5 Things Dolly Parton Can Teach Our Children About Music

Yesterday, the world said goodbye to Dolly Parton.

And as I watched the tributes begin to appear, I found myself thinking about a question that might seem a little unusual coming from a music appreciation teacher who spends so much time teaching children about Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and the great orchestral repertoire:

Why should our children know about Dolly Parton?

My answer is simple.

Because music appreciation is about so much more than classical music. (which is why we spend a lot of time in SQUILT LIVE! delving into different genres of music!)

When we teach children to appreciate music, we're teaching them to listen for the stories behind it. We're showing them how music grows out of particular people, places, and traditions. We're helping them recognize beauty, creativity, and expression in many different forms.

And Dolly Parton gives us a wonderful opportunity to do exactly that.

Here are five things Dolly Parton can teach our children about music.

1. Great Music Tells a Story

Before the rhinestones, movies, Dollywood, and larger-than-life personality, Dolly Parton was a songwriter.

And what a storyteller she was.

One of my favorite examples to share with children is Coat of Many Colors. Dolly wrote the song about a coat her mother made for her when she was a little girl. Her family didn't have much money, but her mother stitched together scraps of fabric to create something special for her daughter.

When Dolly proudly wore the coat to school, the other children laughed at her.

It's a simple story—but through music it becomes something much bigger. It's a story about family, embarrassment, gratitude, poverty, love, and understanding what makes us truly rich.

This is one of the first things I want children to understand about music:

Music can tell us a story.

When we listen, we can ask:

What is happening here? What is the musician trying to tell me? How does the music help tell the story?

Those are music appreciation questions—and children can begin asking them at a very young age.

2. Music Comes From Somewhere

Music doesn't appear out of nowhere.

Dolly Parton grew up in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, surrounded by the sounds of Appalachian music, old-time music, country, bluegrass, folk songs, and gospel music.

Those sounds became part of her musical vocabulary.

I love helping children discover that the music we hear today almost always has roots that stretch back.

We can listen to Dolly Parton and then begin following those musical threads.

Where did that sound come from?

What instruments do we hear?

Who made this kind of music before her?

What songs might she have heard as a child?

Suddenly, one musician becomes a doorway into an entire part of America's musical history.

Helping our children understand where music comes from helps them understand that music isn't created in a vacuum.

Music belongs to people, places, families, communities, and generations.

3. Simple Doesn't Mean Insignificant

This is an important lesson.

Sometimes we assume that "great music" must be complicated.

A symphony has dozens of musicians. A fugue can have layers upon layers of counterpoint. An orchestral score can contain thousands of notes.

Those things are wonderful—and absolutely worth teaching our children to appreciate.

But sometimes great music is remarkably simple.

Think about Jolene.

The song doesn't need a huge orchestra or complicated musical structure to make an impression. Its instantly recognizable melody, driving rhythm, repeated name, and Dolly's distinctive voice combine to create something listeners remember.

When we're listening with children, we can ask:

What makes this music memorable?

Sometimes the answer isn't complexity.

Sometimes it's repetition.

Sometimes it's rhythm.

Sometimes it's a beautiful melody.

Sometimes it's the emotion in a human voice.

Part of becoming a thoughtful listener is learning that music doesn't have to be complicated to be powerful.

4. The Same Song Can Sound Completely Different

If I were going to turn this post into a SQUILT lesson—and you know I can't resist!—this is the listening activity I would choose.

Listen to Dolly Parton's original recording of I Will Always Love You.

Then listen to Whitney Houston's recording of the same song.

What an opportunity for comparison!

The song is still Dolly's song. The melody and words are recognizable.

But the musical experiences are dramatically different.

Try listening to both versions with your children and ask:

What instruments do you hear?

Which version is louder?

How would you describe each singer's voice?

What happens with the dynamics?

How is the mood different?

Which version feels more intimate? Which feels more dramatic?

And then ask my favorite question:

Which version do YOU prefer—and why?

There is no correct answer!

That's the beauty of music appreciation.

We're teaching children to listen carefully enough to develop an opinion—and then giving them the musical vocabulary to explain that opinion.

That's SQUILT!
(Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time)

5. Music Is a Gift—and We Can Use Our Gifts to Give to Others

There is one final lesson from Dolly Parton's life that goes beyond notes, rhythms, instruments, and melodies.

What do we do with the gifts we've been given?

Dolly's musical gifts brought her extraordinary success.

But she also became known for giving back—perhaps most beautifully through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which has put books into the hands of millions of children.

Developing a gift isn't simply about becoming successful.

It isn't necessarily about being famous.

Maybe the better question is:

How can I use what I've been given to bless someone else?

Dolly used music to tell stories.

She used those stories to build a remarkable career.

And then she used the resources and influence that career gave her to do something meaningful for others.

 

Why Dolly Parton Belongs in Music Appreciation

When we ask our children to listen to Dolly Parton, we're not asking them simply to learn about a famous country singer.

We're inviting them to hear a piece of America's musical story.

We're teaching them that music comes from people and places.

That it carries stories from one generation to another.

That something doesn't have to be complicated to be beautiful.

That two musicians can take the very same song and communicate something entirely different.

And that the gifts we develop during our lifetime can become gifts we leave behind for others.

This is why I believe music appreciation should be wide and wonderful.

Yes, let's give our children Bach and Beethoven.

Let's give them symphonies and concertos.

Let's teach them about orchestras and composers and instruments.

But let's also help them recognize the music that has shaped the culture around them—and teach them to stop, listen, wonder, and understand why it matters.

Listen. This person made something that mattered. Let's find out why.

That is music appreciation.

And that is why Dolly Parton's music is worth sharing with our children.