Music to the Tiniest Ears
There are many stories of mothers playing or listening to music while pregnant,
Music to the Tiniest Ears, and there is evidence that this music was heard and remembered by the babies they were carrying. In my own experience, when my wife was carrying our second son, we attended a nephew’s band concert – and my wife felt a definite response to the band’s drum section – every time they played, the baby started kicking! We decided to play classical guitar music for him in utero through
monster headphones placed on her abdomen, and he came into the world very familiar with guitar sounds, and this began a life time enjoyment of guitar music! Parents can teach musical fundamentals to their babies through fingerplays (such as “Eensy, weensy spider) and by songs sung while the baby is bounced on the parent’s knees. The eminent music educator John Feierabend has noted that over the course of the last century, these two important ways of interacting with children have all but disappeared in our musical culture.
In an effort to revive this, GIA Publications has published several of his books, such as The Book of Bounces and The Book of Wiggles & Tickles. He has also recorded CDs including “Ride Away on Your Horses: Music, Now I’m One! ” and “Frog in the Meadow: Music,
Ray-Ban Wayfarers, Now I’m Two! ” Lee Ann Kinner, a Dayton area music educator who, among many other musical activities, teaches classes for children 18 months to three years of age. She is certified in several styles of children’s music education including Orff Schulwerk,
Music to the Tiniest Ears, Dalcroze and Kodaly, each of which is worth a search on the web. She says, “Children are never too young to experience music – during the ages of 6-18 months, the dendrites in the brain are most receptive to stimulation, and they are connected to language development. This is the time when they should be most actively stimulated not just with listening to music but with accompanying patting, rocking, and other movements. Research shows that small differences, such as rocking the baby forward versus sideways actually stimulate different areas of the brain. ” Lee Ann’s weekly classes are geared to educating the children as well as their parents, who are encouraged to attend.p>
Music to the Tiniest Ears
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