I’ve had people tell me that “Classical music is boring and pretentious.” I strongly disagree. Actually, when I’ve been told this, I’ve asked, “What classical music have you listened to?” Typically, the person declaring that classical music is boring has rarely listened to it.
So, how do we grow a love for this source of beauty? It really isn’t hard to do at all. Here’s my method:
- Pick a composer.
- Play a piece of his music in the background during dinner or during art or quiet time.
- If anyone asks, tell them who the composer is and what piece the orchestra is playing.
- If no one asks, eventually, strike up a conversation about it or just use the composer’s name casually in conversation.
- When you are ready, change composers and start again. (We’ll change every six to twelve weeks depending on our enjoyment of the composer’s works.)
Truly, after your household is use to hearing snippets of classical music in a day, the music can become an exercise in listening, attention, and imagination. You can listen for specific instruments in the composition. You can imagine or draw the scene that the music makes you think of while you listen. You can write a story or poem describing the feeling of the music. You can read about the composer. There are thousands of options for activities. But the most important part is just listening to the beauty of the piece.
Now that you can listen to just about any piece of music on the internet, there is no barrier at all to introducing your household to the beauty of classical music. There are great suggestions for a starting point at Ambleside Online.
But for a quick start, here you go.