Studio3Music Blog

Archive for the ‘Music and the brain’ Category

Sep
25

Big Fish, Little Fish

Posted in Child Development, Music and the brain, Our Time

You’ll very often hear your teacher talk about vocal development in class, and you might wonder what exactly we are referring to…. Are we talking about your child’s ability to sing or speak, or to acquire language?

Are we talking about the minute machinations we all do with our lips, teeth, tongue, and our hard and soft palettes to form phonemes?

Or do we mean the inflections in spoken language that tell a listener we are asking a question or telling a joke?

YES! Vocal development is all of these things.

I have dozens of activities I love to do in class to nurture vocal development, but I’m going to limit myself to just one today.

It’s the little ditty Above the Sea, aka “the song with the bathtub fish”. I love those fish because they open the door to world of vocal development for your child in a tangible and engaging way?

What makes this song and fish so special?

It’s a story song. Songs that tell stories engage children in a deeper way by growing and developing and changing. They have characters to connect with, so the child’s emotions are brought into play. This gives us a song the child is more interested in participating with.

Above the Sea has a conversation, and the song’s melodic pattern also mimics that conversation. When we ask a question, our pitch will naturally slide up at the end of the sentence. When Little Fish asks “What’s above the sea?”, the pitch moves up as well. So, when we sing this story we are helping our child to understand how people use language to communicate with each other.

Above the Sea also develops your child’s ability to produce spoken words. Singing is often easier for a child than speaking, because singing is slower and more deliberate. Syllables are broken down and clearly pronounced when you sing; consonants are enunciated and vowels are drawn out.

What will often times pass by in a blur in spoken word will be clearly heard and understood when sung. Now they can use those words in other parts of their life, and they can sing along with the song, too.

Each of the sung patterns has visual components to accompany them. The fish face each other when they talk, and I always wiggle the fish who is talking at that moment. When they go up to the top of the sea, we all swim our fish up and sing up a scale at the same time -nice little auditory/visual connection there!

When the fish come back down, our voices descend the scale, too. The kids can clearly see/hear/feel the patterns in the song. The more senses we include in the learning process the deeper the learning is!

My favorite part is the verse in the middle whose words we can change. Does your child love sharks? See the shark- hear him bark, his teeth are so scary!

Dinosaurs? See the dinosaur – and hear her roar, I think her name’s Marie!

What about Lightening McQueen? See Lightening McQueen – hear his engine scream, He’ll win the Grand Prix!

Come to class and sing me your verses. I’d love to hear them!

So go ahead – sing a fishy song with your child today to encourage their vocal development. By all means, play with your words! They are the best and cheapest toys our children will ever have. And, unlike plastic sharks and dinosaurs and Lightening McQueen cars, they will last the longest.

-posted by Miss Allison, who adores words, spoken, sung and written.

Tags: brain, kindermusik, language development, listening, Miss Allison, music, preschoolers, singing

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Sep
17

Hickory, Dickory, Dock. How fast is your internal clock?

Posted in Child Development, Imagine That, Music and the brain, Our Time, Things to do, Village, Young Child

What is steady beat? Though we associate it most closely with music, steady beat is really just an action repeated at about the same pace each time. Steady beat is required in everything from clapping along to a piece of music, talking smoothly, walking steadily, kicking, reading, cutting with scissors or even typing.

There are two kinds of steady beat. The first is internal, which is unique to every person. You are born with your own inner tempo. Think about yourself – how fast does your “clock” tick? Do you walk fast, talk fast, expect quick results? Get frustrated when everything or everyone else can’t keep up? Your internal tempo is probably allegro!

My 9 year old son’s internal beat is much slower than mine. He needs to process and “cook” information. As a Suzuki violin momma, I have to participate in his practice. After 2 years, he finally said, “You’re going too fast. You’re confusing me. It’s too much information at once.” If only I had recognized that before. If I continue to coach him at my pace, I’m going to frustrate him, and he’ll probably end up hating violin. Practice is now relatively easy on both of us.

Faster internal steady beats don’t equal brighter children; my easy-going middle child is just as smart as my speedy 12 year old. They just both like the information presented to them at a tempo that matches what is going on inside. If I keep that in mind, I’ll be a better parent.

We cannot change an internal working tempo. It’s yours for life. We can, however, teach children to be flexible to match an external steady beat with the activity they are doing. Why do we do this? You don’t want to cut out a delicate paper snowflake at 90 miles an hour! Nor do you want a slow tempo child to read at a snail’s pace.

Babies come ready made with their own internal steady beat. Sometimes in class, a song will play that is pretty close to their own tempo. Then that baby will tap his drum right in time to the music, and all the grownups in class will ooohh and aaahh at this little musical genius!

It isn’t usually until they reach age 3 or so that they begin to be able to match an external source of steady beat, such as playing instruments to a song, or marching. And we don’t really expect consistent beat matching to occur until between Kindergarten and 2^nd grade.

But because the ability to match a steady beat is so vital to success in many other skills, we do start steady beat practice from the very earliest Kindermusik class – Village. You can practice at home, too. Here are some fun ideas to try:

For babies and toddlers: To help these little ones to feel an external steady beat, use their bodies. Put your child on your lap and steadily chant a nursery rhyme, or sing a simple song. Bounce your child up and down, keeping the tempo consistent.

For preschoolers: Hold hands, a rope, a stretchy band or a large scarf between you. Sing a song your child knows (so she doesn’t have to think about the words) and sway or rock back and forth together. You can change the tempo every couple of repeats.

For young schoolchildren: Put on one of your Kindermusik Young Child CD’s or their current musical favorite. Music that changes tempo is especially good, so try some classical music. Give your child a big sheet of paper and some markers or crayons. Have your child draw (lines, dots, circles, squiggles, etc.) to the tempo of the music. Ask questions like: “What does this slow music look like?”

