u

0
O
3
3

iiiuU

11111--;
,;

oc; 1.0 mm
.0 AB( "E F ,HI IKL^/NOF'')f-2,T LIVV.,(1 c,c'
c--, (A11,.L1,,,,/ " I ' , 1 ,, , Y' 4(1
_. 1.5 rnm ,t, ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,, ,:.-.,
A, ,,, ti
0 cb
zip ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY?
titi
abcciefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
2.0 mm 1234567890
 DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 310 863 PS 018 264

AUTHOR Boyd, Anne E.

TITLE Music in Early Childhood.
PUB DATE Jul 89
NOTE 17p.; Paper presented at the International Conferpncp
on Early Education and Development (21st, Hong Kong,
July 31-August 4, 1989).
PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom Use Guides (For Teachers) (052)
Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage.

DESCRIPTORS Early Childhood Education; *Educational Practices;
*Individual Differences; *Integrated Curriculum;
*Music; Musical Instruments; *Music Education; Music
Reading; *Readiness; Singing; Teacher Role; Young
Children
IDENTIFIERS *Developmentally Appropriate Programs

ABSTRACT
This paper emphasizes the importance of music as an
integral part of the education of the young child, and draws
attention to a few ways in which parents and teachers can contribute
to children's musical development. Sections of the paper focus on
seven questions: (1) Is music really universal? (2) When should
musical training begin? (3) When should music education begin? (4)
What is meant by a 'developmental' music program? (5) Is music
relevant to other areas of early learning? (6) What about reading
music? and (7) What is the role of the instrumental teacher? It is
concluded that each child has a natural right to the best musical
education his or her society can provide, and it is hoped that
society in the the 21st century will fully recognize that right. The
bibliography of 19 citations on music in relation to education and
development is supplemented by a list of other useful n..,..erials, such
as songbooks, and a list of titles in the Learning with Mother and
Early Learning series. ne latter series includes nursery, finger,
number, memory, talking, action, dancing, singing. and skipping
rhymes. (RH)

*****************A*t********************************t*******X********t*
* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
* from the original document. *

***********************************************************************
Pc
U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
I 1. 31 ra,
F a,11rnworernent
PI NAL RE ',OUR( E S INI oRMA104
( E NTE P iE Pi(
1 '
r 1 11 1 1111. '1-11 00,1,1 as

This paper is submitted for the conference entitled ,1 r n 11v h

CHILDHOOD IN THE 21ST CENTURY

31st July - 4th August, 1989
e''.
"I ,

0- ,1 '41 rese '11',

Hong Kong

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS

MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED ¢Y

Music in Early Childhood BoA,

by
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Anne E. Boyd INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)

This paper is dedicated to the memory of the patriotic Chinese

students who recently gave up their lives in the cause of
honesty and liberty in their beloved motherland - may they
always be remembered with respect and dignity.
ABSTRACT
Musical intelligence is universal but will atrophy if not given appropriate
stimulation and a sympathetic environment in which to develop. In early
childhood, musical stimulation can enhance emotional, intellectual and physical
development; when placed at the center of a young child's education, music
can provide a useful medium for many other areas of early learning. All
childhood musical activities should have enjoyment as their principal objective
and be developmentally based. Parents have a primary role to play in the early
musical development of their children but in many developed countries, where
the value of music has been degraded, only a few parents have the confidence
to accept this responsibility. As a first step towards better music education it is
necessary to restore the confidence of parents in their own innate musicality
and in their ability to assist in their children's musical growth. Early musical
education should not focus unduly upon skill-acquisition, with performance as
its principal objective, but rather be integrated into daily life as a spontaneous
manifestation of social and emotional development both at home and in the
kindergarten. Above all, the young child, as a natural musician, needs and
deserves recognition and encouragement. Once a child's positive responses to
music have been aroused, early musical learning can proceed rapidly and
effectively in a fun-filled environment in which warmth and security ale
regarded as being more important than the acquisition of formal musical skills.
Such an approach needs to be child-centered and to recognize the all important
need of the young child to pLay. An introduction to elementary musical
concepts should be regarded 1eing fundamental in the training of adults
involved with play-group leaderlip and for all kindergarten and primary
school teachers. Teacher trairalig programmes need to emphasize the
importance of the integratioi, of musical activities with c..lier areas of the
curriculum, whilst special provision should be made for the development of
early musical literacy. The developinem of more specialized musical skills

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

needs to be separately provided within schools and the community at large, as
should appropriate opportunities for the education of outstanding musically
gifted children. However, resources dedicated to training for a gifted few
should never be allowed to overwhelm, or substitute for, the provision of
generally accessible musical facilities from which all children may benefit,
now and in the future. The overriding purpose of this paper is therefore to
emphasize the importance of music as an integral part of the general education
of the small child, and to draw attention to a few of the ways in which parents
and teachers alike can contribute. A child has a natural right to 11 1e best
musical education his society can provide - it is to be hoped that society in the
21st century will fully recognize this right.

