About Babies with Music Together
Beginning Your Baby's Musical Journey
A born sounder and mover,
your baby is already equipped
with the means and potential to make music.
You've probably noticed how they respond
when you play a song in the car
or sing them a song to soothe them.
Developing your baby's natural musicality
will open the door to a world of possibility,
not only for music learning but for all learning.
The early months are so important to this process,
which is why we welcome babies along,every step of the way-
Let your baby join the fun!
Welcome to Music Together!
A special note for Families with Babies / Infants
Getting started early:
Being with Music Together early starts babies on a pathway of music development that will allow them to embrace, enjoy, and express their inborn musicality.
Whether or not your child's journey leads to formal music study
is a choice for another day –
for now, the particular delight of these classes,
is seeing how truly responsive to music babies are and discovering how to recognize and support their developing music behaviors.
Even newborns are exquisitely prepared for a music experience.
Although babies are born with little control over their bodies and without much visual acuity, their sense of hearing is well-developed.
They begin to hear and respond to sound in the womb, from about 19 weeks' gestation (Hepper and Shahidullah, 1994),
and are alert to the sounds of music and speech as soon as they are born.
In our classes, you will see that babies are as fully prepared to learn the music of their culture
as they are to learn its language-and that they learn both in the same way, through adult modeling and interaction.
You and your baby will share activities around experiencing Music.
You'll begin to learn about how children develop musically
and how you can support that development in your own baby.
You'll discover new ways of interacting with your baby that are deeply pleasurable for both of you.
And you'll experience how profoundly satisfying it can be to bond with your infant musically.
However, knowing how this development unfolds gives us clues
as to how to reinforce these music behaviors.
For example, when you hear your baby cooing on his personal pitch, you can sing it back to them.
When you see them bouncing his torso, mirror that movement back to them.
And when you see them tapping their highchair, you can reinforce that by tapping a steady beat.
In a Music Together class, you learn how to see your child's behaviors through musical eyes and how to nurture them musically as they grow.
---
AGES BIRTH THROUGH SIX ARE CRUCIAL
The first six years of your child's life are especially important for music development,
because this is the time that neural pathways in the brain develop most rapidly.
It is the critical period for primary music development. In other words, this is the time of life when the developmental window for music growth is fully open,
when children are primed to mentally organize music stimuli, and when they can not only listen to but also begin to understand the music they are hearing.
Each day, your baby's brain is developing millions of neural pathways that will be used throughout a lifetime.
Neural pathways are in some ways similar to natural pathways on the ground:
just as a footpath becomes clearer the more we walk on it,
a neural pathway develops more efficiently the more it is stimulated.
And, just as a footpath becomes overgrown and may disappear entirely if it's not walked on,
the neural pathway will atrophy if it's not stimulated.
Simply put, if we don't use it, we lose it.
Neural biologists' research suggests that the best time to shape
the most efficient pathways is in early life,
particularly during the preschool years.
Therefore, we should be working with music while children are very young-
when their brains are most open to shaping new paths,
and they are already well equipped to respond to music.
While every child is born with the potential to be a music-maker, that potential must be nurtured.
Just as a seed grows and blossoms only if we give it water, soil, and sunlight,
your child's music development needs the proper stimulation and support.
From the moment you start making music with your baby and reinforcing the music she makes,
you will be providing the rich music-making environment she needs for her music potential to flower and flourish.
Music-making should be recognized as a basic life skill, just like walking or talking.
Moreover, the ability to participate in music is perhaps the most integrating capacity we have.
It requires a sophisticated coordination of emotion, energy, and the senses
(seeing, hearing, moving, touch).
For any young child, music is highly developmental and therefore offers benefits
beyond the intrinsic pleasures of music-making.
In fact, research suggests that music learning supports all learning-
so it is deeply beneficial for your child to have active music experiences throughout her early years.
We recommend that children continue with Music Together through four-five years of age
in order to gain the full developmental benefits.
----
HOW DOES MY BABY RESPOND TO MUSIC?
Your child was born as a sounder and mover, equipped with the ability to make music.
A baby has limbs for creative movement and a larynx for singing and interacting with the sounds of her environment.
At birth a baby can cry, squeal, giggle, and coo-a range of sounds that will someday be utilized for singing.
Your baby is wired to receive music as well.
Studies have shown that babies respond to tempo changes,
can discriminate among differences in loudness and melody, and can sense when a song is ending.
They often move physically when music starts or stops, and may show a “moment” response
when a change in music occurs,
even when asleep. (In this kind of response, babies' hands or feet move involuntarily, much as adults "jump" at an unexpected sound.)
