*Music Through the Ages

written By Carly Seifert

When my mom signed me up for piano lessons at age five, it wasn’t because she thought I was going to be the next Mozart. And when I sign up my daughter for piano lessons in a couple of years, it won’t be because I am harboring a secret desire to create a world-famous musician.

It’s because we know something that you probably know, too: music education benefits every area of your child’s life. By creating a musical environment for your child from the moment he is born, you are helping to develop his brain and improving his listening skills, attention span, concentration and memory capabilities. You can create these life changing results in simple and fun ways throughout your child’s early years, well before he even sits down at the piano bench for his first lesson.

Birth to 2 years:

During this time the neurons in the part of the child’s brain that processes sound are highly plastic and adaptive. Infants as young as six months demonstrate musical awareness and by a year, you’ll likely notice your child responding to rhythm by clapping, tapping, or nodding his head.

Practical Ideas: introduce simple instruments such as drums, xylophones, bells, shakers and tambourines. Snuggle and sing to your child often and throughout the day, and have a variety of music playing in the background when you are engaged in other activities. Attend programs such as Books and Babies at the library that engage even the youngest children with music, finger plays and nursery rhymes.

Suggested Listening: music by Gilbert and Sullivan, Beethoven and Mozart piano sonatas (infants prefer upbeat, major-key music) and nursery rhymes. However, simple songs and lullabies sung by mom—baby’s favorite singer—are your best choice.

Age 2-4:

At this age, children become very participatory in music. They are capable of learning a variety of songs, singing in pitch and imitating rhythms. Continued exposure to music at this young age helps forge more connections between the neurons in his brain—pathways that will help him in just about every subject in school one day. While listening to music helps make these connections, the biggest impact comes when children are active participants in the musical process.

Practical Ideas: begin exposing your child to a wider variety of music by age two. Children at this age especially like folk songs, show tunes and traditional music. Encourage rhythm development by marching, swinging, dancing and bouncing to a musical beat. If you haven’t already, consider signing up for a play-oriented music class that allows parent participation such as Music Together or Musikgarten.

Suggested Listening: Catch the Moon by Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell (folksy collection of songs that parents won’t tire of); soundtracks to musicals such as Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, or Wizard of Oz; The Singable Songs Collection by Raffi.

Age 4-10:

Around the age of five is the ideal time to start your child in formal music lessons. While it’s never too late to sign up for lessons-and certainly every child is unique and will be ready at different times-the latest research shows that the sooner, the better. The fibers that connect the left and right brain hemispheres are up to 15 percent larger in musicians than non-musicians, but only in adults who started playing a musical instrument before age eight. Interestingly enough, all current world-class pianists began formal lessons before age ten.

Practical Ideas: piano, violin and recorder are all suitable instruments for a young child—consider enrolling in music lessons between ages four and six if your child is ready. Introduce your child to a variety of musical genres: hip-hop, pop, jazz, classical, romantic and pop. Instill a lifelong appreciation of music in your child by attending musical theatre productions, symphonies, concerts and the ballet as a family.

Suggested listening: soundtracks to Disney movies (the High School Musical series includes age-appropriate pop and hip-hop arrangements); Songs I Heard by Harry Connick Jr.; The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky; Children’s Corner by Debussy.

Carly Seifert helps develop the brains of children and adults through noninvasive procedures. Visit www.misscarly.musicteachershelper.com for more information on her private and group piano lessons.