Discovering Waldorf – ‘Raising Singing Children’

* * *

Nine years ago, I came to work at the Waldorf School of Louisville as a handwork teacher. Nine years ago, I had to have two and sometimes three part-time jobs, and one of those jobs was teaching voice lessons at a small music school. Positioned this way, between the new (to me), wonderful world of Waldorf, and the “outside” world I was able to make several observations.
The first thing I observed was that the students in the Waldorf classes sang with energy, joy, and were remarkably on pitch. In contrast, my private students often struggled with this, even if I offered to sing with them. The second thing that struck me was the confidence level of the Waldorf students. It wasn’t at the level of bravado, but just a knowledge that “this is what we do, this is what I can do too.” It broke my heart when I would get an adult singing student who said, “I was always told I couldn’t sing”, or a self-deprecating, “I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.” We have all heard people at parties and gatherings insist they can’t sing. It was even sadder when I got a younger student who said those words.

While singing is not necessarily everyone’s forte (pun intended!), at some point in our lives we are given messages about singing…messages of indifference, of nurturing, of capability, or of incapacity. These messages are powerful, for our voices carry such deep capacity for expression. Our voices express the full complement of human emotions, and a simple tone of voice carries myriad nuances of communication. The human voice is remarkable in that it is an ever-changing, ever-modulating, very alive part of us. It is affected by our mood, illness, allergies, what we last ate, and the very air we breathe. Having a strong, confident speaking voice affects how others view us. And then there is singing…the artistic use of the voice.

In music class, I ask my students a question: What body part is most important to singing and making music on instruments? They will guess all the usual things…hands, voices, even eyes. Eventually someone mentions “ears”. Yes! Your ears! They are very important in making music! Our ears are assaulted with so many extraneous sounds every day. We do indeed live in a very noisy world, especially if one lives in town. The ambient music in stores, noises from machines, car radio, air conditioner, etc. all contribute to a lack of hearing. When do we truly have time to listen? Often we don’t know we are listening. A friend of mine told me of a study where people were asked to hum a pitch. The pitch most hummed corresponded exactly to the pitch of most refrigerators. Even though we might not be aware of so much noise, it still affects us.

Listening and singing go hand in hand. While we cannot control every sound we and our children are exposed to, we still have enough control to help our children sing. And this is where my Waldorf learning comes in. Music in Waldorf education is such a vast and broad subject, and I encourage you to explore the resources that follow this article and many many more. What follows focuses on the child before the nine year change and on singing, since singing can be taken anywhere and it is an integral part of the Waldorf curriculum. If you have older children I hope you will still be encouraged to bring more song into your body and your life, through singing and instruments.

First of all, I believe that singing parents and singing teachers make singing children. If you as a parent or teacher are committed to your own path of learning and practicing singing, your students and children will inevitably benefit from that an take in your enthusiasm. Second, I have never met a child who isn’t naturally a singing child. Every child sings…imitation is key in the first 7 years, and children bring out of themselves things they hear in their environment. Waldorf encourages an environment that nourishes the senses, so providing an environment rich in the warm tones of the human voice and poor in electronic, “canned” music does just that. Children have teachers that sing from the earliest age. They are given the implied message that singing is simply a part of life. Third, the way to “teach” a child to sing is to not teach them at all, or instruct them or bring attention to how they are singing, but rather, just sing!

So if adults bring more singing to their day and pay attention to creating a nourishing environment of sound, they will be surrounded by children who naturally sing. Luckily for most of us, this is pretty easy. Take the song, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The first two words of that song contain all you need to know to start singing with children. Yes, sing, “twinkle, twinkle” and you have just sung the interval of a fifth. There is a musical principle employed in Waldorf schools called the “mood of the fifth”. Children are so fresh from the world of spirit, and have not yet “landed” on this earth. Music with a dreamy, floating, swinging feeling -music in the mood of the fifth- meets them right where they are in their development. Most music in our environment is based on a major scale and has a very strong feeling of “coming home”…of being eventually grounded. Music in the mood of the fifth is based on the pentatonic scale, and to adults, can feel unfinished or left behind. However, this is exactly what meets the needs of the child, essentially before the nine-year-change. There are also many wonderful songs based on the pentatonic scale, yet they have a very definite sense of resolution…of “coming home”.

So how to even begin? One could take the simple “Twinkle, Twinkle” exercise and apply those two notes to any nursery rhyme. There you have started singing with your child. Sing your meal blessing on one note…which can actually be a difficult thing to do! Have a little waking up song, or sing a prayer. Sing lullabies! Children never seem too old for the magic of lullabies. Sing in the shower….discover your voice and what it can do, and your children will follow! Make up songs with your children just for fun. Make up songs about a story you just read. Take singing lessons yourself to nurture your artistic development. All of these efforts set the stage for future musical development in your child, gives children a can-do attitude toward music, instills enthusiasm for singing, and promotes a lifelong love of music.

* * *