Learning and Music

Music is more than just fun: it is education.
As a youngster sings along, dances or “plays” an instrument, here are the sorts of things she learns:

1. New vocabulary. Many songs, particularly folk songs and nursery tunes, repeat words or refrains over and over again.
For example, think of the words for “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush.”
This type of repetition strengthens associations between new words and their meanings.
2. Time sense. When swinging the arms, moving the body, or tapping an “instrument” to music, the child is exposed to time relations between musical notes.
She becomes aware of order—this comes first, this comes next, and this comes last.
This is demonstrated by what happens to a sentence when just one word is put into a different order:
“Now, I want to go.”
“I want to go now.”
3. Counting. While children first learn to count by rote, they will learn to count from such rhymes
4. Self-control. It is necessary to really listen and attend to what a song says in order to carry out the actions.
When the words are said to “clap”, “jump”, or “stop”, she must translate what she has heard into a physical movement and clap, jump or stop.

We urge you to make music a family affair. Before the days of television, families created their own entertainment, and singing together was very popular.
Develop your own songbook for current rhythms, folk-rock, and old times. And don’t forget to teach your children the songs you love from your own childhood.