Many kids basically deduce that if listening to music is so great, how much more amazing must it be to make the music yourself? Often, would-be musicians have this realization as young children. Why? Because the creative and exploratory nature of small children leads them to try things that appeal to them without concern about whether they will immediately be “good at it.” Young kids can enjoy the experience of music-making without worrying about how the quality of their performance will be judged by others. Or, put in more educational terms, they invest themselves in the process without being concerned about the product.

What makes performance anxiety so remarkably cruel is that it can change music-making from an activity of joyous personal expression to one of intense dread. On top of that, it feels deeply personal. It affects a momentous change in people, a real 180-degree about-face. Kids who were gleefully running toward greater musical engagement end up retreating to the safety of only listening to music.

Have you ever noticed that musicians who are instrumentalists are said to play their piano, horn, or whatever their instrument is? Contrast this with tech-savvy people, who are said to use a computer or even “know how to work a computer.” Yes, playing a musical instrument may simply be a figure of speech, but perhaps it should also serve as a reminder that music is basically a playful activity.

The hallmarks of play are that it is imaginative, intrinsically motivated, self-directed, and process-oriented (Gray, 2017). Music, at its best, checks all the boxes. Young children seem to understand this entirely. At playgrounds all around the world, you are just as likely to hear the sounds of singing and rhythm-making (on whatever objects are available) as you are to hear the sounds of laughter and screams of delight induced by slides, swings, and merry-go-rounds.

Evoking scenes of childhood is not merely a welcome escape from the grim realities of stage fright. Rather, consideration of the playful music-making of children........

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