0
 MUSIC IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
by

Anne E, Boyd, D.Phii

Department of Music, University of Hong Kplig

I. Is Music really universal?

In attempting to arrive at an understanding of the importance
early childhood, it might first be useful to consider briefly whetheroformusic in
not the
phenomenon of music is really universal. In scanning rapidly across the
findings of anthropologists and, more recently, of ethnomusicologists, it would
seem that the answer to this question is a resounding "yes" no evidence can
be found of the existence of a society without music. An equally important
finding is that there appear to be more differences than
music produced by various cultural groups; although music similarities in the
is an international
phenomenon, it is certainly not the 'international language' so many proclaim it
to be. The music of a particular culture, to be really effective, needs the
receptive and prepared ears of an audience which has in
the experiences of its creators (Blacking, 1976). A performance ofshared
some way in
African
drumming heard by a Hong Kong audience in the Asian Arts Festival, no
matter how exciting, cannot have the same significance as the same
performance placed in its original tribal setting.' Notwithstanding the fact that
music speaks in many different tongues, the pervasive
existence of music in all
human societies lends considerable credibility to Howard Gardner's proposal
for the existence of musical intelligence as
intelligences common to all cultures (Gardner, 1983):
one of six major human

In modern society people frequently divide themselves into the musical

"haves" and "have-nots", with the usual dividing line being the ability to read
music and play a musical instrument. These latter attributes,
valued, are not necessarily which are highly
an indicati n of the possession of a superior
musical intelligence but, rather, indicate the likelihood of belonging to a
particular socio-economic group for whom opportunities for musical
training
are accessible and affordable. The use of musical training as a means of
upward social mobility in many industrialized societies contributes to an

I It has been interesting to observe the responses of a

group of four-year old children in a
multi-cultural playgroup in Hong Kong to a recording of African drumming: the Hong
Kong children reacted immediately and fairly noisily with laughter and
of their own invention. However I don't for a moment imagine thatdance movements
this music can
possibly ha' -a the same power or significance as a live performance
setting. in its original village

2 Gardner proposes six major human intelligences:

I. Linguistic, 2. Musical, 3. BoJily-
Kinaesthetic, 4. Logical - Mathematical, 5. Spatial, 6.
Personal Intelligence (self-
management and relationships with others).
 d: Music in Earl Childhood

understandable resentment on the part of the less privileged whose musical

cravings are subject to ruthless commercial exploitation.

Although musical intelligence may be accepted as being universal, like

other human attributes, it is unlikely to develop without appropriate
stimulation. Edwin Gordon has drawn attention to the development of musical
audiation (i.e. the ability to hear music which is not physically present) as the
basic skill necessary for all musical understanding. His research further
suggests that a child's ability to audiate will atrophy to some extent before the
age of nine if not stimulated (Feierabend, 1987). Another research finding
indicates that the level in singing which children reach by the age of six or
seven may represent a peak in early musical development which, for most
people, may not be actively developed further (Davidson, 1985). Both findings
highlight the need for the provision of music education in early life if musical
potential is to be fully realized.
2. When should musical training begin?
The trend in modern music educational practice is to place the starting
age for musical training earlier and earlier. The great Japanese musical
pedagogue, Suzuki, using a "mother-tongue" approach and special instruments
scaled to fit tiny hands, has infants from two years of age beginning to learn
the violin and having mastered the basics of string playing before they enter
the Primary School. As well as winning many advocates, his method has been
subject to considerable criticism, in particular for its
"mechanization" of
playing technique and the concentration upon playing by ear, which precludes
learning to sight-read from notation until the child is already playing fluently.
The problem here seems to be the possibility that Suzuki students
depend so much upon their ears alone that sight-reading skills never develop to
the same level as in children who are taught to read at the same time as they
are being taught to play. In theory, the Suzuki approach seems defensible on
the grounds that we learn to speak well before we learn to read. Similarly, one
can point to numbers of non-Western societies which have developed a
complex musical tradition where musicians memorize a vast repertory and
perform entirely by ear.3

Some objections to Suzuki's approach, however, also deserve

consideration: firstly, music is not a language and therefore it may be
erroneous to draw too close comparisons with early language learning;
secondly, Western musical training is to large extent dependent upon the
ability to read musical notation fluently and accurately. The violin is centrally
placed within Western musical tradition as a solo and an orchestral instrument;

3 Consider the modern gamclan of Bali where upward of forty musicians perform a large,
compiicated and rhythmically intricate repertory entirely from memory and where
experienced musicians can exchange instrumental parts with apparent case. This is rarely
the case in the Western orchestra where professional musicians require a high degree of
specialization upon a single instrument.
 yd: Music in Early Childhood 3

violinists need a training which enables them to take full advantage of both
roles. To become a convincing soloist, the violinist needs to develop an
individual interpretation of the "masterpieces" composed for the violin and,
therefore, his approach must be anything but mechanical and "imitative". To
become a first-class orchestral musician, or chamber music play r, the violinist
must be a fluent sight-reader.

