We who are revivalists in the traditional music scene found music at some point in our lives. Music as taught in schools usually doesn't include learning by ear and is, to me, way to structured.

The youngest age at which to learn music is debatable but it is a fact that listening to music, especially live music, is a learning experience itself.

When my daughter Miriam was born my wife and I were in a band whose rehearsals were continually interrupted by a child who just would not go to sleep. Soon we realized that if we let her sleep on the couch in the same room we were rehearsing in she was happy. At the age of three and a half she started taking Irish step dancing lessons. We took Miriam to the Kennelly School in San Francisco and in the introductory lesson the dancing teacher did a simple step and asked Miriam to copy it. Miriam did the step so well that the other girls applauded. She's gone on to be a champion step dancer, winning second place in the North American Championships at the age of eight.

My point with this little story is that Miriam was exposed to music very early, even before her birth. She's toyed with mandolin, fiddle, whistle, guitar, and voice but never took up anything seriously except for the dancing. We never pushed her into dancing either. In fact we faced the unusual situation of having to insist that she stop practicing sometimes.

It's too bad that in today's world many children grow up looking at music as something that is packaged and produced for purchase.