First of all, music is a language. If you think of it in this context and compare the task of learning music with the task of learning another language you can draw comparisons.
Why do we want our children to learn another language? Language is about communication. Language is how we share our thoughts, our ideas, our emotions, and our life experiences with each other. The better our language skills, the better the communication skills.
I think we would all agree that as we grow into a global society the ability to truly share our thoughts becomes increasingly essential. So, to what extent would you like your children to be able to speak another language, enough to get by or so much that they can fully engage in an in-depth and meaningful conversation?
Music is more than a language though, it is a language of an art form. The complexities of it know no bounds. I will try to break it down.
When we learn to play an instrument we have to develop the technical skills that are necessary in order to get the correct sound out of the instrument. Piano players learn fingering, they teach their hands to control and coordinate the fingers in order to combine them in endless combinations to produce the music. They learn to play dynamically and articulately. These aspects of expression are essential to the success of communicating the message in the music.
We must also teach our brains to recognize and process the symbols of the language as we see it on the page, sticks and dots, lines and spaces, these symbols tell us what we are to play on our instrument. The better we are at translating the written language, the better we are able to speak it with our instruments; but that is just scratching the surface. As we develop our motor and cognitive skills, we also develop an independence, a freedom to express emotional ideas through the notes that we articulate on our instrument. We can tell stories, express humour, sadness, create suspense, calm and construct images of nature. There are countless studies that have shown that when children work at combining their physical response with their intellectual processing, new connections are made in the brain, opening up pathways that enable them to think outside of the box, on many levels, in every subject.
The art of language involves listening as much as it involves speaking. Music is an amazingly powerful art form. It touches us on an incredibly deep level. Music can make us cry, laugh, calm down, or get excited. It is really powerful stuff. The musician who can truly express the language of the music is one who can speak to our heart and soul. The musician who becomes a composer opens themselves up to the possibility of reaching a profound place of expression and love. The musician who develops the language beyond the basics not only speaks the language more fluidly but understands it better too.
This is what I hope my students will accomplish, to acquire the ability to express themselves through the language of music and communicate with anyone, anywhere on the planet.
So why Beethoven?
The language of classical music offers complexities of rhythm and sound that help to create a huge pallet of harmony, melody, and rhythm. The possibilities are far more expansive when the student realizes the depth of the language they are learning. They can still choose to keep it simple, but now it is a choice, not a restriction. It has been my experience that students who focus on the classical material, quickly recognize their growing abilities to play whatever they like. The sense of accomplishment that comes from working consistently on the challenges presented in the classical repertoire give the student a sense of pride and provide them with the necessary skills to pick up the popular music of the day and play it from a place of greater understanding and knowledge. It’s allot easier to have fun with it when it’s easy to play.