A well-known Israeli musician, Nadiva Shor, has recently published an

account of her experience teaching piano to three- to five-year old children in
which she makes a strong case for the benefits of starting lessons early (Shor,
1989). I have myself heard children as young as four play Czerny studies on
the piano at a kindergarten in Shanghai where music is placed at the center of
the curriculum. The children seemed utterly absorbed and concentrated, and,
reputedly, greatly enjoyed their music lessons. It was impossible, however, to
detect whether their performance was the result of outstanding musical
giftedness or simply the product of a high degree of rigorous training in which
parents, as supervisors of practice, periods in the home, played a crucial role.

The point needs to be made that if it is possibl, to train animals to

perform extraordinary and unnatural feats then how much easier to train more
intelligent humans - especially in early life when the brain is developing so
rapidly and is capable of absorbing and processing an extraordinary amount of
information, and when the small child's capacity to imitate is
truly
phenomenal. Whether or not such early training is really beneficial in all-round
human development is a question which has not yet been satisfactorily
answered.

If asking the question "When should musical training beg:.i?" raises a

host of further questions, then it is perhaps worthwhile changing the question
somewhat.

3. When should music education begin?

The distinction between "education" and "training", when considering
music as everyone's natural birthright, is of fundamental importance. Applied
to music, "education" means many things: the cultivation of
a high deg:-T of
aural sensitivity; the ability to "understand", codify and interpret a wide variety
of musical stimuli; the confidence to express oneself creatively using sound as
a medium; and the ability to participate at one's own level in group musical
activities in which enjoyment and personal fulfillment are the
primary
objectives.' Certainly, "training" plays an important part, but the emphasis
changes when educational objectives are more broadly defined: a narrowly
focussed concentration upon learning to play a particular instrument as well as
possible, often to the exclusion of the cultivation of much more broadly based

4 it is tempting to draw an analogy hare with the role of physical education and
the
provision of sporting facilities within our communities. There are
certainly many
parallels: however, the general provision of generally accessible sporting facilities far
exceeds that of music.

0
 Bo d: Music in Earl Childhood

musical abilities, is no longer acceptable as the ultimate goal of a

comprehensive music education.

Current research findings indicate that it is appropriate and beneficial for

musical education, as defined in this broader sense, to begin in utero
(Thurman, Chase and Langness, 1987). Consider the following extract from the
popular book The Secret Life of the Unborn Child:

Considering his acute hearing, it should come as no

surprise that the unborn child is also capable of
learning a bit about music. A four- or five - month -old
foetus definitely responds to sound and melody and
responds in very discriminating ways. Put Vivaldi on
the record player and even the most agitated baby
relaxes. Put Beethoven on and even the calmest child
starts kicking and moving. (Verney and Kelly, 1982 :
7 & 8)
Later, the same writers draw upon the studies of an obstetric physiologist,
Michele Clements, to claim that the foetus prefers the simpler line of a flute to
the more complex music of Beethoven and that the foetus doesn't like rock
music. (ibid. p. 26) If these findings are accurate then it is certain that musical
preferences change a great deal after birth.
Given the overwhelming!,; important role the mother plays, as primary
care-taker and as her child's first music teacher, the most appropriate time to
commence musical education might well be in the ante-natal classes attended
by first-time expectant mothers. All mothers-to-be can be given a sense of the
value of singing to their unborn children; of taking a brief time each day,
especially in later pregnancy, to relax while listening to soothing
music played
on a gramophone or tape-recorder (van Niekerk, 1988). Most importantly,
mothers need to be educated into a sense of their own musical intelligence and
to be given guidelines as to how they can continue to assist in their
children's
continuing musical development after birth.