This momentary response in relation to music lets us know
that babies do hear and do respond to music at just a few days old.
Eventually, this momentary response becomes more refined and sustained
as the baby listens to singing or music-it develops into a recognizable music response.
You can watch for your baby to respond to music, especially as someone begins to sing or play.
During the music, the baby may stop her usual movements or activity and seem to stare intently or freeze;
then when the music stops, she will often change activity again.
Here are some of the visible ways babies respond to music:
TONAL AND RHYTHM DEVELOPMENT
As your baby grows, their responses to music will grow more sophisticated.
As with other forms of child development, tonal and rhythm developments follow a predictable sequence;
your Music Together experience will help you learn to see this music development in action.
The following is a brief overview of children's music development from birth to around age four.
Tonally, you may notice that your infant coos-and even fusses or cries-around a central pitch.
They may adjust this "personal pitch" in response to a music stimulus.
For example, they may try to imitate a note that you sing to them,
or they may sound a note that is related to a song he has just heard.
Over time, he will begin to coo on two pitches, sliding from one to the other.
When he develops breath control, he'll begin singing the pitches separately.
As they grow, they’ll start to sing parts of songs accurately-most likely the last three or four notes of a musical phrase or song.
Finally, they'll become more and more skilled in his singing until they can sing entire songs accurately.
As your baby develops rhythmically, you may notice that they respond to music
with a predictable, recurring gesture, such as bouncing his torso or waving his arms.
This "characteristic gesture" will, in time, be sustained for longer periods of time.
As he grows, you may see them moving to two or three small beats at the end of a song.
Over time, they'll develop a consistent tempo, although at first their "personal tempo" may not be related to the tempo of the song.
Gradually, your child will become aware of the beat in a song and will try to align their movements to the beat.
Finally, they will be able to move with accurate rhythm.
Remember that, just as children learn to walk and talk at different rates-
a normally developing child may start walking at anywhere from nine to seventeen months! -
children also have varying timetables for music development.
So we speak of stages of music development, rather than ages.
---
WHAT CAN I DO TO SUPPORT MY BABY'S MUSICAL GROWTH?
There is a special relationship between a baby and his parents and important caregivers.
In fact, several decades ago, British pediatrician, psychoanalyst,
and child psychiatrist Donald Winnicott shocked his colleagues by suggesting that there was no such thing as a baby-
only a baby and caregiver together.
Since the baby, in his first months, does not think of himself as being apart from the parent,
the parent becomes an integral part of how the child sees himself and the world.
He sees your singing as his singing, your dancing as his dancing. In contrast, if you do not sing or dance,
then he does not see himself as being capable of these things!
That is why in the Music Together program,
we recognize the fundamental power of significant relationships as the catalyst for musical growth.
Children learn three things from the grownups around them: skills, knowledge, and dispositions.
Skills and knowledge can be learned from a teacher, but dispositions- attitudes and life habits -
can be learned best from parents and significant caregivers.
When a caregiver genuinely enjoys an activity, the child-who wants to be just like his important grownups-will, too.
They will become naturally disposed to enjoy music-making, without any regard for how well you "perform" the activity.
Your enjoyment and participation are all that matters.
In your Music Together class, you will about how to nurture your child's disposition for music-making.
The most important thing you can do is to make music yourself-both in and out of class-
so that your child sees you playing with music and is motivated to follow in your musical footsteps.
WHAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC THINGS WE CAN DO AT HOME?
There are many ways that you and your baby's other caregivers can support your child's music development.
As you interact musically with your baby, keep the following in mind:
(Other family members can join in a circle dance in your living room,
or help sing that round you've been itching to try at home.)
What a gift you'll be giving to your child! It doesn't matter how much "talent" you think you have or don't have-
as long as you're making music with your baby,
they'll be growing up in a musical family
Enjoy!
---
Music Together
A special note for Families with Babies / Infants
Getting started early:
Being with Music Together early starts babies on a pathway of music development that will allow them to embrace, enjoy, and express their inborn musicality.
Whether or not your child's journey leads to formal music study
is a choice for another day –
for now, the particular delight of these classes,
is seeing how truly responsive to music babies are and discovering how to recognize and support their developing music behaviors.
Even newborns are exquisitely prepared for a music experience.
Although babies are born with little control over their bodies and without much visual acuity, their sense of hearing is well-developed.
They begin to hear and respond to sound in the womb, from about 19 weeks' gestation (Hepper and Shahidullah, 1994),
and are alert to the sounds of music and speech as soon as they are born.
In our classes, you will see that babies are as fully prepared to learn the music of their culture
as they are to learn its language-and that they learn both in the same way, through adult modeling and interaction.
