Playful as we play

We are frequently privileged to welcome visiting musicians to Little Notes, keen to find out more about how playing music can inspire the youngest baby. Whether fresh from a rehearsal with a top London orchestra, or a performance in a west-end show, every musician comments on the incredible focus and concentration given by this audience with an average age of, perhaps, 10 months. Their ability to recognise that they are connecting with something beautiful is utterly tangible. Equally, the privilege of playing to a roomful of babies aged under 6 months (and their incredible, exhausted parents) seems to have a wonderful way of drawing out the most exquisite sound from a musician. To play for an audience so ready to be enraptured by music is a gift to any performer who is willing to rise to the occasion! With our inquisitive pre-schoolers, it is wonderful to witness their joy on meeting a new musical instrument and discovering how much fun it can be to see the creation of sound at it’s source.

In training our musicians, who are often working at the highest level in their profession already, we are eager to connect them to the playfulness and energy of very young children. Seeing the mutual inspiration between the child and the player, as they tease one another to listen and engage is inspiring. Through the Little Notes programme, many superb musicians will be enabled to regularly connect with young families across the UK, so watch this space!

Many years ago, I was challenged to be more playful as I played. It’s a challenge that I readily accepted, have embraced and will never look back from! It is this challenge that is at the heart of Little Notes. Little Notes has become a place for musicians to reconnect with their inner childishness and be playful once again. To turn their virtuosity into an ingredient for sheer magic. To use their musicianship to create wonder and joy. To connect with infants and the child in every grown-up. To break down the perceived barriers of the concert hall and opera house and to build a place where music can speak directly into the hearts and minds of any listener, any family, any child.

To be playful as we play.