You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - 7 Ways to Get Your Kids Into Jazz - #126

Episode Date: June 4, 2018

Today, Peter and Adam list some ways to get kids into listening to and playing jazz. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I'm Peter Martin. And I'm Adam Manus. You're listening to the You'll Hear It Podcast. Daily Jazz advice coming at you. Today we're going to give you seven ways to get your kids into jazz. Do you have kids? I do have kids. Are they into jazz?

They love jazz. Really? Well, sometimes. You know what? I've heard from each of them at different times I love jazz and I hate jazz. I know. Yeah. No, my kids actually love jazz.

That's what they tell me. I think they're sucking up to me to try to get toys. And food. And food? Because they're eight and six. They're a little young. But no, this is good. I think I have some ideas on this, so maybe we should go forth.

Let's go forth. Okay, so number one, listen. Oh, how do you know? But this one really is, this one is a true. We're not forcing, we never forced to listen. This is the most important thing. But I would say the trick with this is you listen. Don't force them to listen.

Just have the music on. I mean, that's how I got into jazz. Yeah, totally. I just heard the music a lot in our house. I don't even know thinking about it. Jack, actually, if it was that much. But, I mean, it was a constant pressure, but it wasn't 24 hours a day. Because, like, my dad and my mom, but especially my dad, he would sit and listen to jazz for enjoyment.

It was never, like, to educate me or to turn me into a jazz music. He liked listening to it. Yeah. I mean, he would also sit and drink a beer. He liked that. So, I guess I took up that habit as well at a certain point. But, I mean, it's like just have it on, just the same way you'd have some art on the wall. If you can afford a Picasso, hang that on your wall, you know.

That's right. But the great thing with jazz is it's the way we interact with it and get acclimated to it first. You don't have to love it, but you just want to be acclimated to it. Yeah, that's great. And then the musical takeover. Exposure is the biggest part, right? If they're exposed from an early age, they are familiar with it. I mean, I remember for me listening to the jazz radio station here, 887, WSIE, when I was a kid.

Well, you could pick that up all the way down in Jeffco? In Jeffco, yeah. In Jeffco, yeah. But no, I remember my dad kind of. because I was like, how do they do this? Are they, he's like, they're improvising everything. How do they do that? And just my dad kind of explaining to me how rhythm sections worked.

And that really got me into it of just like, oh, so like the drummer's kind of making up his thing and the pianist is making up his thing. That's great. You know, for a kid who liked classical music and the Beach Boys, it was a revelation. Right. So that's a big thing. And then I'll go with number two, and this is kind of piggybacking on that. And that's to take them to live performances.

You know, I make it a point to take my kids to as many. concerts as I can that's appropriate for a six-year-old and an eight-year-old. And they love it. You know, there's nothing that'll connect, not just kids, but anybody, but especially kids to the music then to seeing it live. And they've been some, like, I don't just take them to easy stuff either. I've taken, like, Melissa Aldana, and they love that, you know, and it's like, that's heavy music.

Yep. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, I think that's great. And I've done my kids are a little older, but they really grew up listening to it, mostly at, you know, my gigs. That's the easiest thing. Right.

Bring them. I mean, I know. actually all my kids because they were all born in New Orleans that was kind of advanced well that helps maybe that'll be number three move to New Orleans

yeah but I mean but you know look if you're living in a city there's anywhere in the world at this point there is live jazz music that's surprisingly good quality available totally yeah it's not going to be New Orleans

New York or but but I mean it's available there's always and even like smaller towns college towns you know there's good concerts coming through and it's just like anything you know like you say expose them to a take them because, you know, the listening to the records at home,

or I guess, yeah, records are coming back, but the streaming or whatever, that kind of gives them the general sound, but like anything, I mean, it's just like, you know, watching football on TV is fun, but then you take a kid to watch a live football game and you feel it and hear it. It's the same thing, and in a way you can't even see as good as on TV,

but you're experiencing it now. It's the whole, there's a whole little cultural cues that happen, right? Like, I remember the first time I took my daughter to see a show. Actually, you were in this show at the, at Jazz the Bistro, and she got so excited about the clapping after solos. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? That was the thing, and I didn't even think about that, that would be a thing,

but that really drew her into the music, and she couldn't wait until after a solo, so she could clap, you know, really. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're only on two. So let's go to number three. Wait, is this going to be just how to get your kids into listening to jazz or playing jazz? I think you'd be both. Okay, good.