You and your baby will share activities around experiencing Music.
You'll begin to learn about how children develop musically
and how you can support that development in your own baby.
You'll discover new ways of interacting with your baby that are deeply pleasurable for both of you.
And you'll experience how profoundly satisfying it can be to bond with your infant musically.
However, knowing how this development unfolds gives us clues
as to how to reinforce these music behaviors.
For example, when you hear your baby cooing on his personal pitch, you can sing it back to them.
When you see them bouncing his torso, mirror that movement back to them.
And when you see them tapping their highchair, you can reinforce that by tapping a steady beat.
In a Music Together class, you learn how to see your child's behaviors through musical eyes and how to nurture them musically as they grow.
---
AGES BIRTH THROUGH SIX ARE CRUCIAL
The first six years of your child's life are especially important for music development,
because this is the time that neural pathways in the brain develop most rapidly.
It is the critical period for primary music development. In other words, this is the time of life when the developmental window for music growth is fully open,
when children are primed to mentally organize music stimuli, and when they can not only listen to but also begin to understand the music they are hearing.
Each day, your baby's brain is developing millions of neural pathways that will be used throughout a lifetime.
Neural pathways are in some ways similar to natural pathways on the ground:
just as a footpath becomes clearer the more we walk on it,
a neural pathway develops more efficiently the more it is stimulated.
And, just as a footpath becomes overgrown and may disappear entirely if it's not walked on,
the neural pathway will atrophy if it's not stimulated.
Simply put, if we don't use it, we lose it.
Neural biologists' research suggests that the best time to shape
the most efficient pathways is in early life,
particularly during the preschool years.
Therefore, we should be working with music while children are very young-
when their brains are most open to shaping new paths,
and they are already well equipped to respond to music.
While every child is born with the potential to be a music-maker, that potential must be nurtured.
Just as a seed grows and blossoms only if we give it water, soil, and sunlight,
your child's music development needs the proper stimulation and support.
From the moment you start making music with your baby and reinforcing the music she makes,
you will be providing the rich music-making environment she needs for her music potential to flower and flourish.
Music-making should be recognized as a basic life skill, just like walking or talking.
Moreover, the ability to participate in music is perhaps the most integrating capacity we have.
It requires a sophisticated coordination of emotion, energy, and the senses
(seeing, hearing, moving, touch).
For any young child, music is highly developmental and therefore offers benefits
beyond the intrinsic pleasures of music-making.
In fact, research suggests that music learning supports all learning-
so it is deeply beneficial for your child to have active music experiences throughout her early years.
We recommend that children continue with Music Together through four-five years of age
in order to gain the full developmental benefits.
----
HOW DOES MY BABY RESPOND TO MUSIC?
Your child was born as a sounder and mover, equipped with the ability to make music.
A baby has limbs for creative movement and a larynx for singing and interacting with the sounds of her environment.
At birth a baby can cry, squeal, giggle, and coo-a range of sounds that will someday be utilized for singing.
Your baby is wired to receive music as well.
Studies have shown that babies respond to tempo changes,
can discriminate among differences in loudness and melody, and can sense when a song is ending.
They often move physically when music starts or stops, and may show a “moment” response
when a change in music occurs,
even when asleep. (In this kind of response, babies' hands or feet move involuntarily, much as adults "jump" at an unexpected sound.)
This momentary response in relation to music lets us know
that babies do hear and do respond to music at just a few days old.
Eventually, this momentary response becomes more refined and sustained
as the baby listens to singing or music-it develops into a recognizable music response.
You can watch for your baby to respond to music, especially as someone begins to sing or play.
During the music, the baby may stop her usual movements or activity and seem to stare intently or freeze;
then when the music stops, she will often change activity again.
Here are some of the visible ways babies respond to music:
- feet are outstretched, or kicking;
- eyes "brighten" or change focus;
- tongue moves in repetitive motion;
- eyes move towards the sound source;
- hands clench, or wave wildly in the air; • middle of torso moves rhythmically;
- baby makes cooing sounds;
- baby smiles or giggles.
TONAL AND RHYTHM DEVELOPMENT
As your baby grows, their responses to music will grow more sophisticated.
As with other forms of child development, tonal and rhythm developments follow a predictable sequence;
your Music Together experience will help you learn to see this music development in action.
The following is a brief overview of children's music development from birth to around age four.
Tonally, you may notice that your infant coos-and even fusses or cries-around a central pitch.
They may adjust this "personal pitch" in response to a music stimulus.
For example, they may try to imitate a note that you sing to them,
or they may sound a note that is related to a song he has just heard.
Over time, he will begin to coo on two pitches, sliding from one to the other.
