Music in the Womb

This doesn't apply directly to our classes, but it does apply to music in early childhood.

I was asked what my opinion of playing music to babies in the womb was. I have a strong opinion on this subject because of my own experience, when I was pregnant with Reuben I was actively singing and playing the piano. As his movement became more apparent to me I noticed a trend--he was always more active when I was making music, or surrounded by good music. It was almost as predictable as drinking some juice to provoke kicks. Going to concerts got more difficult as he grew; I couldn't sit comfortable because he was so active.

I was asked specifically about playing Mozart for the fetus, my opinion is that any good music will be beneficial. The important thing is to keep recorded music "good." For playing recorded music to the womb "good" means in-tune, and following rules of order. This would include most classical music, and several other genres and artists. The fetus develops in an orderly fashion, infants need order, and toddlers display a natural ability of order, so I think that sharing orderly music will have more of a positive impact because the fetus is already surrounded by order and will recognize it as a natural part of the environment. It already hears (and feels) the rhythm of the heart, the rhythm of the breathing, the rhythm of walking, these sounds (and movements) are a security to the fetus, and music can be another layer of security.

The sound of mother and father's voice singing is just as powerful, even if its not always in-tune. I was told of a study where if the fathers sang the same lullaby to the fetus, when the baby was born he or she would respond to the sound of the father's lullaby the same as he or she responds to the sound of the mother's voice. This made sense to me. I remember things better if I put it to a song, and the singing voice has more memorable characteristics than the speaking voice so doesn't it make sense that a song would help the baby remember the father's voice. I had my husband sing to my womb, and although we weren't exactly scientific about our own study it did seemed to work.

There is a reason there is a history of lullabies, the reason being they work at comforting babies. Why not assume that we could start as early as possible, plus its easier to sing a lullaby when the baby is screaming and you are tiered and frustrated when you already know the songs.

Classes have started, but it's not too late!

We had our first day of class today!

There is still room in the Toddler (18 month to 3 year old) Family Music Class, and the Three to Four year old Cycle of Seasons class. If you are interested in enrolling please contact me at breckengarten{at}gmail{dot}com. See Schedule here.

For those of you who came today, I had a wonderful time and am so glad to be spending this precious time with you! I hope you enjoyed your class and are excited for the semester!

You may have noticed that we did a lot of pointing to body parts today. The reason we do "Johnny, Johnny" and songs with actions of pointing to noses and knees, etc., is for body awareness, and dexterity. We are providing labels for our children, and helping them discover their whole body. When we touch our nose, tap our knees, or show elbows try to use both hands, this will encourage the child to use both hands, and strengthen the non-dominate coordination, which in turn activates both sides of the brain.

Early Childhood Vocal Development

Babies are born with natural musicality. If you listen carefully to the infant's cooing, and even crying you will notice melodic tendencies. Baby will repeat the same intervals over and over. As the infant develops she or he has the natural ability to match pitch. When you ohh and ahh to your baby pay attention to the ohhs and ahhs you receive in return, you'll notice that baby is able to repeat the pitch you gave. Keep your vowels and pitches simple at this stage when trying get an echo. One of the developmental benefits to singing to your baby is that that baby will be more willing to experiment with elongated vowels when cooing. When the baby hears singing, it motivates the infant to try out those sounds because singing emphasizes the vowels, which are the first sounds baby is able to articulate.

As the baby reaches toddlerhood the ability to match pitch may or may not remain apparent. Don't worry if it doesn't, keep your child in a musical environment to ensure that all facets of music making will be in place when the child's body is ready. You may notice your toddler singing phrases over and over, or leaving words and notes out--this is called "approximation of singing." 60% of Adults in North America get stuck at this stage of music making because they were not in an environment where music making happened while they were young. It is possible to progress past this point, but much easier if a music foundation is provided during the window of development. It is important to remember that vocal development mirrors language development, we don't expect toddlers to form full sentences at this age, so we shouldn't expect them to sing at a performance level. The important thing is to not let this frustrate you, or think it is the extent of your child's ability. You wouldn't stop talking to your child because they only use three words! Sing to your child, let them feel rhythm with their bodies, give them age appropriate instruments to play along with favorite recordings. A child reared in a music making environment will be able to sing tunefully at the age of 6 or 7, when they are developmentally ready.

MusikGarten is designed to help the family provide a music making environment, and work with the developmental stages of the child so that a strong musical foundation is laid while the windows for learning are most open. It uses the "Gordon Path to Literacy" as its model. The first step is the "Musical Birth" the first experiences with music. The second step in the path is the "Aural Foundation" (what the baby hears). MusikGarten provides a repertoire that time has proven effective. We sing folk songs, and simple melodies because hearing those patterns will provide the infant a foundation of tonal reasoning. The next stage is an "Aural/Oral Foundation", when the baby is experimenting with mimicking and inventing sounds, and language is developing. MusikGarten nourishes this step by using "Patterning" the teacher gives a simple pattern, and the class repeats it. As the baby/toddler gets more comfortable they will experiment with pitch and rhythm patterns, and also be able to repeat given patterns. The next step is the use of "Symbolic Language". This is introduced in the Cycle's class by adding Solfege (do, re, mi, fa, sol...) and the Gordon Language to the patterns, providing the children with names for each pattern they are already familiar with. The MusikGarten program actually takes the child all the way through to understanding theory, although I am not yet offering those courses.

If you are interested in finding out more about MusikGarten in the Morningside Heights area of Manhattan please contact me breckengarten{at}gmail{dot}com.

This information was presented to me at the Long Island Cycles of Season's Training by Leilanie Miranda.