Yeah, we should have decided that, but now we did. Okay, so I want to go with number three. We'll kind of go into sort of playing jazz. And that is to give them a great, just general music education. Totally. You know, just for, you know, and that really starts, I think, with an instrument, a teacher. Maybe that's you.

Maybe that's at school. It can be a number of different things. But, like, it being serious. I mean, not overly serious. It should be fun, but, like, presented in a way where you're learning the proper technique, you know, once you get to the appropriate age, which I really believe can be any age. I mean, I came up in the Suzuki method, which it doesn't get in. younger than that. It's just like, you know, when's the due date? We start in two months before,

in utero, you know. Yeah, yeah. But it's all about, you know, nurturing the musical side. And that is not specific to a certain style of music. It's about, you know, having just great sounding music around them. And then once you're playing, really focusing on the important elements of this language and treating it like a language and learning from your parents, that great connection between the parent and the child language and making that connection that they're the same thing as how they learn to speak, how they learn to eat,

and you make it as natural as that, then it's going to be a part of the life. I mean, later on they're going to become teenagers and they're going to rebel and be like, wait, I have to eat, because I'm going to die. I don't have to play jazz. I hate you, Dad. Not that I have a big shout to my kids,

love you. Post-teens. That's going to happen no matter what you do. Exactly, exactly. There'll be a rebelling stage, but it doesn't matter because you've already planted the seed in there at that point. Yeah, I love that.

I think the more musically literate you can get your kids, the more they're going to enjoy all kinds of music, like you said, whether it's jazz or punk or classical or whatever. If they know how it works, it becomes more interesting. Yeah, absolutely. So I'm going to go for number four. I'm going to go with listen, but a little bit different, and that's listen to your kids.

So oftentimes, you know, your children will give you cues. Are you a millennial, by the way? No. No. Well, what's the generation? I'm on the cusp. I'm between Gen X and Millennium. I see, I thought you were one of those parents that does it a little too.

See, my generation, we don't listen to our kids. That's a big difference. No, but this is a little bit of a Montessori technique, right, where the children kind of direct where they're learning. And that's because if they're interested in something, they're more apt to, you know, connect with it to learn deeper. Yeah. And so I always try to take cues of what my kids might be interested in. And so just last week, we were listening to jazz. You know, every time I take them to school, we always listen to music.

Oftentimes it's jazz. And my son said, you know, Dad, is there any jazz with singers? And I realized I hadn't really played much, you know, vocal jazz in the car. It was mostly, you know, Eric Dolphy and whatnot. But... You better love this, or you ain't eating tonight. But that was a great key for me to, you know, expose him to singers. So I immediately started putting on some Ella Fitzgerald, some Sarah Vaughn.

stuff that I knew would be easy to connect with. And, you know, he loves it. And so that's just another, you know, box ticked for interest in the music. Yeah. Now, I like that. And so I'm going to go with, I don't even know what we're on that. Five, six, five, five, okay. I'm going to go with continue listening to your kids.

As you can see, piggybacking on this. But I would take that to their choice of instrument. You know, people always ask me, and I'm sure you get this too, is like, oh, I want my kid to play piano. When should I start them? What age should they start? How should they start? Who's a good teacher?

Or what instrument should they play and all these things? Parents want to have that kind of check that musical box for their kids. But what I usually tell them, and I'm in, you know, by no means an expert in early education or anything, but I do know music. Oh, don't sell yourself short, man. Come on. Hey, who you call it short? So, yeah, but I mean, but in terms of music, and I think we know what worked for us, work for our kids, but also looking at other, you know, peers and stuff, I think that you really can,

I mean, look, up to a certain age, you can force your kids to do anything that's legal. Yeah. But, you know, you make it a lot easier, just like with anything, if you, if they, if you're listening to them and taking your cues from them, like, kids are going to be interested if you are exposing them to different music and instruments because it's fun and it sounds good. That's right. I mean, that's just the way. I mean, if you expose them to the crappy stuff, they're not going to want to be involved.

