Boys and Music

“If children are not introduced to music at a young age, I believe something fundamental is actually being taken away from them.” - Luciano Pavarotti

Can we talk about boys and music for a minute?

Over the years of teaching music, and especially since having my own children, I’ve heard comments along the way about boys and music. There seems to be a tendency for some parents to shy away from musical education and activities for their boys.

It is a subtle attitude that indicates boys need to be only involved in hockey, karate, soccer and playing video games. How many times did you hear it from an elementary school buddy….”Music is for girls!” (I sure did!)

Is there no room for both in a boy's life?

Some of the greatest male influences I grew up under excelled at both music and sports. Some had magnificent voices and worked in technology and some could walk into a concert hall as well as plow a field.

Did you know we were created to express ourselves through music. If you search the Bible it reminds us that God rejoices over us with singing! (Zeph 3:17)

Parents, can we explore the possibility that there is a gift of music inside our boys just waiting to be discovered?

For some boys, it may look like excelling at the violin or rocking out on the drums. For another it may be the gift of singing. And for many, it may be the love and appreciation of knowing every album U2 recorded!

Let’s give our boys an opportunity to explore all their gifts and talents; from the soccer field to the marching band. It may mean you shift or change directions along the way to find where their passions in music lie, and that’s ok!

I think you may be surprised at what you will find.

For now, you can find the boys above whipping around on their motorbikes after a solid practice session at the piano :)