That is a really important suggestion. I have two daughters who are currently violin students who take lessons from demanding teachers. The very first thing that is taught is to teach the “ear” to hear pitch. If they can’t sing it, then they won’t be able to play it. Their teacher emphasizes the importance of listening to good music to develop solid musicianship. He is right. Most often the musically talented come from musical homes. My feeling is that this is not because the parent spent hours with a three year old Perlman insisting his F was flat but because his ear was trained at a very young age to what music can really be.
I wonder about the broader implications of digitally-produced synthetic tempos (think autotune) and how they will affect our society.
Two things I’d like to add:
One, if one plays an instrument, he (or she) will find his singing voice much improved. My experience.
Two, the idea of having a musical instrument in the household is an old-fashioned but good one. The family should be in the habit of making music together. I think John Senior in one of his books on the demise of Christian culture said the parlor piano should be brought back as a regular item of household furniture.