An ante-natal music programme aimed at enhancing pre-natal human

development and improving communication and bonding between mother and
child was established at Silver Lake College, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
in the fall
of 1986 by Sister Lorna Zemke. Although her data can only be verified
through longitudinal study. a comment by one of the mothers participating in
this programme is worth quoting:
"I feel more in touch with this child than I have been with my
other two children and I think it's the music which acts like a
language." (Zemke, 1988 : 13)
It is very important to emphasize that early musical education
be as relaxed, spontaneous and joyful as possible. T^aching music toneeds to
babies,
before and after birth, involves a great deal of touching, cuddling, rocking,

I
 Boyd: Music in Cody Childhood

etc., activities which in themselves are bound to contribute tc deeper bonding

between parent and child and an enhanced sense of warmth and security for
both. It is worth drawing a distinction between interactive and passive forms of
musical stimulation; it seems that music education in early life is nost
effective when it is "interactive". Thus, it is not enough to put an appropriate
song on the record player or to pull the string on baby's musical toys and walk
away, assuming that the music will be absorbed passively. Music in early life
is essentially a social activity in which the presence of family members, and
later on of peers, is vitally important. Singing and dancing with infants,
playing finger games, knee-jogging, bouncing, patting, clapping and rocking
are all activities which will actively stimulate early musical learning.

Musical activities should give pleasure to all who are participating and,
if they don't, they are probably worse than useless. Groups of Canadian student
music teachers have indicated that memories of their "happiest" early musical
experiences were often associated with informal music-making in their family
life. Their "unhappiest" musical memories included a catalogue of experiences
in which they were forced to participate in musical activities before they were
developmentally "ready" for the tasks they were asked to perform. These
negative accounts included a number of "frightening" experiences with "strict"
and "unsympathetic" piano teachers when, as young children, tl:e student
teachers had been mentally or physically abused, or terrified by an examiner
(Wood, 1988). The importance of positive musical experiences in early life
cannot be over-emphasized.

4. What is meant by a 'developmental' music Fogramme?

Modern music education in the latter part of this century has taken great
strides forward. The wonderful contributions of the famous music educators
Dalcroze, Orff and Kodaly notwithstanding, a widely accepted music
programme which fully takes into account the human development theories of
Piaget, Bruner, Montessori and Steiner has not yet been developed. This is not
surprising for while many researchers suggest that human musical development
passes through stages which are similar in concept to those identified by
Piaget, 2 convincing, comprehensive theory of musical development has yet to
emerge.

To speak of a "developmental" music programme is to assume that, in

introducing musical activities to children, the important concept of "readiness"
is taken fully into account as children pass from stage to stage of their
development. When children are "ready", learning is effortless and fluid,
contributing much pleasure to child and teacher. This applies just as much to
learning music as to learning other fundamental academic skills such as
reading, writing and arithmetic. Learning through play is of fundamental
importance in laying the foundation for more formal education later on and is
particularly valuable for the encouragement of positive attitudes. An approach
of this kind must also form the foundation of a developmental music
programme; early on, children can learn a great deal when musical information
is presented in the form of enjoyable games.
 mod: Music in Early Childhood

In musical development it is easy to distinguish two important milestones

which form the basis for all future musical activities these are the ability to
sing "in tune" and to play "in time". Both are acquired gradilally in early life
and normally only become well-established between 7 - 9 years of age. The
musical immaturity of small children, judged according to these abilities, is a
factor which discourages parents, care-takers and teachers from initiating early
musical activities: the musical efforts of small children often don't sound very
musical, especially where music-making takes place in groups. However, a far
more important factor than adult judgement of infant's group music making is
the absorption and enjoyment of the children themselves in what 'hey are
doing. Criticism and fault-finding are completely out of place in earl musical
development; the infant musician thrives upon positive encouragement and
interest in his musical activities.

The small child is driven by a need to explore and to express himself

and, in the kindergarten, this applies quite as much to music as to language
and drawing. The best music learning environment is one in which music is
perceived primarily as an extension of auditory discrimination: all musical
activities are based upon listening and, as a first step to musical development
in the kindergarten, listening games in which the child is encouraged to
differentiate sound qualities in increasingly specific ways are a logical part of
the music programme.

Very young children also need plenty of "hands-on" opportunities to

explore objects themselves for their sound qualities - almost any materials will
do, from rustly pieces of paper, home-made rattles, ticking clocks, sonorous
sauce-pans through to bells, chimes, drums, and any of the more traditional
musical instruments which might be to hand and can be made available for
exploration. A "Sound-box" or "Sound-corner" is just as important in a play-
group or kindergarten as are coloring pencils, paint and
playdough.
Opportunities for the creative use of sound are as endless as the children's own
imaginations. The noise which results can be irritating to adults but children,
too, have very sensitive hearing and will soon regulate their sound-exploration
activities.'

Singing is an activity enjoyed by all small children regardless of culture.

