The Importance of Music in Early Childhood
by Lili M. Levinowitz, Ph.D.
Lili M. Levinowitz is a professor of music education at
Rowan University of New Jersey, Glassboro.
Printed with permission from:
General Music Today, published by Music Educators National Conference, Fall 1998.
The media's
popularization of findings from studies indicating a causal link between
music training and spatial reasoning in young children (Rauscher et al. 1993, 1997) has
caught the attention of many and spurred interest in the inclusion of music in early
childhood education. Curriculum models that substantiate this point of view
are credible; however, music educators need to remind decision makers about other valid
reasons for teaching music in the early childhood curriculum. The purpose of this article
is to survey some of the work in music education that validates the inclusion of music for
its own sake in models for early childhood learning.
Music is a way of knowing. According to Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner (1983),
music intelligence is equal in importance to logical - mathematical intelligence, linguistic
intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily - kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal
intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence. According to Thomas Armstrong (1994,5),
"Intelligence is galvanized by participation in some kind of culturally valued activity and
that the individual's growth in such an activity follows a developmental pattern; each
activity has its own time arising in early childhood."
Making music is as much a basic life skill as walking or talking. Peery and Peery (1987)
suggest that it is desirable for children to be exposed to, trained in, And enculturated with
music for its own sake. That is, it is a birthright for all people to be able to sing in tune
and march to a beat (Levinowitz and Guilmartin, 1989, 1992, 1996). To ensure a
comprehensive learning experience, music must be included in early childhood.
Practically speaking, the argument that music education is a frill finds no objective
support.
The importance of music instruction for music development during the early years of
childhood has been widely investigated since World War II. The Pillsbury studies (1937 1958) (Moorhead and Pond, 1977) provided the first glimpse into preschool children's
musical lives and informed us about the nature of their spontaneous music behavior.
Characteristic music performances of young children provide a window through which
music psychologists and educators can understand the sequence of the child's developing
music skills.
Early Childhood Development
Generally, we have learned that children from birth to approximately age six do not
express music like adults. Early childhood, a period of rapid change and development, is
the most critical period in a child's musical growth and has been identified in the
literature as the "music babble" stage (Moog, 1976; Gordon, 1988) or primary music
development (Levinowitz and Guilmartin, 1989, 1992, 1996). Even the youngest infant is
wired to receive music and discriminate among differences in frequency, melody, and
stimuli (Bridger, 1961; Trehum et al, 1990; Standley and Madsen, 1990; Zentner and
Kagan, 1996).
The years from birth through age six are critical for learning how to unscramble the aural
images of music and to develop mental representations for organizing the music of the
culture (Holahan, 1987; Davidson, 1985). This process is similar to that which unfolds
for language during the "language babble" stage. The body of knowledge acquired
through research thus far supports the notion that, like language development, young
children develop musically through a predictable sequence to basic music competence,
which includes singing in tune and marching to a beat (Levinowitz and Guilmartin, 1989,
1992, 1996). Consider this analogy; in cable television, visual images are readily
available for any channel; however, to see them you need a cable box to unscramble the
images. During primary music development, children create a "box" or mental
representation to unscramble the aural images of music. This multifaceted, complex
mental representation is known is "audiation". Audiation is paramount in importance
because it is basic to all types of musical thinking. Without audiation, no musical growth
can take place.
Early childhood is also the time when children learn about their world primarily through
the magical process of play. The substance of play in very young children is usually
comprised of the environmental objects and experiences to which they have been
exposed. If the music environment is sufficiently rich, there will be a continuous and ever
richer spiral of exposure to new musical elements followed by the child's playful
experimentation with these elements.
Edwin Gordon has identified early childhood as the period of developmental music
aptitude (1988). During these years, music potential or aptitude, which is based on the
complex construct of audiation, is in a state of change. Because of this state of change,
the child's musical aptitude is vulnerable to positive or negative influences through both
instruction and environment. Without sufficient stimulation and exposure, a child has
little with which to experiment and learn through his or her musical play. The most
typical negative influence on developmental music aptitude is simply neglect. Hence, the
inborn potential for musical growth may actually atrophy.
