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Responding to music during toddlerhood
Filed under: Toddlers Preschoolers, Development/Milestones: Babies
My 22 month-old, Devon, gets excited when he hears some kinds of music. He will, in fact, listen over and over again to some songs until the rest of us want to scream. Recently, a number of contributors to the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences took a closer look at how music evolved and how we respond to it. Contributors to the volume believe that animals such as birds, dolphins and whales make sounds similar to music out of a desire to imitate each other. This ability to learn and imitate sounds is a trait necessary to acquire language, and scientists feel that many of the sounds animals make may be precursors to human music. One study in the volume looked at whether music training can make individuals smarter. Scientists found more gray matter in the auditory cortex of the right hemisphere in musicians compared to non musicians. They feel these differences are probably not genetic, but due to use and practice. Listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, has been thought to enhance performance on cognitive tests. Contributors to the volume took a closer look at this suggestion and found that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition. In addition, the use of music to enhance memory was explored; research suggests that musical recitation enhances the coding of information by activating neural networks in a more united and thus more optimal fashion.
Other studies in this volume look at music's positive effects on health and immunity, how music is processed in the brain, the interplay between language and music, and the relationship between our emotions and music. All of this leads me to ask: what personal experiences do you have in observing your baby's responses to music? Are there any songs you think may have a big impact on your child? Perhaps on other children? I don't think that it will be the music of Marilyn Manson, although listening to him may improve your baby's startle response (particularly if the volume is turned up high enough).
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
7-15-2006 @ 8:56PM
thordora said...Our youngest seems to really like IDM or rockabilly, bluegrass, etc. Anything with a strong beat she totally grooves on, and it's so funny! She loves to dance. Whereas our oldest likes "songs" to sing to. It makes sense since the oldest is very verbal, and the youngest very spatial already.
I've also found that many Kronos Quartet records are a nice "listen", esp at dinner. They like it-don't know if it "does" anything, but we all relax.
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7-16-2006 @ 4:41AM
Jenn said...My 18 month old daughter falls fast asleep any time I play Nine Inch Nails. Isn't that the most bizarre thing you've ever heard?
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7-16-2006 @ 6:32AM
DevonT said...I run an English School in Tokyo and we have Mommy and Me classes for children as young as 2 years old. Of course, there is a lot of music and a lot of singing and dancing and rhythm games. Without a doubt the easiest way to connect with the children is through song.
Most interesting to me has been watching the effect the classes have had on their younger siblings. Mothers will often bring baby brother or baby sister to class. The babies obviously don't actively participate, but when they themselves join a class when they are 2 or 3, their comprehension and intonation is noticably better than not only the other kids in the class, but usually better than the older sibling. The repeated listening and observation of the songs we sing and dance to in class definitely gives them a healthy understanding of the sounds and patterns of the language that will really benefit them in the long run.
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7-16-2006 @ 6:58AM
Angelica said...My daughter and son absolutely love music. You name it and they are either dancing to it, reading while sub-consciously listening or lying by the CD player in their sleep.
My daughter especially loves classical, but any good music will do.
They know their favorites and can't stand much of the mundane music you will find by channel-hopping the radio today.
I do not know if it is just an aptitude for it, or the fact that I have always listened to music, as has my husband...(possibly genetic?) or the fact that I have played music for them, since before they were born.
I guess studies are being done for all and any links.
That being said, I think music is a very important part of development...and I would totally choose my children wanting to listen to their favorite CD than watching Blue's Clues everyday.
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