I mean, just like with food, like some of these kids now I see that can eat this incredible incredible, like, you know, hipster food and enjoy it. Oh, dude, my kids have had more food before they're 10 than I had until I was 30. Yeah, I'm sure that they're, and their understanding, and then their palate and everything is, is beyond what most people would think a kid. I mean, kids can comprehend enormous amount of stuff if you give them good quality. That's true. So I think that that's, you know, with music and you are a thing of just having a few instruments around. If you can be fortunate enough to do that or if you haven't been a band, you know, string, something at school, that's, that's a great.

great thing, just another environment. But once they get that bug and are like, I want to play the piano. It's not just like a one thing like it changes every day. But once you see a pattern, that's what I tell parents. Like they keep coming back to one instrument. See, what most parents make the mistake is like before they're even born. Like everyone wants designer kids. I want them to like be a classical pianist.

They can go to Harvard and like and then become a doctor and all this. I'm like, if you have that plan, the biggest way to make sure that's not going to happen is to like tell them and to force them into that. That's right. Yeah, yeah. But if you kind of say, I want them to be musical. I mean, who doesn't, there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody, appreciation of music.

And you know what? Maybe if they have the drive and the talent and the interest, if they have it, then they'll become a musician. If that's, I mean, that's the whole thing. Like, you know, I mean, as much as I love basketball, like, and I'm always been playing that with my kids that I expose it. And they did all play and they all continue to play. I never was just like, I want, I never became one of those parents like, I want my kid to be in the NBA. You know, so I'm going to marry a tall, you know, like. Like, well, what's his name did?

You know, he literally, a ball. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's like, he talks about that. He's like, when I got to college, I looked for the tallest woman, and I dated her, and I married her, and we're going to have, and it worked. I mean, that does. But you have to be very calculating to do that. And I think with music.

That guy calculating? Nah. I mean, he's kind of a genius. We didn't think we'd say that on this episode. Yeah, I don't know about that. But that's the thing is like, but if you say a little bit more general, say, I want them to have just a great. appreciation of jazz and a knowledge of it and exposure to it.

And then if they're going to be the next John Coltrane, you don't have to program that. Believe me, it's going to happen. No matter what you do. So don't worry about that. Just worry about them getting in the realm and, you know, have them pick an instrument maybe that they're, have some pull to. Not that when you have a pull. Oh, and then the other big era, are we ranting on parents now? You're ranting a little bit.

Keep it going, man. Keep it going. Keep it going. I like it. I like it. No, this whole thing of like, I want them to play the instrument that I have. always wanted to play or that I got frustrated and wasn't able to do so I'm going to have them do it you know live vicariously through them big mistake big mistake all right for number six are you doing that you're not doing that is your rant over by the way yeah rant for now okay can I go to

number six yes go to number six okay for number six this is going to be teach them the history of the music well but you don't have to be you don't have to be boring okay about it you know for us we're in America. And so this is a huge part of our cultural history. And sadly, actually, it's not really taught a lot in American schools. I got to be a part of a program that was developed by Jazz at Lincoln Center last year called Weebop. And it was these classes that we had here in St. Louis for toddlers. And it really taught them the history of the music through the great artist, through Lewis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, Ellis Fitzgerald. And, you know, the fact that they, you can get a whole room full of toddlers screaming, Louis Armstrong.

strong at you is amazing. And it's important, though, to our cultural history, especially here in the States, that we acknowledge that this is a huge part of our cultural identity. And I think teaching them who these people were, you know, and their stories. So they know the story of jazz. They know how it sounds, but they also know, you know, it's from New Orleans and it's, you know, it's came out of swing and the blues. And, you know, I think it's an important part of it. Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot. And I think that no matter where you are, even if you aren't in a St. Louis or New Orleans, where there's like this direct, you know, historical and cultural connection.

I mean, like here we can walk a few blocks to Scott Joplin's house, which is cool to, you know, actually, have you taken your kids there? No, not yet. No, neither. Let's put that on our list. They haven't been to six flags yet either. Oh, that's good. Well, you're doing good.