Just as all children are born with the potential to learn to speak and understand their
native language, all children are born with the potential to learn to perform and
understand their culture's music. When a child has developed a mental representation of
his or her culture's music, the inner reality (audiation) should enable the outer
performance to be more accurate. By first grade, many children develop the ability to
perform the music of their culture with accuracy. However, many children do not.
Understanding and Performance
The research conducted by Geringer (1983) and Apfelsradt 1984) suggests that
understanding the culture's music and the ability to perform accurately are not necessarily
related. Being able to perform music accurately may be attributed to two factors. The first
is audiation, which involves acquisition of sound and the processing of it. The other is the
performer's technical acquaintance with his or her singing and movement "instruments,"
which are largely kinesthetic (Weikart, 1987; Bertaux, 1989). Therefore, in addition to
developing the mental representation or audiation of music, the early childhood years are
also critical for developing the ability to engage in music through singing and moving.
Our profession has frequently studied vocal development. From that work, we have come
to understand that using the singing voice is a learned, complex skill (Phillips, 1992). To
be developed properly, it must begin in the early childhood years. If singing is not
properly developed, the ability to perform music vocally will not coincide with the ability
to think tonally. The vocal range is remarkably wide from birth. Infants can imitate and
experiment with their vocal instruments: and even match pitch as early as three to four
months of age. Purposeful singing can begin at around twelve months. At this time,
adults can recognize snippets of songs to which youngsters have been exposed. Through
continued exposure to spoken chant, songs, and vocal play, young children can develop
the use of their singing voices during the remaining early childhood years.
If the environment has supported vocal development, most children will enter
kindergarten with some use of their singing voices. Unfortunately, a recent study
(Levinowitz et al. 1998) shows a decrease in students' skill in using their singing voices
over the past two decades. In fact, less than half of kindergarten-age children were able to
differentiate between their singing and speaking voices when performing a familiar song.
It seems that this may be the result of missing the key time to develop the singing voice
during early childhood through playful activities and thoughtful adult guidance.
Both contemporary research and the traditions of many cultures have demonstrated a
profound connection between rhythm and movement. The study of rhythm can be
thought of as the study of all aspects of flow of music through time. We experience
rhythm as the flow of our movement through space. From the developmental perspective,
children must experience rhythm in their bodies before they can successfully audiate
rhythm in their minds. The early childhood years are crucial for using the body to
respond as a musical instrument in many ways to many different kinds of music. Real
musical instruments, like tools, can then become simply extensions or amplifications of
the body's ability to be musically expressive.
Phyliss Weikart, a pioneer in movement pedagogy, has noted that many school-age
children cannot walk to the beat of music, perform simple motor patterns, or label how
their bodies have moved (1987). She suggests that children can gain this experience in
naturally occurring situations during infancy and early childhood, especially if adults
recognize the importance of early gross motor development and of language interaction
about rhythm and movement with young children. Furthermore, other motor theorists'
research supports the importance of movement in early childhood. They have found that
most fundamental motor patterns emerge before the age of five and are merely stabilized
beyond that age (Gilbert, 1979).
Adult Involvement
Parents, care givers, and teachers can do a great deal to provide the necessary stimulation
through music experiences to nurture the young child's music abilities. In fact, the
importance of environmental factors in music development is supported by the case
studies undertaken by Kelley and Surron-Smich (1987). They studied three first-born
females from their births to two years later who were reared in families with three
contrasting musical backgrounds. One set of parents was professional musicians, another
set was musically oriented but nor practicing professional musicians, and the third set
was not musically oriented - and hence made fewer musical choices in their child-rearing
practices. The differences between the family that was not musically oriented and the
other two families were startling in that the two children who experienced richer musical
environments were considerably more developed in their music behaviors.
Teachers and researchers have gleaned information from their professional experience
suggesting that early childhood development in general and successful educational
programs in particular can be attributed to the partnership between the young child and
his or her significant others. Similarly, it seems that this philosophy could be applied
practically to early childhood music education. Forming collaborations among the adults
who care for our nation's youngest children and understanding the learning processes
specific to early child-hood will foster music abilities and contribute significantly to the
overall growth and development of the child.
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