The 5 Biggest Mistakes made by 4-year-old Composers

The FIVE biggest mistakes four-year-olds make when composing symphonies.

1. Approach the task with NO real training. 

Yesterday I watched a four-year-old compose a symphony.  Three feet tall, red curly locks pointed to the blank music paper and said, "When do I get to do that?"  I handed her a blueberry scented pencil. 

I made a D, she followed with a faint wobbly backward C, then I made another D she made an E.  At the end of the line, I performed it for her, a clean statement of the theme.  Her face beamed!  "More!"

Fifty-two minutes later she'd filled three pages, "all by myself", squealing and laughing and daring me to play them as she went.  A whole page of C's with a single A at the very end - self amazed by her own creative wit. The music was good!  I added full-bodied arrangements with gusto for some, and "flower" arrangements per her instructions for others.  My hands were an extension of her, a vehicle for her.

The music inside this kid, like most kids, is big, fast, complex, and it moves.  No, these were not just letters on the page; she was inventing patterns, seeing humor, constructing real art out of the abstract.  Did she compose a full symphony?  Certainly the themes, copyright dated and signed, "Julia" thank you.


2. 3. 4. and 5. bust every assumption about music education. 

The five mistakes made by 4-year old composers?   What's a mistake?

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none" Miles Davis

~jw