5 minute read
WE DIG MUSIC…and it is one of the things we often, without conscious planning, pass along, like food faves, movies, and colloquialisms, to our littles. The playlists that we have going on as a backdrop to our daily lives, they absorb and begin to archive all of our favorites, if for no other reason than self-preservation. How do I know this…because all three of my children, born from 1977 to 1988, have the largest instant recall of classic rock and 80’s pop tunes. It just blows me away when they sing along as if those songs were their own. Well guess what – they are!
I am YAMA to my Grands. It was an accidental mash-up of Yia Yia and Mama that commenced when my first Grand was brand new. The first time it came out, it stuck! For those of us who do not make music, we bring into our world the music of others and make it our own, which is the fondest wish of every composer and performer.
I do make music and have been making it for 40 years on now. My songwriting adventure actually began with my second pregnancy, which became a mutual inspiration tale – that’s my take anyway. I had always written poetry and journaled for “experience gold mining” – I like that, so let’s make it EGM! I went on medical leave from my work half-way through my pregnancy and had the time to write. I call it “in-vitro inspiration-time and hormonal influx” that led me to finally connect a melody with my poetry. As soon as my Daughter was born, I was in the studio, pulling favors from musicians I knew to record a 3 song demo. And so it began.
I would love to tell you all about my music mid 80’s through 2021, but what I really want to tell you today is that, while I was singing and putting my heart out lyrically all big and preggo, my Daughter was taking it all in, literally inside, and came out a singer-songwriter as well. So here comes that nature versus nurture thing. But, what if the nature part was mostly about the nurture part of me singing to her while she was becoming her?
So, Heirloom Music. I’m proposing that it is a way to consciously bring all of the life-affirming and awareness psychology into a little’s world. Listening and memorizing all of the familiar tunes, as sung by a parent’s voice, from the outside in and in reverse. Ok, I’ll simplify here as I’m about to go off on a Dr. Sachs-level rant on the inherent value of music to our overall well-being and magical mind, to which I do happen to ascribe.
For now, let’s think on a playlist that communicates to our little the captivating expression of melody that flows from our musical expression choices and the power of a “communally sung” set of lyrics expressing our passion and joy as a family. When I became YAMA, I had already begun composing a Lullaby for the new family member, and it became our fam anthem. This time I was intentional with the words and melody for the playlist.
My Daughter had the advantage of wearing tummy buds all through her pregnancy, sending her playlist, and singing along, into the womb. This wasn’t an option for me. I guess I could have stretched beyond ear-to-ear spread capacity a pair of the groundbreaking Bose headphones, available at the time, but probably not since I was the OBGYN nightmare-weight-gain-pregzilla poster child, every time.
Think about what Heirloom Music means to you, whether you write, sing, or even playlist. Put some “listening” thought into what meaning a piece of music brings to your life and how to pass along, inside
and out, the sounds and messages that impact your well-being, expressing and inducing those thoughts and feelings you really want to share with the new ones. All Music All Love YAMA