Ever notice how a song gets stuck in your head? How a catchy beat makes you start moving? Or the way certain songs affect your mood? There’s something about music that gets inside of you, takes hold of you, makes you a bit more like what you’re hearing.
There are a number of reasons everyone at CCA studies music—from the appreciation of beauty, to cultural literacy, to historical understanding, and more. But there’s also a reason the music we spend time on isn’t just what is most immediately appealing—why Mrs. Traini’s wall has Tchaikovsky and Chopin but not Taylor Swift or Kendrick Lamar plastered on it. Indeed, you might notice that the music you study here is usually somewhat old, just like our books—and that, for the same reason: not precisely because it is old, but because it is best.
It may be helpful to think of our diet of songs a bit like our diet of food—what we consume isn’t just about satisfying our hunger; ultimately it is about forming us, from the inside out. What we listen to, like what we eat, changes us. And too much junk (food or music) can make for an unhealthy person.
The philosopher Plato recognized long ago that, “Rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.” So, enjoy your music, let it move you and inspire you and affect you. But, like the old Sunday school song says, “Be careful little ears what you hear…”
Have a wonderful day.