Besides contributing a heightened emotional dimension to bonding between
parent and child, singing is also important in social and cultural development.
Singing activities are invaluable in establishing a group identity. Ritualized
singing, at the beginning and end of play-group sessions, forms a meaningful
bridge between the child's life within and without his "school"; a song carried
in the memory will pop out at odd moments and the spontaneous individual

5
It is as unnatural for small children to be quiet for lengthy periods of Clue (unless
asleep) as it is for them to sit still for more than the briefest period. To force them to do
either is to run the risk of stunting emotional, intellectual and physical growth: one of
the many advantages of musical activities in the kindergarten is the special opportunities
created for sound and movement.
 Bo d Musk in Earl Childhood

singing which results can provide a comforting reminder of a previous activity.

Singing can also create a sense of security and belonging in the small
child; singing sessions, whether at home or at school, should contain plenty of
known material with new songs being introduced only gradually. A useful and
appropriate repertory from which songs can be drawn is the rich traditional
heritage of children's songs that are found in every culture. In the West, this
heritage includes the e,fer popular nursery rhymes and traditional lullabies,
which should form a normal part of children's musical diet at home and in the
nursery school. These songs become especially meaningful if they have been
sung at home by parents and children together. There ate plenty of new and
catchy children's songs which have been more recently composed and, while
some of these are certainly valuable, they should never be allowed to replace
the traditional "Mother Goose" songs which have been enjoyed by countless
generations of children. Traditional children's songs are usually memorable and
easy to sing and can therefore be very useful in promoting inter-cultural
exchange in racially diverse groups of children.

Singing is also an activity which may encourage language development.

Because music is generally processed on the right side of the brain and
language on the left, singing, which involves both music and words, stimulates
hemispheric interaction (Thurman, Chase and Langness, 1987 : 26). A small
child will learn words in a song effortlessly and often, apparently, without
reference to meaning. This applies equally to songs in a foreign language and
to those in the mother-tongue; therefore, if parents or teachers wish to take
advantage of the linguistic as well as the musical value of a particular song,
they may need to develop learning strategies over and above singing itself for
the children to fully understand what the song is about. This is particularly
important when using music as a medinm for learning a second language (Ray
Graham, 1987).

Many traditional children's songs which have associated movements

are known as singing games.' These are especially valuable in the kindergarten
for their intrinsic merit in dramatizing the content of a song, and also because
these actions form a useful link with dance. Dance is universally associated
with music and, from their earliest moments of life, children seem to respond
naturally to music with various kinds of movements over which they exercise
a gradually increasing control. At home and in the kindergarten, movement, as
a response to music, should always be encouraged and praised. As motor co-
ordination develops so will the child's sense of beat and rhythm. In stimulating
musical intelligence, therefore, movement has a vitally important role to play
and should never be inhibited if musical intelligence is to develop to its full
potential.

6
Examples of nursery rhymes which are also singing games include traditional 'circle
games' such as The Farmer's in the Dell and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and
others such as London Bridge is Falling Down and Oranges and
Lemons. I he
bibliography contains reference to a nuinber of excellent collections of songs of this
type.
 Bo d: Music in Earl Childhood

All musical performance requires a high degree of motoric intelligence

and of fine muscle control. However this does not mean to say that a child
who is not particularly well co-ordinated lacks the aptitude
to become a fine
musician.' Equally, children thought to be `tone -deaf may have excellent
rhythmic capabilities and the capacity to become good dancers. In early
learning, music and dance should not be kept apart as separate activities, for
even small babies respond to music with vigorous movement and this
continues throughout the early years. Dancing sessions can contribute apattern
deal to music appreciation and are enjoyed equally by children of both great
sexes.
Far too often children have been discouraged from further musical
development by being told that because they can't sing as well as their peers
they must be musically incompetent. This results in tragic and
of self-esteem which, besides affecting many other areas ofunnecessary loss
growth, often
transmits itself forward to the next generation. I have personally met numbers
of mothers, who believing themselves to be "unmusical", become too self-
conscious to sing to their small babies, or to take any part in their children's
musical upbringing. When these children are exposed to modern play groups -
in which musical activities are encouraged as a normal part of "play"
- and
show considerable interest in music, the parents disclaim any responsibility,
believing their children's budding musical abilities to be the work of genes
other than their own. Their children continue to miss out on the precious and
uniquely emotional intimacy which develops between a mother and her child
when shared musical experience is an added factor in their relationship.
5. Is music relevant to other areas of early learning?
By now, more than enough has been said to suggest, firstly, that musical
intelligence consists of a whole spectrum of overlapping abilities which are
intricately inter-related, and, secondly, that where one factor
poorly is
developed, this may well be compensated by the superior development of
others. No child should be denied a musical education because his innate
abilities do not seem to measure up to the requirements defined by "experts".
Indeed, one needs to examine carefully the credentials of musical "experts":
some of the least well qualified people to make judgments about the musical

