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Early years musicianship skills from birth to 7 years
Music in the Early Years
Introduction
The
Early Years stage refers to work related to children ranging from
birth to five years based on the Early Years Foundation Stage
(EYFS). This curriculum
focuses on the uniqueness of each child as a competent learner, able
to build positive relationships through enabling environments to
promote learning and development, and focuses on six areas of
learning: Communication, Language and Literacy; Knowledge and
Understanding of the World; Physical Development; Personal, Social
and Emotional Development; Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy;
and Creative Development.
Music is included within Creative Development, and the EYFS gives
guidance on general goals to be achieved.
Music specialists are able to use their knowledge of the
elements of music to enhance the early years child’s experience
within developmentally-appropriate activities.
While this can act as an introduction to later formal
tuition, it also enhances the child’s developmental learning
experience cognitively, emotionally, socially and physically.
Elements of music include rhythm, pitch, structure, texture,
consonance and dynamics, which are all accessible in early years
environments. Although
there is much recent writing as a result of the developments in
technology over the last twenty-five years, there are currently four
main approaches or theories of music instruction for children:
Zoltan Kodály, with a focus on singing;
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, with a
focus on movement; Carl Orff, with a focus on percussion; and Edward
E. Gordon, with a focus on audiation (mentally hearing and
comprehending music).
Although each approach has a primary focus, there is a great deal of
overlap between approaches, which is a useful resource to the early
years music provider.
Although music is specifically included within the single area of
learning of Creative Development, it has been found to enable the
remaining areas of learning through its inherent inclusivity, which
implies that the challenge to the early years music educator is to
create opportunities for success.
This discussion therefore centres on current research and
observations within the last six months of the early development of
pulse, rhythm and pitch within early years settings, as key early
years musical elements of development.
Pulse
The
beginning of music is keeping a pulse or regular beat, and this is
the first musical skill to be encouraged from birth.
Susan Denham (Physorg.com, 2009) led the EmCap group which
discovered that babies are born with rhythm, a skill that can be
lost if neglected.
Babies seem to express their own internal pulse as an interpretation
of the external pulse that they are experiencing, whether through
sound or physical manipulation (tapping, bouncing), so do not
strictly mirror the external experience.
The home environment plays a big part in
developing the ability to mirror external beat and this is clearly
seen in baby nursery music sessions, where for example,
eight-month-old Baby D* vigorously bounces himself to his own pulse
at the first sound of the guitar strum each week, or
fourteen-month-old Baby A, who grips the egg shakers tightly as he
shakes his hands to his own timing; the only time of day this shy
baby smiles away from mum.
As children grow, they develop more control so that in taking
turns passing a drum, Toddler J, a two-year-old, beats the drum
purely to repeat the sound for the sheer enjoyment of the activity.
Three-year-old Toddler L was more aware that she was
responding to a fixed pattern, tapping the drum slightly faster than
the rhyme, while Preschooler J confidently tapped out the pulse
precisely to the beat of the rhyme (see Appendix (a)).
Possible explanations for the faster tapping include the
Aschersleben and
Prinz (1995) study which found that ‘when tapping a steady beat,
there is a tendency to tap 20–50 milliseconds early’ (Reifinger
Jr, JL 2006
p 17).
Reifinger Jr, JL (2006)
cites studies by Rainbow (1981) which assessed three- and four-
year-old children’s abilities to keep a pulse.
Half of all three- year-olds were able to vocally echo pulse
while 10% were able to clap or tap successfully however marching was
found to be most difficult.
A greater proportion of four-year-olds were able to
successfully vocalise, clap or tap a beat, while marching still
proved to be most difficult.
Singing an adaptation of Snail, Snail (‘Bee, Bee’, see
Appendix (b)), after three weeks, all groups were confidently able
to sing together in tune, with one of the quietest children,
two-year-old Toddler M spontaneously singing on arrival in perfect
time (and pitch).
Progressing this to tapping knees proved more of a challenge, while
walking to the beat seemed impossible for two- year-olds,
few-three-year-olds and even Preschooler J was aware that he wasn’t
walking at the required pace, despite chanting the words following
the pulse.
Having a clear
knowledge of developmental expectations provides early years music
leaders with the valuable resource of reassurance to carers and key
workers that this is an opportunity for children to explore and
develop their sense of beat in different ways, and provides more
opportunities for each child to experience success.
