Classical music for children

[Poetryinaction]

My 6 year old son has always loved classical music, and always asks for Classic FM on the radio if we are in the car. He calls it 'ballet music'or 'lovely, relaxing music'.
How can I encourage this interest? We are getting a piano soon, and I will get lessons for myself and then teach him.
Anything I can do in the meantime? He has a really good ear, and has always sung with good pitch, even from very little.
Thanks

DD loved The Planets when she was very young. My DB loves it too and you can see my toddler niece is really moved by Jupiter and Mars.

Ds at that age started liking to go to sleep listening to music. First cd we got him was called my first violin album as he could play violin in school in y2 - the playing didn’t last but he is now 12 and still wants to go to sleep to that cd (even though he has others!). It’s part of a series with some great pieces from a wide range of well known classics on them - nice as an intro if you want some cds for any reason. I like cds for leaving on at night rather than the radio or digital - old school I know!

You could teach yourself recorder and teach him - to a basic level. I wouldn't try teaching him another instrument though. Let him join a choir, get an instrumental teacher, etc - to enjoy the social side of doing music.

I would be very wary about teaching a musical instrument unless you are an actual music teacher. It’s so hard to undo habits such as poor hand position, fingering and reading music/counting. My brother is a piano teacher and when he was studying music, his friend from music college, who was a violinist gave me my first violin lessons when I was 8. She didn’t pick up on my bow hold, finger positioning, correct way to hold the instrument. It took years once I started learning with a qualified teacher to re-learn these very basic things and this held me back for a very long time. Much better to get off to a good start with solid foundations then to have to pick apart everything and start again.

There are some brilliant story tapes themed around classical music - they're all available on Amazon to download. Look for Mr Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Vivaldi's ring of mystery, Mozart's magical fantasy (which tells the story of the magic flute), Tchaikovsky discovers the new world etc. My sons still love them and they are 6 and 8. We then show them youtube clips of opera particularly as they can see the singers - after they listened to the magic flute story tape a few times and knew the music we watched a few clips (keep it short and sweet!!) good ones are diana damrau singing queen of the night, they also like the end of don Giovanni with the ghost of the commentatore, the bit of rhinegold with the rhinemaidens teasing alberich, siegfried where he forges his sword, etc.

Thanks again.

Someone's already mentioned Classical 100. Here's a link. It's normally for primary schools, but I think they have opened it up during lockdown so that pupils and parents can access it from home.

gb.abrsm.org/en/classical100primary/

That's great, thank you.

Very likely not what you’re looking for, but when still very small my dds adored the Fantasia DVD - IMO still a masterpiece - animation made to fit classical music, for anyone unfamiliar. Several lifelong favourites came from that, esp. Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, but too many to mention here.
The Night On Bare Mountain sequence is a bit scary though!

I first saw it as a very young child an awful long time ago and The Rite Of Spring sequence (the earth trillions of years ago down to the last of the dinosaurs) made a great impression - I still remember my father explaining how fish evolved into land animals (as shown in the film).

OP, I taught my child basic piano for over a year and it worked out fine. I handed over to a proper teacher when he got to grade 1. By that stage it wasn't working so well and we both felt it was time to change gear, he is flying with his new teacher who he admires and the tuition is better. The basics are pretty basic though...You will have a sense of whether this would work for you both, trust your instincts. I used John Thompson books 1&2 (because I had been taught on these books years before) and the Piano Star ABRSM books. I also found some good stuff on YouTube.

Both really helpful, thanks

Maybe rather than teaching him yourself you could seek out a Suzuki music teacher in your area - in Suzuki lessons the parent attends every lesson with the child and helps and encourages him or her to practice at home. It's a big commitment to be there and pay full attention to the teacher for 20 minutes or more and take notes. You could learn at the same time your son is learning. It's a bit different to normal music learning, the child starts to learn some basic notes and progresses to tunes very quickly but scales etc don't really come into play for several years. There is huge focus on posture etc, opportunity to play in Groups with other children and end of year concert opportunity and assessment. Suzuki violin is probably the most commonly taught instrument followed by cello and maybe viola, but if you are fortunate you may have a piano teacher in your area. These teachers often have a degree from a music college and a professional teaching qualification before they embark on Suzuki teacher training which can take years but they have lots of fun ways to introduce instrument training to very young children.

One of my DC learned to play Suzuki violin from age 5 and has since progressed to a standard music school. The group lessons are useful for introducing music theory before the children progress into formal large class size music theory lessons. You'll pick up a small violin for very little money, but a full size one may cost more than a piano, trading up as you go helps.

I think that a music teacher would take a very different approach to teaching a child than they would with teaching an adult so it may not be a great idea for you to take lessons and expect your child to learn the same pieces you are learning. And your child is a different size to you so the number of notes they will master at the beginning will be limited.