Music Lesson Blog

Early Childhood Music and Language Development are Very Similar!

  

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There are many parallels between how your child learns to talk and how she or he learns to sing. These processes happen organically. Although it takes several years for a child to move from babbling to saying words to speaking two-word sentences, she passes through all these stages in a seemingly effortless way; she seems to know how to teach herself these skills through imitation and practice.

At first many of her efforts are difficult to understand: "dog" may sound like "daw", for example, and grammatical errors are common. But gradually, by about the age of three or four, your child's speech becomes both intelligible and correct. 

It's important for parents to recognize that musical growth also occurs in stages. Children pass through a "music babble" stage in which their movements and sounds don't necessarily seem truly musical - they are off the beat and not quite in tune. Over time, through observation and imitation, your child gradually aligns her music expression with the on-beat and in-tune models she experiences. 

You, as the parent, instinctively translate your child's language attempts and offer a lot of support. Your child says "Ba," and you may ask, "Do you want a bottle?" You help shape your child's language experience through your interest and invovlement. But you may worry that you won't know how to recognize or suport emerging music behaviors.

It's simple!: the best way to support musical growth is to engage in music activity. Keep encouraging and celebrating your child's efforts, even though it may take a while for his music potential to develop. Remember that a certain amount of physical maturation - and a lot of playful "practice" - is necessary before your child can learn to sing in tune and move with accurate rhythm.

With our brand new Early Childhood Music Program - Music Together®, your child can attend class for three full years before cycling back to repeat his first song collection. Children typically experience two or three song collections per school year, learning from fifty to seventy-five songs in that time. This continued exposure to music-making provides plenty of opportunity for the playful exploration and experimentation that lead to learning. Hopefully you will have the opportunity to participate in our program however, next week, we'll explore the most important things you can do at home to nurture your child's music talent and development.

Find additional information on the philosophy & method of our brand new Early Childhood classes at: www.MusicTogether.com