Rhythm
In a study on skill
development, Reifinger Jr, JL (2006) cites various studies detailing
the ability of foetus’ ability to respond to sound from week
twenty-four (Birnholz & Benacerraf, 1983) and the subsequent ability
of seven month old infants to discriminate between tempo, rhythm
with simple three- and four-note songs (Trehub & Thorpe, 1989).
This is observable with babies spontaneously swaying to the
beat. Baby D refused
cuddling with his key worker to sit independently and sway to the
rocking song. Although
his rhythm did not match the song, his gentle sways became vigorous
bounces during the egg-shaking song, indicating his awareness of the
change in tempo.
The
study by Bernadi et al (2009) shows conclusively that music
structure affects autonomic processes including breathing and heart
rate, regardless of musical expertise or taste and ‘induces similar
physiological effects in different subjects’ (p 3180), which is a
clear reason to include music where co-operation is required.
This
is clearly observed in many ways: the welcome song is held at the
start of session, where children arrive, having previously
participated in activities of varying involvement.
By singing together, the group is able to focus and work
together with the music leader, even leading to spontaneous displays
of affection from children; singing instructions acts as a reminder
to respond appropriately, in the same frame of mind as the music
leader; moving to a single beat (e.g. drum) can lead to distraction
while moving to music, whether live or recorded, has the ability to
unite the group within the required activity.
Reifinger Jr, JL (2006)
cites
experiments with Gérard and Drake (1990)
which found that including accents made keeping a rhythm more
difficult for young children to imitate until they reached six or
seven years, however, young children were better able to
discriminate patterns with accents from the age of five.
Regular rhythms which emphasize the pulse are ideal as young
children need a frame of reference with which to work, such as
beginning with two crochet beats, progressing to four crochet beats
and then to eight quaver beats.
The temptation is to emphasise the first or strong beat by
clapping louder, however bringing in dynamics is a separate activity
for children under five years, where ‘loud’ and soft’ are regularly
confused with ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ (see the discussion on dynamics
below).
The
introduction of quavers and dotted rhythms should be paired with
physical experience of jogging and skipping once the regular rhythm
of walking is well established, as gross-motor movement promotes the
concept of the flow of music as opposed to solitary incidents.
There can be unforeseen obstacles with this, as Preschooler S
refused to skip, saying that skipping was ‘for girls’, despite the
temptation to join the others in the actions to ‘Skip to my Lou’.
Dalby (1997) explains EE Gordon’s Music Learning Theory, which
teaches that learning rhythm is hierarchical (p 15) and should be
understood primarily by what is heard within oneself (Gordon’s
theory on ‘audiation’), as opposed to deciphering notation.
Beginning with macrobeats (stepping), one slowly progresses to
microbeats (jogging), then matching words to rhythm, all in duple
metre, before introducing these concepts in triple metre and finally
in unusual metres.
This
progression is useful in understanding suitable material to present
in the early years setting as it must be selected according to
purpose. When the aim of
the session is imitative response, whether physical or vocal,
physical constraints must be acknowledged, including oral
development/ vocal chords, stature and muscular development (arms
and legs, hands and feet), to ensure that children have the capacity
to successfully replicate what is taught.
Thus various versions of macrobeats in duple metre are
recommended for babies and toddlers, extending to microbeats in
preschool and reception, and once confidant, introducing macrobeats
in triple meter in year one.
Taking the previous example of walking to the beat of ‘Bee, Bee’,
children struggled to understand the concept of walking slowly in
isolation - without the contrast of walking quickly.
Introducing the minim-value of ‘Worm, Worm’ taking 2 beats,
or the semibreve-value of ‘Snail, Snail’ taking 4 beats seemed
pointless to them, even though they had experienced the slow
sensation of a scarf wriggling up and down in a worm chant (see
Appendix (c)) compared to tapping sticks for ‘Bee, Bee’ crochets.
The concept of different notation length was taken further by
using the childrens’ suggestion of imitating worms slowly wriggling
on the floor, as three-year-olds Toddler J and Toddler M
spontaneously threw themselves on the floor in response to the
words. However, the slow
stepping was only achieved through contrasting with quicker jogging,
as Preschooler L’s frustration led to a spontaneous jog.
Rhythms were only successfully extended from crochets (bees) to
quavers (spiders), and the clear rhythmic progression was: vocal,
clapping, tapping, object exploration, and finally walking.
Melody/Pitch
The
study by Susan Denham (Physorg.com, 2009) mentions that babies are
born with the ability to recognise pitch, which is lost if
neglected. Countless
studies have accounted for the effect that music has on babies, the
calming effect that mothers, carers and nursery workers recognise
and effectively use to promote sleep.
