Yummy Mummy and Rock star, Chantal Kreviazuk loves talking about music education. “I’ve always claimed it’s had a huge impact on the brain and that any kind of language you can expose your child to at a really young age is going to be invaluable. Now that I have kids I get to see it in action.”
Chantal believes her early exposure to all types of music has been the most significant contributing factor to making her who she is today. It all started in Winnipeg with her massive Ukrainian family.
“Sundays were spent at my grandparent’s farmhouse with their twelve children and their grandchildren all singing hymns. People would come with home made instruments and entertain themselves by playing music. It was normal to watch my grandparents play the fiddle and the mouth harp together. Now I think back and it blows me away. It affected me in a big way, the most obvious direct impact being I have an amazing ear for music”.
By age three, Chantal’s little hands were already making friends with the piano. Somewhat of a prodigy, Chantal enhanced her natural abilities with regimented classical piano lessons through college.
From family jams, to performing musical theatre at school and hanging out with older cousins listening to classic rockers like the Guess Who, the Stones and Elton John, Chantal was exposed to all types of music. But the key that unlocked it all for her was years of classical training.
“If you have a good ear, that’s wonderful. But only by being given a technical background are you going to be able to see the manifestations of your capabilities. Imagine the technical skills you gain by having to do scales for years, or having to read music, or having the hand eye co ordination of reading and playing out what you’re seeing. It’s one thing to be able to feel out chords, but to actually know an entire language around music is a gift.”
Chantal’s passion for music education is now being passed on to her three young sons - Rowan ,5 Lucca ,4 and Salvador who is almost a year old. She plans on giving them the same balanced exposure she enjoyed. Everyday she and her husband make a point of singing to them. “Anytime I think of something I want to say to them, I think of a song to sing to him.”
Just as her parents did for her, she would like to give her children a structured music education. “Of course they’ll get all the unconventional lessons by being exposed to tons of music at home- I assume their ears will be phenomenal. However, the discipline of a classical background -even a few years- is invaluable.”
Chantal doesn’t necessarily want them to follow in her musical footsteps. Her reasons for musical training are connected to the growing research which links music with brain development. She’s read that we can take on more intelligent or sophisticated concepts when listening to classical music. She also found studies that show people who grow up around music are able to use both hemispheres of their brains more easily because of the way the brain is triggered. “I think you’re just massaging so many parts of your brain. It’s very magical and spiritual and logical.”
Wise words spoken from a woman who loves music. And she has the brains to prove it.
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