For the first time, Kai is starting to make music with an instrument. He has two little wooden rattles that prior to a week ago merely served as instruments to chew on. He did delight in the sound they would make when I shook the rattle for him, but he either never could or simply never would replicate the sound himself. Now he has become a little musician!
The generation of parents to which I belong is obsessed with knowing exactly what is right for their child and wanting all of the current research pertaining to every developmental step. Sometimes I tell myself that I am different and cannot be lumped in with the rest, but then I have moments like right now where I know, I too am one of those parents.
Over the last few months or so I have really been thinking about music and its effects on Kai. Music is a really important part of my life and I want Kai (any phrase beginning with "I want (my child)..." is already heading towards what is most likely a projection) to have that love and understanding of music as well. I don't want him to end up like Steve Martin in The Jerk struggling to snap his fingers with the beat. I want him to have lots of exposure to music and for that to be a strong part of his life. Nevertheless, our culture does not expose children to music in a nourishing way any longer. We no longer (or at best rarely) gather as a community and play music that nourishes all members of that community--young and old. I feel it is important to have Kai experience only (or by and large) live music in his early years and yet I began to wonder, is my guitar and my voice enough (I haven't played my trumpet for him--maybe if I mute it...)?
I began to think that perhaps I was being too dogmatic in my attitude towards media. So I did some research with my hypothesis being the following: if television does not help and in fact impairs our faculties of speech than it follows that music does not help and perhaps even impairs our faculties of music (rhythm and tone).
Here are my findings:
Infant's sense organs are still developing (though hearing develops in-utero) and thus are more sensitive to sensory input than adults' sense organs. For ears, this means that their sensitivity to tone, rhythm, and volume is particularly acute. According to researcher Shannon de l'Etoile, "[c]ommerical recordings can be beneficial, if selected and implemented with care; however, most recorded music marketed for infants tends to be too fast, too complex, and in the wrong key for young listeners. Consequently, your singing voice and instrumental skills are your best tools for providing meaningful musical experiences for infants."
In another study on music's effect on infants in intensive care units, the researchers found that live music was associated with a slower heart rate, deeper sleep patterns, and more stable weight gain whereas recorded music yielded no significant effects.
In some more subjective research, I asked one of the music teachers' at my school (who has two grown children and two teenagers) what he thought about music with Kai. "Is singing to him enough?" I asked. "Absolutely. More than enough. When I read stories, I would sometimes sing the stories instead of read them. And, of course, you just make up little songs all the time. The more you sing to them the better, and if it's pentatonic all the better."
[Just a little aside, pentatonic is a five-note scale that in the Waldorf world we prefer to sing and teach music in until 3rd Grade. As with the rest of the Waldorf curriculum, our music curriculum is a recapitulation of human evolution and culture. Thus, in early human cultures music was largely pentatonic. As human culture evolved we became more and more comfortable with harmonies closer together (the 5th sounded great, then the 4th, then the 3rd, and now in Modern music we find the 2nd!).
I would love to hear folks' thoughts on the topic.
And then, for your enjoyment. I couldn't resist:
No comments:
Post a Comment