7 Jill Phillips has pointed 01 It in Give Your Child Music,

a book which contains much
wonderfully encouraging and practical advice aimed at parents, that " some of the
world's greatest musicians seem to find it rather difficult to move their limbs when
not
actually playing their instruments". She points out that her own daughter who
into a fine 'cellist was a particularly clumsy child: as a mother, had she developed
known and
believed the recommendations of the Gulbenkian Report on Training Musicians
that a future 'gifted' musician should possess a naturally occurring kinetic skill(1978)
and
manipulative ability of a high order, this particular child might never have entered
Yehudi Menuhin School. (Phillips, 1979) the
 Boyd: Music in Earl Childhood
11111-`......01104001.1011111.010114 1 ..11.1111.1111,1M.r.--
9

abilities of children, other than in their special area of expertise, might well be
professional musicians themselves.'

Iir considering the role of music in the education of the whole child, i is
worth bearing in mind that it seems likely that musical intelligence overlaps
and intersects with the other five intelligences defined by Gardner (Thurman.
Chase and Langness 1987 : 25). If this is really so, then music, rather than
being pushed to the periphery of early learning, should occupy a central
position because it impinges upon the development of all the other
intelligences: linguistic, bodily-kinaesthetic, logical-mathematical, spatial and
personal. In other words, music affects the development of the whole person.
Consider the following scene. A group of sixteen four-year old children
are sitting on the floor singing the traditional number rhyme, Johnny Works
With Five Hammers. Beginning with "one hammer" they pound on the floor
with their right fists in time with the music; then the left fist, right and left
legs and finally nodding head are all added to this "symphony" of moving
limb,; verse by verse, until finally, "Johnny" falls asleep in exhaustion. The
following intelligences are demonstrably hard at work: the words of the song
re stimulating linguistic awareness; musical intelligence, specifically pitch and
rhythm, are being developed as the children attempt to follow the leader's
voice and gestures, in tune and in time (although at this stage probably failing
to do so with great accuracy); a high degree of motor-coordination is required
of limbs and head as the child exercises each of his limbs independently, so
that bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence is certainly stimulated; the child is learning
to count from one to five, logically and sequentially in a very `concrete'
manner, so logical-mathematical intelligence is involved; the child is certainly
aware that his movements are taking place in a spatial relationship (first left,
then right, from arms down to legs and, then up to head). Finally, each
individual child is responsible for his own participation in this activity; he is
following a leader and attempting to co-ordinate his efforts with the efforts of
others. At last, when the song is completed, everyone pretends to fall into an
exhausted sleep together, a short sleep punctuated by plenty of giggles - for
not only has this experience discharged enormous amounts of physical and
mental energy, it has been fun.
There is a great deal more which can be said about how music
stimulates emotional, intellectual and motor development, of how valuable it is
in early social development, of how music can provide relief from more
stressful activities, especially in early `formal' school life, when the child must
learn to read and write and is under considerable pressure from parents and

8
One of the most serious problems facing music educators is over-specialism which
similarly blights most other areas of human endeavour: burgeoning research activities
have created a whole host of "experts"; there are too many specialists and insufficient
"generalists" capable of developing an overview and distinguishing the wood from the
trees. Research in human musical development must be interdisciplinary to be really
valuable because music intersects with so many other areas - but this constraint in itself
raises a whole host of communication problems which are in urgent need of resolution if
man is to begin to more fully understand his musical nature.
 Bo d: Music in Early Childhood
10

teachers to succeed and keep pace with his peers. The ready identification of
school music with relaxation has led many parents and school teachers to
undervalue music as a fundamentally important branch of human learning. The
"fun" of a music class may provide just the impetus needed to lift the
the next level of achievement in another area of the curriculum. child to

A recent development in British music education is the practice of music

consultancy in the primary school. This development encourages the class
teacher, with the assistance of a consultant (a highly trained music specialist)
to assume responsibility for children's music aiJngside oi`Lher areas of the
curriculum. A very important result of this development is that it opens an
enormous range of possibilities for music to be used in association with other
forms of learning: music need no longer be viewed as something "special" and
"set apart". Class teachers, in their turn, arc given an appreciation of their own
musical intelligence and potential. In such a role the teacher becomes
extension of the parent as "first music teacher". In the meantime, the a natural
music teacher, as "consultant", is freed to spend more time developing specialist
highly
valued extra-curricular musical activities within the school: activities which
more fully utilize his specialist skills and training.
6. What about reading music?
Part of the "mystique" of music derives from its notational system.
Certainly this system, originally used only in association
with Western
traditional art music, offers unique advantages in musical transmission. The
ability to read music notation opens the doors to a vast performance
of traditional and newly-composed works and makes it possiblerepertoryfor an
individual to become his own teacher in exploring this repertory as widely as
his reading skills permit.

