Music and Singing in the Early Years

A Guide to Singing with Young Children

Zoe Greenhalgh

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138233232
• eBook ISBN: 9781315309996
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Music and singing are an inherent part of children's lives and offer a wonderful opportunity to promote young children's learning and development. This how-to guide is full of useful information to support musical understanding and assist practitioners in developing their knowledge, skills and confidence in planning and leading successful and enjoyable musical activities in a range of early years settings.

Focusing on the role of singing and children's musical learning at various stages of development, Music and Singing in the Early Years aims to demystify music by providing practical tips, ideas and information on the integration of musical activities in the early years curriculum and environment, and provides clear explanations of musical concepts.

Chapters consider topics such as:

• vocal strategies and development
• using song, rhyme and movement
• integrating instrumental accompaniments
• observation and assessment
• planning and delivery
• resources for music making.

This book is essential reading for all early years practitioners looking to improve their musical understanding and plan successful musical activities with young children.

1 |	Musical development

From the start I would like to dispel the myths that only a few are musically talented and that only some of us can sing. The fact of the matter is that

We are all musical; we just need the opportunity.

(Welch 2017)

From the very earliest days of life babies have a highly developed sense of hearing with a finely tuned sense of pitch. By the twenty-sixth week of pregnancy hearing is fully developed and babies are listening, interpreting and learning from the voices and sounds that surround them.

There is evidence that parents, siblings and others in all countries and cultures are subconsciously ‘programmed’ to use Infant Directed Speech (IDS), also known as motherese, when interacting with infants (Young, V. 2017). At a higher than normal pitch, this ‘sing-song’ style of speech involves the use of short phrases with exaggerated, lengthened and repeated words often combined with exaggerated facial expressions and movement. Babies find this form of speech highly attractive and they respond by attempting to reproduce the variety of melodic sounds they hear, sounds that are characteristic of their ‘mother tongue’, and that play an important role in language learning and musical development. Every language has its individual soundscape which the use of motherese exaggerates. The intonation and contours of the mother tongue are further exaggerated through Infant Directed Singing, also referred to as ‘singese’ (Young, V. 2017; the term was coined by Dionyssiou), which combines words, melody and emotion to create a unique and powerful form of communication that is even more alluring to the young child (Trehub 2003a).

Although most infants do not learn to talk until their second year, their voices are there for us to hear from birth.

(Selleck 1995)

Learning to sing is very much like learning to speak. If from the start of life a baby is immersed in an environment full of speech, she wants to join in and makes every effort to do so, producing increasingly skilful attempts to imitate what she hears. This practice is rewarded by positive, uncritical responses from her carers which encourage her to keep trying and learn more. It is exactly the same with learning to sing. What makes a ‘musical’ child is not some innate genetic ability or talent, but a positive and supportive home environment where music and singing are part of the fabric of everyday life. Musical children tend to inhabit musical homes or attend musically rich playgroups, nurseries or schools.

A baby’s first toy is her voice, with which she experiments, honing her skills and gradually gaining control. Early ‘cooing’ develops into short musical babbling phrases at around 2 months of age, which by 3 to 4 months have become short snippets of melody imitating the shape of the voices and language she hears (Williams 2013). By 4–5 months, her vocal musical play shows clear links with the intonation and characteristics of the language she hears most from her home environment, her ‘mother tongue’, which plays a significant role in her musical and singing development. The baby can only copy and learn from her own experience and so the more ‘musical’ the speech and singing she hears in her local environment, the more she will try to imitate and learn (Williams 2013).

What gives us the capacity to think is the quality of a baby’s exchanges with other people over the first eighteen months of life.

(Hobson 2002)

Infant Directed Singing (Trehub 2003b) is even more attractive to the very young, making singing games and rhymes with young children a powerful and influential activity. Songs and rhymes provide examples for the baby to copy, encouraging her to play with sounds and learn how to communicate with others effectively. This musical exchange is a continuous, active and dynamic process requiring total engagement of all participants. The ‘game’ develops, increasing her anticipation of the final ‘punchline’. Each contribution is offered in relation to the previous one, in an accumulative, cyclical process which builds up shared understanding between the players (Young, S. 2005). Both parties are then rewarded: the baby by the positive attention she receives and the play-partner by the success of the baby’s contributions. Gopnik et al. (1991) describe this as ‘pillow talk’ as it is rooted in mutual love and affection, and Malloch (2002), who has written extensively on early interaction with babies, calls it

Communicative musicality…the dynamic sympathetic state of a human person that allows coordinated companionship to arise.

(Malloch cited in Trevarthen 2002, p. 21)

In her work with Baby Room practitioners, Vanessa Young (2017) has identified a ‘spectrum of vocal utterances’ as a broad definition of what is involved in musical communication with the very young, expanding the meaning of ‘song’ in this context.

Young also writes about the ways in which singing and song can promote Connections, Closeness, Confidence and Communication – the ‘4 Cs’ – with parents and caregivers (Young, V. 2017, p. 259). Self-image begins at birth in direct response to the reactions (words and body language) of those around them. Quality time spent singing with a child, particularly by a significant carer, therefore enhances attachment and builds emotional security.

Every time you smile and interact warmly with a baby, you help to sow seeds of a positive image.

(Tassoni 2001)

It is generally recognised that personal success in life is dependent on positive self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem are generally more successful in forming stable relationships, coping with new situations and achieving their academic potential.

Learning musical skills

Right from the start, life is inherently musical. From the earliest spark of life (i.e. before birth) until she can walk independently, a baby experiences steady beat (pulse) through the motion and movement of daily activities: for example, regular footsteps when being carried, being rocked, patted, stroked, bounced and so on. Once the child walks unaided, this physical experience of steady beat is reduced and this learning may be lost unless it is supported in some other way. So why does this matter?

A continuous pulse provides the foundation upon which all music sits; consequently the ability to feel a steady beat within oneself is a fundamental musical skill. Children often find this less straightforward to achieve than reproducing the rhythm of a song (which is usually defined by the words).

The role of singing

Musical activity, particularly singing, demands focused attention and careful listening – important skills for all areas of learning. Singing games and rhymes involve listening, timing and turn-taking – all fundamental elements for successful conversation – and provide a place to practise, gain experience and unconsciously learn these vital skills in a playful and social manner. Songs and rhymes develop sequencing ability, as they have a natural form and structure with a beginning, middle and end.

Young children’s vocabulary is enhanced and expanded through playful exploration of songs and rhymes; children will happily sing words that are not in their spoken vocabulary and children with speech disorders such as a stammer are empowered by the ability to respond naturally, without impediment, and interact on an equal footing with their peers.

Through musical activity children play, develop their communication and social skills, and express their feelings. Music, and singing in particular, affects our mood, and in early life they play an important role in emotional regulation. For example...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Musical development
• 2 Melodic matters: Singing games and rhymes
• 3 Rhythmic roots
• 4 Developing a song
• 5 Planning and evaluation
• 6 Putting the planning into practice
• 7 Resources for music making
• Glossary
• Sources of further information
• Index