Babies are particularly aware of higher registers, as shown
by
a study on
skill development, where Reifinger Jr, JL (2006) cites a study
detailing newborns’ hearing threshold being 15-30 decibels higher
than adults (Olsho, Koch, Carter, Halpin, & Spetner, 1988), dropping
to half that by 6 months.
This was clearly observed through the disparate reactions to
a song which most adults and carers found aggravating, but
conversely captivated their young babies each week that it was
played, for the same reason: the piercing pitch of the female a
capella singer.
A
pre- and post-natal study
by Tafuri and Villa (2002) cited by
Reifinger
Jr, JL (2006) found that babies with mother’s who had participated
in music lessons prior to baby’s birth, produced a range of
ascending and descending glissandos, distinguishable intervals and
rhythms of different durations, compared to a control group which
produced nothing from 7 participant babies, brief sounds from 1 and
few vocalisations by 2.
During a quiet moment of gentle baby massage, this was clearly seen
when seven-month-old Baby A spontaneously droned in delight at top
volume, continuing this in every song throughout the rest of the
session and to the end of the course.
In a
study by Morton and Trehub (2007), children of between five and ten
years were biased towards lyrics of a song in determining emotion,
yet correctly identified the emotion when the song had meaningless
syllables, instead basing their interpretation on pitch, tempo and
tone. In a further study
by Ilari, B and Sundara, M (2009), infants between five-eleven
months were found to prefer unaccompanied, a capella music to
instrumentally backed music.
In practise, the group dynamic changes drastically when only
voice is used, as it encourages children to participate in the
singing using their own voice.
This can be used as a deliberate activity in encouraging
babies to vocalise and involving toddlers and preschoolers, and was
made very clear when Preschooler E. asked to hear the song with
‘only voices’.
A
study on absolute pitch (Chin, CS, 2003) references another study by
White et al (1990), where three-and-a-half- to
four-and-a-half-year-old children were unable to understand pitch
direction, presumably not having the ability to compare, whereas
this was developed by five- to six-year-old children.
Observing the nursery staff asking the children to sing ‘up’
resulted in shouting out the song, or children lifting their heads
still on the same tone, requiring constant reminding of higher
pitches as ‘up’ and lower pitches as ‘down’.
The same study referenced a 1973 study by Sergeant and Roche
who found that five- to six-year-old children sang songs in the same
key as they were taught, unable to transpose until developing more
musical understanding.
Toddler M, who spontaneously sang ‘Bee Bee’ on arrival, sang it at
the same pitch that we had been singing the previous three weeks,
and at another occasion, even raising the pitch to an easier key by
transposing up on the guitar could not prevent a group of nursery
children from singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer in the same key
as their nursery workers had used during practises.
A
study by Liao, M (2008), showed that gesture vastly improved pitch
with children aged five- to six-years, with girls performing better
with or without gesture.
In practise, when using hand gestures to show increases in volume or
pitch, two-year old toddlers were unable to respond as well as
three-to-four-year-olds, indicated by Preschooler J having memorised
the gestures and performing them each week, ensuring more accurate
singing.
Conclusion:
Activities related to
pulse, rhythm, melody/pitch, texture and dynamics match the EYFS
Creative requirements in being a sensory experience, body movement
and moving in response to sounds for eight- to twenty-month old
babies; repeating
actions, responding to music through apparatus/body movement for
sixteen- to twenty-six-month-old toddlers; using inventive ways (to
play percussion), responding to music and make believe (bee concept)
for twenty-two- to thirty-six-month-old tweenies, and exploring
(instruments) , spontaneous and imitative movement (walk/fly like a
bee), exploring sound and representing experience (regular pulse
represented by walking steps) for preschoolers.
In addition, music-based activities promote social skills
including sharing, co-operation, team-work; emotional skills
including empathy, respect, delayed-gratification; cognitive skills
including problem-solving, planning, literacy and numeracy; and
physical skills including inhibitory control, gross and fine motor
co-ordination and balance within the vestibular system.
By starting from basic musical concepts, ensuring that they
are well-cemented by using multiple methods of presentation and
allowing children to explore concepts using suitable materials,
early years music educators have the remarkable ability to deliver
these skills.
*
Childrens’ names have been abbreviated to protect their identity in
compliance with nurseries’ data protection policies.
Please contact me for my list of references, should you be interested: frances@musicaliti.co.uk.