The questions of how and when to introduce music notation are

controversial, as has been already indicated. It is certainly possible to produce
arguments in support of laying down the foundations of music reading early,
around the same time as a child is learning other symbols within his culture,
be they Chinese characters, the alphabet and arabic numbers, or both. I have
found four-year olds receptive and capable readers and
rhythm patterns - a task they greatly enjoy, provided the composers of simple
material is presented
properly in as imaginative and game-like a manner as possible. This same
research indicates that children in this age-group can go much further in
learning to read music notation if given appropriate opportunities.'

9 I refer to the as yet unpublished research I have been carrying

out at Panda Playgroup in
Hong Kong where, for the past three years, I have been developing, in weekly sessions
with four-year olds, a music programme aimed, bove
all, at encouraging the
development of positive attitudes to music learning. Present indications are very
encouraging. This programme is exploring a range of techniques aimed at stimulating the
development of audiation in small children and it contains an introduction to reading
music notation. The programme also encourages parental involvement in musical
tasks, but so far with only limited success. honk:-

.)
 Bo d: Musk in Early Childhood
11

The development of the new musical instrument technology, and in

particular of MIDI (which makes it possible to link together musical
instruments and micro-computers), opens even wider vistas in teaching children
frim an early age how to read music notation via interactive computer games.
The appearance of a new generation of relatively cheap synthesizer keyboards
makes music accessible as never before. Appearing with these instruments is a
range of pedagogical material aimed at teaching the beginner how to read the
usually popular songs he is learning to play upon his newly acquired
instrument,

Creative opportunities are also relatively unlimited, and teenagers

especially ha "e not been slow to respond. Unfortunately, the ideas and
methods of music educators, generally speaking, now lag well behind the
emergence of the new technology. Music teachers must catch tip with their
students if the exciting new possibilities of popular music education are to be
fully developed. Although what is currently available is aimed towards older
children (of all ages!), it surely will not be long before the market of the 0 - 6
year-olds is also exploited.

7. What is the role of the instrumental teacher?

An approach to education which centers musical activities as an
important part of the development of the whole person is likely to stimulate
even more interest in learning musical instruments and create an even greater
demand for the services of excellent instrumental teachers. All the new
technology in the world will not quickly overtake the thrill of learning to play
one or more traditional musical instruments as well as possible and, indeed,
instrumental lessons are a natural extension of the enhanced role of musical
activities at school and in the home - though certainly not a substitute for
them. As a chil: whose interest in music has been aroused from the earliest
moments of life matures, he or she will almost certainly want to learn at least
one musical instrument.

A symptom of "readiness" for a particular kind of instrumental

instruction might well be the ability of individull children to choose what
instrument they would like to learn, rather than having that choice made for
them. In such circumstances the average starting age for instrumental
instruction may rise again; however, if the "readiness" concept is strictly
observed, fewer children may drop out.
The gifted child exposed to music at home and at school will have
enhanced opportunities to demonstrate his giftedness; he will race ahead of the
"norm", passing swiftly through the musical development stages, just as did the
infant Mozart. Such children are rare. They possess innate gifts and they have
very special needs. Society as a whole stands to benefit enormously when such
infant prodigies are given the proper facilities in which to develop. It is the
responsibility of the world's finest professional music schools to provide a
"musical home" for children who possess rare genius - a responsibility most
will gladly accept. Howsver, equally such institutions must guard against the
Boyd: Music in Earl% Cnildhood
12

over-extension of exclusive music programmes offered to more normally

talented or gifted children in which a high level of disciplined training
becomes a breeding ground for false hope and personal imbalance. Evidence
offered in the Gulbenkian Report (1978) suggests that the ability of a child to
perform better than his peers by the end of his primary schooling may not
indicate the presence of genuine giftedness; on the other hand, experts agree
that really exceptional musical talent is easy to detect at any age and that it is
extremely rare.

Talented children can too easily become humanity's sacrifice to its over-
developed sense of the importance of the achievement, at any price, of
superlative standards of performance in music, as in many sporting disciplines.
This striving for perfection at as early an age as possible is part of the same
drive which has led mankind to outer space exploration and towards his own
extinction. It is time to scream "Enough!" and to redress the balance from
over-specialization towards the sharing of knowledge and resources of all kinds
much more widely within our communities. Surely, as a group of professionals
concerned with the welfare of little children, we should all strive for an
international community in the 21st century in which every child will be given
opportunities fox enhanced self-realization, and an educational system which
provides for all-round development in as well-rounded and holistic a fashion as
possible. In such a society music has a pivotal role to play.