No, but, I mean, I think anywhere in the world, really, there's now, this is a global music. So there's connections, not only in terms of live performance, but interesting, historical things that are maybe more recent that have had. happened, which are interesting. Yeah, you use the grate a lot, too. That helps. Yeah, lionize your kid. No, don't lionize your kid. Okay, so I'm going to go with number seven. Yeah.

It's just going to be patient. And it's like anything with kids, it's like you're just planting the seeds. You have to, you know, I love your thing of listen to your kids. I would just extend that to, like, trust them long term. You can't trust them short term at all. Don't let them off the leash, literally. Do not let them off of the leash. But, you know, the jazz is just part of like the overall kind of cultural

education you want to give them. Most people listen to this podcast are probably like us, musicians, or someone in the music, we want to really force this on them. But just make it part of the uve, the uve of their general thing and trust that they will,

this is a mature music. So like the Weebaugh program is great because they have them Louis Armstrong. Now, are they going to be nine years old and like, I love listening to Louis Armstrong? Maybe not, but maybe at 15, 16, when they start to rebel, like, man, I want to, I kind of of remember this. They had some exposure. That seed was planted. That's exactly. And then you can trust the

music, the great music of the great Louis Armstrong to take over from that point. Well, I love this because, you know, you were just talking the other day about how your son, you know, he plays piano. He's played piano for a long time, but he's just now starting to play some like Scott Joplin and get more into it. And I think it is a, it's a personal thing. And we think that kids can just do whatever we program to do. And maybe to a certain extent, we hope that's the case. But there's still little people with little personalities. Are they though? Yeah. they are. They are.

But if they're, if they're going to find it, they're going to find it, and they'll find it on their own time. Just make sure that they're always, that you're ready to be there, you know, to help with it. That's right. Well, thanks again for listening to today's episode. If you like what you heard, leave us a rating. We're going for six stars. Man, you know what? You complained about it so much, and now it's like you beat me down to submission.

I'm thinking five stars. Five stars is possible. It's not as ambitious. It's fine. I mean, I like the six star idea. I'm salty. just want to tell people that it is not possible. That's true.

Okay. Now I'm getting excited again. PM here wants you to give us six stars. Well, I feel like I just, I love, you know, giving 110%. You know what I mean? I'm not saying you got to do 120%. You did ask for seven stars the other day, though. That's true.

Well, because, 20%. Well, I'm like, if you can make it to, if you, if you can make it from five to six, why not do one more? Well, why not do 10, buddy? Why not do infinity? We're bantering like, like, four-year-olds now. Precocious four-year-old. No, we do appreciate all the great ratings and reviews we've gotten.

It really helps. You said we're climbing up the charts. We are climbing up the charts, the jazz podcast charts. And, you know, maybe share it with a friend. Totally. That wouldn't kill you, right? Yeah, yeah. You can also go to you'll hear it.com to leave us a message or just say hi

or give us a suggestion for topics or lessons. We love the suggestions. We do like the suggestions. We have this great advanced technology where you can leave a taped message. We have a web platform with taped messages. It's amazing. Now, that's fun, though, because we haven't got a lot of those, but we've got some really thoughtful ones. And thank you guys so much. I think we've actually answered every one. There might have been a repeat one we decided not to do just because we didn't want to. But I mean, in general, I mean, just know that if you put your voice there, it will probably show up here at some point. Yeah, we do listen and we love to get them. Because we've gotten great questions. Now, if you put a dumb question, you're probably not going to hear your book. We might call you out on it. Yeah, I mean, if you're like, hey, who are you?

What's this or something? But I mean, you know, keep it up, please. Thank you guys. And so due to the overwhelming response we've got, and we're going to keep this going with our discount on Open Studios' annual All-access pass. You can save 10% on Open Studios' All-Axcess pass annually. If you enter the offer code, you'll hear it 10 in the offer code field at checkout. And that's big.

It's a big deal. Because we always said we're a lot. like this is such a good deal as it is already. And the only thing that would even cause us to talk about discount, when we referred this to our marketing department, you remember what they said at first? Do not ever discount. Well, yeah, we were talking amongst ourselves, to be clear.

Yeah, yeah. The marketing department. But we figured we put it at the end of the episode so that only our very loyal listeners will hear it. And if I can get Adam to stop screaming it so loud, maybe we can keep it to that. But there you go. you'll hear it.