I came across this video, and while it’s 4 years old, it’s absolutely amazing. You may not have ever heard of Tears for Fears, or Curt Smith, but they hit it big in the 80’s with songs like “Shout”, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” “Mad World”, “Head Over Heels” and “Sowing the Seeds of Love” to name a few hits. But this is Curt Smith, one half of the duo and his daughter Diva singing “Mad World”.
As a parent of musical children, it’s an absolutely amazing feeling to watch them grow and develop as musicians, and see that talent take root, watch their confidence build and their skills increase. Many times, when my now 15 year old daughter was younger, I’d share with other people of how she was able to do musical things that weren’t normal for kids her age. The responses I would get is, “Well, yeah, she’s your kid.” And to be fair, yes, as a musician, she was surrounded by music regularly. I tried to be intentional to introduce her to all styles and forms of music. But when your 4 year old upon first listen of Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” aria is singing ON PITCH with the soloist in the back seat of the car….that’s NOT normal at all!
Throughout history, we see many stories of musical parents and children. Some of them, like Beethoven, aren’t always the most positive stories. But most of Bach’s children went on to become composers and there aren’t many negative stories there. And of course, every story is different. But when we get the opportunity to see parents and children working together to create music like what you see in the video, it’s powerful and amazing to see.
I hope you enjoy checking out the linked video. If you’re interested in learning more about Harmanny Music Education, feel free to look around the website, and follow Harmanny Music Education on social media. If you’re interested, there are options for virtual learning with Harmanny Music Education at your own speed.