They’ve Got Rhythm!

written By Kate Bryan

It will be months before your new baby talks, walks or even sits up. But at just a few weeks or months old, babies have a strong ability to respond to rhythm and experience the joy of moving to a rhythmic beat. Before babies can process the words or the melody of a song, they can begin to distinguish and move in response to musical rhythms. In the womb, a baby’s first exposure to rhythm is their mother’s regular, soothing and always-present heartbeat. So, before they are able to watch you, they are already listening to you, prenatally, and connecting with the natural drum beat of your heart.

The research on babies and music is clear that the rhythmic connection that babies make to music comes naturally but can also be nurtured as a foundational element of a child’s musical development. Studies have even shown that playing music of varying rhythmic composition – whether it is Mozart, Folk or Rock -- can slow down or speed up the physical heartbeat of a baby relative to the beat of the music. In fact, studies on babies’ heart rates indicate that babies may also prefer some types of music to others as early as seven months in the womb. And, it’s also been shown that newborn babies will respond with recognition and rhythmic body movement to music that they’ve heard from the “outside world” while they were inside the womb.

Initially the “beat” of music, rather than other features of the music (e.g., melody, words) garners the most active rhythmic response in infants. And, most researchers agree that a sense of rhythm can most definitely be developed through active parental engagement with the baby.

So, why is rhythm and moving to the beat so important? Well, of course, we’d all like to think that our babies would grow up with an ability to “move to the beat” or “dance in time.” But, there are other developmental benefits of rhythmic development that relate to the baby’s developing recognition of patterns and spatial reasoning. This is because rhythm is a pattern of pulses, typically associated with music, that are arranged in a series of strong and weak accents. The more babies hear and are exposed to a particular rhythm or beat, the more familiar that pattern becomes and the more they start to recognize, process and respond to differences in various patterns (or rhythms).

With babies, recognizing patterns is crucial to learning. Numerous studies indicate that babies and toddlers that develop a strong ability to recognize musical patterns are actually exercising the left and right sides of their brain. The resulting “wiring” of their brain connections enhances a child’s problem solving skills, allowing them to visualize patterns, understand how multi-dimensional stimuli relate to one another and develop solutions pertinent to the identified patterns. This is why research has shown that children with early exposure to music, rhythm and movement or musical instruction often excel in math or science, as well.

So here are some easy ways to develop your baby’s rhythm. Turn up the tunes with your favorite songs. Choose ones with definitive, regular and prominent beat. Bounce your baby to the beat in a regular recurring pattern. Then add in a fun move (twirl or an emphasized tap) that stimulates your baby’s connection to the music’s rhythmic pattern. Tap the tummy.  Clap their hands to the rhythm. As they get a little older, get two pair of egg shakers or rhythm sticks and practice tapping to the beat as you move to the music. When you’re changing their diapers, talk to them in a definitive rhythmic pattern. When you’re walking with them, sing a song and walk to the beat so your baby can feel the regular pattern associated with your gait.

So come on, boogie with your baby. It will be fun and the benefits for their rhythmic and cognitive development are many.

Kate Bryan teaches Music Together, fun, musically immersive family-oriented music classes for kids (infants to age six). She can be reached via www.MusicTogetherBozeman.com.