Yesterday’s turn-taking Tuesday activity sparked some interesting discussion in the Andrews household.

When I’m leading a song, am I:

• a singer
• a teacher
• a conductor
• ‘just’ Mama?

We talked about doing music for fun, and people who have jobs helping us to enjoy music. We also discussed the jobs I have done so far and what musical projects I have planned for the future. It was so interesting and encouraging to hear the thoughts of my small cheerleaders.

So, today’s musical idea – let’s talk about musical jobs.

Here are a few some discussion ideas I’m going to raise with my little lot.

• Who is in charge of an orchestra?
• What is your favourite music to listen to, and how did you get to hear it?
• How do you think musicians make money?
• Do grown-ups still make music even when it’s not their job?
• Would you like to do musical job? If so, what would it be and what do you think it would involve?

Hopefully this will be an opportunity to do a little bit of education about how music comes together and reaches the public, but I’m hoping it will also reinforce our enthusiasm for music as a skill/interest/hobby for everyone.

More broadly, I’m hoping to pass on the lesson that I’ve only recently learnt for myself: that our passion, our life’s calling, might not always (or ever!) be our paying job – but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the urge to work, play and share our valuable talents and enthusiasm.  (But who am I kidding? I suspect this grand aim will be greeted with blank faces and a cry of, ‘Can we watch Spongebob now?’)