Shortly before he died at age 75, Roger Scruton, the British philosopher and social critic, reflected on his music education as a child in this way:

“Some sixty years ago I was introduced to classical music by teachers who did not waste time criticising my adolescent taste and who made no concessions to my age or temperament. They knew only that they had received a legacy and with it a duty to pass it on. If they did not do so the legacy would die. They discovered in me a soul that could make this legacy its own. That was enough for them. They did not ask themselves whether the classical repertoire was relevant to the interests that I then happened to have, any more than mathematicians ask whether the theorems that they teach will help their students with their accounting problems. Their assumption was that, since the musical knowledge that they wished to impart was unquestionably valuable, it could only benefit me to receive it. But I could not understand the benefit prior to receiving it.”

Music education can be challenging.  And you may find it even tedious at times—harmony, tempo, rhythm, pitch, movements, reading notes on a page, historical composers, and on and on—why so much effort?  Shouldn’t music be a break from your studies? 

If you ever feel that way, just remember that Mrs. Traini is passing on a legacy to you—a musical and cultural legacy that you may not fully appreciate today, but that will one day become yours to both enjoy, and to pass on to the next generation so that the legacy does not die.

Scruton concludes his reflection by noting that: “Respect for children means respect for the adults that they will one day become.”  When it comes to your music education—all your education for that matter—occasionally step back and remember, this isn’t all for the you of today.  For today will be gone soon enough.  It is for the adult that you will one day become.

Have a wonderful day.