"Taps"

I really love it when one of my students gets excited about music that's not directly part of our lesson.  This week one of my students wanted to show me a book he was reading, specifically he wanted to show me that it had pieces of music scattered throughout the story.  He was thrilled to show me and wanted my help so that he learn to play them.

 Before we could even begin the lesson, he went through the entire book showing me each musical entry.  Specifially, he wanted to play "Taps".  Since "Taps" is only 4 different notes, it was easy for him to remember it and play it by ear, but we went through the written piece and it became an opportunity to review guide notes again.  He loved it and was excited to work on it this week and play it for me at his next lesson. 

What I loved about this (beside his desire to learn the music) was that he was noticing music around him.  He was reading a book he loved and wanted to "relate" more by experiencing the music associated with it. 

It challenged me to continue to inspire my students to notice music all around them and to notice how it relates to our own life experiences. 

Isn't this job the best?!