyer for a music program at school promise me you'll take it seriously. It's not about raising little rock stars but allowing your child to learn a new language and explore life through sound.
C'mon you know on somedays you walk around with a theme song of the day in your head! At the very least you have sweet car solo singing sessions. It feels good right? Music is awesome.

xo-Thea