Quoteable Quote Monday – Why I Teach Music

Free printable for your classroom

Click here to download a copy of this poster for your classroom

[PDF]

Update March 2021: a reader – Miran – has commented below to let me know the source of this poem. It is Japanese born violinist and teacher Yuko Honda who studied under Shinichi Suzuki and taught for many years in Seattle.

Miran has shared the original version of the poem below which has been altered over the years:

Why I teach music

Not because I expect you to become a musician,

Not because you want to play the violin all your life,

Not so you can relax or have fun

But

So you will recognize beauty,

So you will be sensitive

So you will be close to an infinite beyond this world,

I want you to learn to never give up when you encounter difficulty

And I want you to know music you produce is one of a kind

Because you are a very special person

My children when you are ready,

Go out into the world and embrace your dreams!

~ Yuko Honda

16 Comments

  1. Vaughan Wil;son November 7, 2013 at 2:02 pm - Reply

    Katie. I enjoy immencely all your works and e mails and I wonder if you would permit me to write a song to “This is why I teach music and forward it to you for perusal. I( would write it on Musescore of course
    Kind Regards
    Vaughan Wilson
    Reg Teacher 16605 A M EB Australia

    • Katie November 7, 2013 at 2:10 pm - Reply

      Hello Vaughan – I can’t grant permission because I am not the author of the quote. I did a lot of searching, but could not find who the author is. It might be best to seek guidance from APRA/AMCOS (http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/) regarding permission to use the lyrics for an original song.
      Glad to hear you are enjoying the emails though!
      – Katie

  2. […] Quoteable Quote Monday – Why I Teach Music October 14, 2013 […]

  3. Lisa Shacklock August 24, 2014 at 1:50 am - Reply

    I love this quote, Katie. I laminated it and had it on my desk on the School Info night. It pretty much sums up my music teaching philosophy! Thanks so much for all your hard work and sharing your expertise with us. I have learnt soooo much from you!
    Kind regards,
    Lisa 🙂

    • Katie August 25, 2014 at 9:40 am - Reply

      Thankyou Lisa – you’re lovely!

      – Katie

  4. […] This is why I teach music poem. http://www.midnightmusic… […]

  5. Beverly Ann Barthel July 17, 2016 at 8:23 pm - Reply

    This quote nails it!
    Love it! ?

  6. John August 26, 2017 at 10:17 pm - Reply

    This quote ROCKS!!!!! Thanks for making it free and downloadable. I will laminate too and put up in my room. Or maybe outside of my room or maybe on the door or maybe………

    • Katie August 28, 2017 at 2:24 pm - Reply

      Haha – thanks John! It’s a good one isn’t it?

  7. Mike October 31, 2018 at 7:29 am - Reply

    Is there a known artist who created the artwork around the poem?

    • Katie November 1, 2018 at 1:10 pm - Reply

      Hi Mike – I purchased the image of the notes/kids from a stock photo website and then created the text and coloured words around it.

  8. Kristin July 3, 2019 at 11:34 pm - Reply

    Thank you so much for this Katie! I’m putting it in my room this year!

    • Katie July 5, 2019 at 2:30 pm - Reply

      You’re welcome Kristin!

  9. Miran March 26, 2021 at 9:51 am - Reply

    The original author of this poem is Yuko Honda. She was my violin teacher in Seattle, WA for many years until she passed away in 2007. I am a music teacher now and I see her poem all over the place and people have changed the words over time. It would be great to see her get the credit she deserves. Here is the ORIGINAL (Imperfect English and all):

    Why I Teach Music

    Not because I expect you to become a musician.
    Not because you want to play the violin all your life.
    Not so you can relax or have fun.
    But
    So you will recognize beauty.
    So you will be sensitive.
    So you will be close to an infinite beyond this world.
    I want you to learn never to give up when you encounter difficulty.
    And I want you to know music you produce is one of a kind
    because you are a very special person.
    My children, when you are ready
    go out into the world and embrace your dreams!
    -Yuko Honda

    • Katie April 16, 2021 at 12:30 pm - Reply

      Miran – thank you so much for commenting and letting me know! It was very difficult to find any original source information at the time I made this image. I will update the post with her name and add the original version there too (unfortunately it’s too late to change the image version but I might make a new one sometime!). I found an article about her passing and I’m sorry to read that she battled cancer. A great loss to the music community.

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