How to Enjoy Classical Music With Your Dog
An Invitation
There’s nothing that says you need to listen to, or even enjoy classical music. If you’ve heard a little here and there and nothing has reached out to you so far and piqued your curiosity, then great. See you round.
Except. Except I kinda’ feel bad for your dog. Or child. They might be missing something that could be really important in their lives.
And I understand. Classical music can be a mystery. Hundreds of composers writing for the last five or six centuries — that’s a lot of territory. And it means a lot of catching up to do to even understand what’s been going on.
But maybe it doesn’t have to be so hard at all. Maybe all we need to do is find the right way in for us, for each of us.
Maybe you’ve heard some music in a movie and the credits said it was by a guy named Prokofiev and you’d like to know if he wrote other great stuff.
Maybe someone dragged you to a concert and one thing, just one, touched you.
Maybe you heard a jazz trio play Pavanne and it turned out to be based on a piece by Maurice Ravel.
Or maybe you finally heard a real performance of the United Airlines music — Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, and you got a feeling that maybe you’d been robbed every time you heard that tinny thing they play while you’re trying to find your seat.
Or maybe it was like it was for me one day, when my German Shorthaired Pointer, Ziggy, just wouldn’t stop howling.
So come on. Put your toe in the water. The worst thing that can happen is you get a wet toe. And best thing could be that a world of endless beauty and inspiration will open up to you, your dog, and all those that you love.