When he develops breath control, he'll begin singing the pitches separately.
As they grow, they’ll start to sing parts of songs accurately-most likely the last three or four notes of a musical phrase or song.
Finally, they'll become more and more skilled in his singing until they can sing entire songs accurately.
As your baby develops rhythmically, you may notice that they respond to music
with a predictable, recurring gesture, such as bouncing his torso or waving his arms.
This "characteristic gesture" will, in time, be sustained for longer periods of time.
As he grows, you may see them moving to two or three small beats at the end of a song.
Over time, they'll develop a consistent tempo, although at first their "personal tempo" may not be related to the tempo of the song.
Gradually, your child will become aware of the beat in a song and will try to align their movements to the beat.
Finally, they will be able to move with accurate rhythm.
Remember that, just as children learn to walk and talk at different rates-
a normally developing child may start walking at anywhere from nine to seventeen months! -
children also have varying timetables for music development.
So we speak of stages of music development, rather than ages.
---
WHAT CAN I DO TO SUPPORT MY BABY'S MUSICAL GROWTH?
There is a special relationship between a baby and his parents and important caregivers.
In fact, several decades ago, British pediatrician, psychoanalyst,
and child psychiatrist Donald Winnicott shocked his colleagues by suggesting that there was no such thing as a baby-
only a baby and caregiver together.
Since the baby, in his first months, does not think of himself as being apart from the parent,
the parent becomes an integral part of how the child sees himself and the world.
He sees your singing as his singing, your dancing as his dancing. In contrast, if you do not sing or dance,
then he does not see himself as being capable of these things!
That is why in the Music Together program,
we recognize the fundamental power of significant relationships as the catalyst for musical growth.
Children learn three things from the grownups around them: skills, knowledge, and dispositions.
Skills and knowledge can be learned from a teacher, but dispositions- attitudes and life habits -
can be learned best from parents and significant caregivers.
When a caregiver genuinely enjoys an activity, the child-who wants to be just like his important grownups-will, too.
They will become naturally disposed to enjoy music-making, without any regard for how well you "perform" the activity.
Your enjoyment and participation are all that matters.
In your Music Together class, you will about how to nurture your child's disposition for music-making.
The most important thing you can do is to make music yourself-both in and out of class-
so that your child sees you playing with music and is motivated to follow in your musical footsteps.
WHAT ARE SOME SPECIFIC THINGS WE CAN DO AT HOME?
There are many ways that you and your baby's other caregivers can support your child's music development.
As you interact musically with your baby, keep the following in mind:
- Your baby is likely to pay particular attention to your mouth when you sing, so exaggerate your mouth movements,
particularly when singing songs without words. - You validate your baby's responses when you imitate them!
This positive reinforcement encourages more spontaneous sound- and-movement activity,
which is how your baby learns. Don't worry about whether or not your baby's musical contributions seem “correct”! - Babies love contrast and are particularly attentive to changes.
When making music with your child, follow a fast activity with a slow activity, a loud verse with a quiet verse, high- pitched chanting with low-pitched chanting, or a serious interpretation with a silly interpretation.
- At the beginning of the semester, start playing the recording in the car and at home,
so that you and your baby become familiar with the songs in the current Music Together collection.
Share the recording with your other family members, too.
The more comfortable you all are with the music, the more fun you will have in class.
As you learn the songs, you can use the recording less and less;
your live singing is far more important and musically nurturing to your baby than the voices and instruments on the recording. - Establish a music routine. It's especially lovely to share music with your child at bedtime or naptime.
Each Music Together collection has several lullabies that you can start singing right away during your sleeptime ritual. - As the semester proceeeds and you become familiar with the activities,
you can begin playing at home with some of the ways we make music in class.
For example, try holding your baby on your lap, and bounce her up and down to the beat as you sing a song-first to the big beats and then to the little beats. Or, while giving your baby a bath, try squeezing her arms and legs, stroking her belly, "beeping" her nose, and wiggling her toes while you sing or speak a rhyme to her.
You might also pop in the recording (or any other favorite music), scoop up your baby,
and twirl, step, and bounce around the room to the music.
- Toward the end of the semester, you will likely have "new eyes and ears"
when noticing how your baby responds to music and makes music of his own.
You can imitate your baby's singing coos and rhythmic taps,
knowing that you're starting a wonderful feedback loop: the more you echo back to your baby, the more he will do!
(Other family members can join in a circle dance in your living room,
or help sing that round you've been itching to try at home.)
What a gift you'll be giving to your child! It doesn't matter how much "talent" you think you have or don't have-
as long as you're making music with your baby,
they'll be growing up in a musical family
Enjoy!
---
Music Together