As a family, you can go to concerts or other performances together or make your own music at home. As children grow older and listen to more music, they begin to have preferences for certain kinds of music. Music may become part of a person s identity during adolescence. We all have favorite songs that we identify with. These songs may express an emotion that we feel or talk about an experience that we are coping with.
Music is an expression of emotion and the words an expression of thought.
Keep in touch with the music that your child listens to. Periodically join your child in listening to his or her favorite music. Ask why the song is important, what are the favorite lines of the songs. This is a way to communicate with your child and get a sense of things that you might not know about your child otherwise. As mentioned, music therapists are now providing services for the general public.