Music
and babies
by Susan Ramsay, Early Literacy Specialist, HFL&A
It’s
summertime - time for buskers on city streets, outdoor music
concerts, and singing around the campfire. For many adults, teens and
children, music hits an irresistible chord.
It
is that way for babies too. Expectant mothers know the frenetic
kicking that rock music can trigger in their unborn child. Once a
baby’s ears are formed in utero, sound is transmitted through the
amniotic fluid at about thirty decibels less than outside the
mother’s body. Some researchers have found that infants exposed to
music in the womb show a remarkable ability to imitate sound and
respond to it after birth!
In
fact early exposure to music has been linked to:
Higher
scores on tests of visual spatial reasoning. This type of reasoning
is necessary for many tasks, including mathematics.
Increased
efficiency in the way right and left hemispheres in the brain
communicate. Musicians who began their musical training in childhood
were shown to have a larger corpus callosum (structure connecting
the two hemispheres in the brain) than non-musicians.
Improved
reading scores. Active engagement with music, such as singing, can
help toddlers fine-tune their ability to differentiate the sounds of
language. This helps children with language and reading skills.
Enhanced
listening skills. Children exposed to ample amounts of music were
better able to concentrate for longer periods of time.
So
what kinds of music do babies like?
Babies
prefer higher tones. They respond well to soprano voices.
Babies
enjoy melodies in a major key.
Babies
like music that is simple and repetitive.
How
can you encourage your baby’s development using music?
Play
all kinds of music. Music from different styles and cultures broaden
a child’s appreciation and responsiveness to music. Mozart, Bach,
and folk music have been shown to create coherence in brain wave
patterns. During a baby’s and toddler’s rapid brain growth, this
can be very helpful. (50% of an infant’s brain growth occurs by
six months. 70-85% of brain development is complete by one year.)
Use
music to trigger memory. Music can enhance learning new tasks.
Singing the same songs while changing diapers, bathing or feeding
can help a baby remember and anticipate aspects of routines. With
repetition, your baby will also anticipate changes in melody and
words.
Dance
or move with your baby while singing or playing music. Let your
child feel and hear the rhythms of sound. As well as sheer fun, this
helps your child recognize stress, syllables and rhyme in words.
This awareness impacts a child’s ability to read later on.
So
rock on, with a voice that is off-key or trained, knowing that your
little one benefits greatly when you sing a lullaby at the end of a
long summer day.
Rock-a-bye
baby on the treetop,
When
the wind blows the cradle will rock.
When
crickets chirp the baby will smile,And
fall asleep happy in a short while.
Susan
Ramsay is the Early Literacy Specialist for Hastings, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington. You can
contact her at 613-354-6318 (ext 32) 