Equipping little musicians

SAT-7 PARS’ children’s series Little Musician is teaching young Persian-speakers how to play a musical instrument. Since worship leaders are scarce in the Persian Church, the hope is that some of these young viewers may go on to lead Persian-speaking believers in worship in Iran and beyond.

INTRODUCING CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

One of the challenges facing the Persian Church is that the repertoire of Persian worship material is limited, and musicians are relatively scarce.

Little Musician familiarises young Persian-speakers with songs for worship, especially viewers who are not familiar with how Christians worship God through music. It aims to invest in a generation of young Persian believers, to inspire them with a passion for worship that they will be able to use to serve the Church in the future.

“A few years ago, we had the idea for a series to teach children worship songs,” explains the show’s director, Nader Taghizadeh, recalling how the idea for the series arose. “This developed into actually teaching them how to play musical instruments so they can worship through playing.”

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Finding someone with the right skill-set to present the series was just the beginning. Speaking Farsi and musical skills were essential, along with the ability to lead worship and teach children.

The first series was presented by Darya, an Iranian-born worship leader and guitarist who lives in Germany. Over the course of the series, she introduced different types of guitar and basic skills such as how to tune the instrument and change the strings, and taught some simple guitar chords. In each episode, Darya played and sang a simple worship song popular among Persian-speaking Christians.

The second series of Little Musician focuses on teaching the piano. It is presented by Gilbert Hovsepian, a well-loved Persian Christian songwriter and worship leader with over 35 albums to his name.

“In the first series, we chose songs with easy guitar chords to encourage the children to enjoy playing what they learned at the end of each programme,” explains Nader. “We have done the same thing with the second series, allowing the children to learn how to play worship songs built around easy piano chords.”

INSPIRING FUTURE WORSHIP LEADERS

The musical education provided by Little Musician isn’t just limited to a television programme – it also provides guidance to children who want to take their musical skills to the next level. “We have introduced online apps that can be accessed via a PC or tablet,” Nader says. “These include additional resources, like chord diagrams, to give kids the tools to advance their learning.”

Whether the programme is accessed via satellite television or online, the hope is that Persian-speaking children will discover a passion for music that will last their entire lives.

“These little musicians will grow into future worship leaders and song-writers,” Nader says. “Igniting the love of worship through music is a great investment for the future.”