A.E.B. 4.vii.89

1
J
 Bo d: Music in Earl , Childhood
13

Bil211(2 ILTEla

Bayless, K.M. and Ramsey, M.E. (1986). Music: A Way of Life for the
Young Child. Third Edition. Ohio: Merrill Publishing Company.
Boyd, A.E. (1988). Music in the Kindergarten: An Integrated Approach.
Hong Kong's Young Children: Sharing Our Experiences, Hong Kong: Hong
Kong Council for Early Chi?dhood Education and Services Conference.
Bridges, D. (1987). Developmental Music Experiences with Parents . and
Young Children in a Community Setting. International Music Education (ed.
Jack Dobbs), ISME Yearbook Vol XIV.
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Report (1987). Training Musicians.
London: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Davidson, L. (1985). Preschool Children's Tonal Knowledge Antecedents of
Scale. The Young Child and Music. Virginia: Music Educators National
Conference.
Feierabend, J. (1988). Applications of Edwin Gordon's Music Learning
Theory in Early Childhood Music Education. Early Childhood Development
and Musical Experiences, III. Early Childhood Commission Seminar, ISME:
Brisbane, Australia.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
London: Paladin Books.
Ginsburg, H. and Upper, S. (197Q). Piaget' s Theory of Intellectual
Development. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Hargreaves, D.J. (1986). The Developmental Psychology of Music. Cambridge
University Press.
McMahon, 0. (1987). Harnessing the Investigative Impulse. International
Music Education (ed. Jack Dobbs), ISME Yearbook Vol XIV.
Moog, H. (1968). The Musical Experience of the Pre-school Child. English
Edition (1976). London: Schott.
Niekerk, C. van, (1988). The Musical Education of the Foetus, Early
Childhood Development and Musical Experiences, III. Early Childhood
Commission Seminar, ISME: Brisbane, Australia.
Peery, J.C., Peery, I.W. (1987). The Role of Music in Child Development.
Music and Child Development (ed. Peery, Peery & Draper). New York:
Springer-Verlag.
Phillips, J. (1979). Give Your Child Music. London: Paul Elek.
Ray Graham, C., (1987). Music and the Learning of Language in Early
Childhood. Music and Child Development (ed. Peery, Peery & Draper). New
York: Springer Verlag.
Shor, N. (1989). Very Young Children and Piano Lessons. International
Journal of Music Education (ed. Dobbs and Kemp), Number 13, 1989.
Thurman, L., Chase, M. and Langness, A.P. (1987). Reaching the Young
Child Through Music: Is Pre-natal and Infant Music Education Possible?
International Music Education (ed. Jack Dobbs), ISME Yearbook Vol. XIV
Verily, T. and Kelly, J. (1982). The Secret Life of the Unborn Child. London:
Sphere Books Limited.
Wood, D. (1987). The Parent as Music Educator. International Music
Education (ed. Jack Dobbs), ISME Yearbook Vol. XIV.

1 0
 Earl Childhood
tle2.2.:_iyxic...L......2...n 14

(1988). Early Childhood Development and Musical Experiences. Early

Childhood Development and Musical Experiences, 111. Early Childhood
Commission Seminar, ISME: Brisbane, Australia.
Zemke, Sister L. (1988) Music for the Unborn Child, Early Childhood
Development and Musical Experiences, 111. Early Childhood Commission
Seminar. ISME: Brisbane, Australia.

Some Additional Useful Material

Amery, H. (1988). The Usborne Children's Songbook. London: Usborne
Publishing.
Barratt, C. (1984). The Mother Goose Songbook. London: Heinemann/
Chester Music.
Ben-Tovim, A. (1979) . Children and Music. London: A.& C. Black.
King, K. and Beck, I. (1985) Oranges and Lemons. Oxford University Press.
Hart, J. (1983). Sing a Song of Sixpence. London: Gollancz.
Nelson, E.L. (1977). Singing and Dancing Games for the Very Young. New
York: Sterling Publishing.
Williams, S. and Beck, I. (1983). Round and Round the Garden. Oxford
University Press.
(1986). Ride A Cock Horse. Oxford University Press.

--- The following titles in the Ladybird Books Early Learning Series are
invaluable for English speakers:
A First Book of Nursery Rhymes
A Second Book of Nursery Rhymes
A Third Book of Nursery Rhymes
Finger Rhymes
Number Rhymes
Memory Rhymes
Talking Rhymes
Action Rhymes
Dancing Rhymes
Singing Rhymes
Skipping Rhymes

also

Learning With Mother (Books 1 5)