There are lots of fun ways to practice matching an external steady beat. I’m sure you’ll get creative!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is determined to workout her internal speedy steady beat muscles by learning to slow down and rest. Actually rest. Stop doing things. Stop thinking. Breathe deep.

Tags: kindermusik, language development, learning, Miss Analiisa, music, physical development, reading, Things to do

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Aug
13

Need to get organized? Go Baroque!

Posted in Music and the brain

If you regularly read my blog posts, it should be drilled into your head that the brain’s job from birth to 7 is to organize itself. And that music is the only activity that simultaneously stimulates every area of the brain, thus helping the brain to organize all the sensory information it’s taking in.

But you’re not 7 anymore, are you? And the kind of organizing you need may involve integrating your family’s weekly schedule, or sales numbers in your job, or keeping track of which IP address belongs to which server.

Music is full of structure and patterns and logic, which is exactly what your brain needs to help organize all that information into the proper neurological folders and files. Want proof? Just ask Albert Einstein. His mother was told by his school that he was stupid, and that she should withdraw him. Instead, his mother bought him a violin, and we know him as one of the smartest men in history.

To what does Einstein credit that? Yup. The violin. (His momma should get some of that credit, too.) He said that he worked out problems that he was stuck on by playing his violin. He loved the music of Mozart and Bach the most.

What is the connection between Classical and Baroque music and being organized? I can tell you! I took 5 years of music history, and 5 years of music theory in college 20 years ago, and I apparently haven’t forgotten everything. The music from those time periods is all about math. There are all sorts of rules and patterns and sequences you have to follow when writing in those musical styles. (And can’t be broken if you ever want an “A” in the 18^th Century Tonal Counterpoint class taught by Dr. Rutschmann.) Classical and Baroque music in it’s composition is very structured and organized.

One of the rules is that you don’t repeat a theme over and over again. Instead, you have a theme, and then variations on that theme. Dr. Michael Ballam of Utah State University says, “The human mind shuts down after three or four repetitions of a rhythm, or a melody, or a harmonic progression.”

Take the story of King George I of England, who ruled much of the world. He had a lot on his mind! He struggled with remembering things, stress, sleeping troubles, depression, and in general making mistakes due to all that. He read the story of King Saul from the bible (who seemed to George very much like himself.) George discovered that the shepherd boy David (of David and Goliath fame), could calm King Saul (translate – “organize his brain so he could think clearly”) with music.

George wondered if music could do the same thing for him. He sent for George Frederick Handel and asked. Thus, Handel’s Water Music was composed.

Now, no promises that your house will magically declutter itself if you put some Bach or Haydn on. But if you need to start thinking clearly, give it a try. You might actually discover a piece that you like. Your brain will pick the one it needs!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who now knows why she always is drawn to play Mozart’s Symphony no. 41 in C major in the background when she’s working on a major project and it’s not going very well.

Tags: brain, listening, Miss Analiisa, music

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Jul
21

The Arts Develop Smarts!

Posted in Child Development, Education, Music and the brain

Over the next several days, take some time to observe your children (or someone else’s) at play. Notice how many times singing, dancing, coloring, creating, music making, drawing, sculpting (think play dough) occurs. All of these activities are natural forms of art.

I love how Wikipedia defines art: “Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions and intellect.”

That definition totally fits with what we know about brain development from birth to 7. During this period, the brain’s entire job is to organize information (deliberately arrange items) it receives from all the senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, vestibular, proprioceptive), and then learn what to do with that info.

Every time a child has a sensory experience and the brain processes (organizes) the input, neural networks are formed. Your child chooses to engage in the arts during play because he or she instinctively knows the arts are the best way to develop the brain.

As a side note, these networks are largely completed by the age of 5, and after the age of 8, neural pathways that aren’t well traveled are pruned away. (Which is why children who learn a second language during the preschool years speak like natives, and most of us who didn’t take Spanish until high school will always sound like, well…embarrassing.)

Okay. Back to the arts. Arts, especially music, help wire the brain for the kind of learning that occurs in school after the age of seven.

The Encyclopedia Britannica says that art is “the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.” Sharing the arts (group dances, playing instruments in ensemble, working together on a painting) enhances social skills.

The arts also develop essential thinking tools such as perception, attention, symbolic thinking, self-regulation, pattern recognition, reasoning, intuition, memory, differentiation, manipulation, encoding and decoding. Lots of big concepts, but what does this all translate to?

Your child’s painting and dancing and sculpting and especially music making in the preschool years, is the best thing you can do now to help your child later become an avid reader, a lover of math, a self-confident teenager, a curious chemist, a successful entrepreneur, and, of course, an accomplished musician.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who suggests taking inventory of your art baskets and music making and creating supplies this summer, and making sure they well stocked.

Tags: babies, brain, dancing, learning, Miss Analiisa, music, preschoolers, sensory systems

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Jun
18

Do you like when things have patterns? You might have math or music “intelligence”.

Posted in Child Development, Education, Music and the brain, Things to do

Math and music. They go together more than you might think. When I was at university, the double majors in the music department were, almost without exception, also majoring in the maths or sciences.

I was always good at math (I did have to work at understanding), but I did not like it. I had to take one math class in order to graduate with my degree. I enrolled in an Algebra class my very last semester. I hadn’t taken a math class in 6 years. But suddenly, math made sense! I realized that everything was in patterns. I understood patterns, because I had spent the last 5 years in music theory classes. Music is all about patterns, too.

I chose to pair Logical-Mathematical Intelligence and Musical-Rhythmic Intelligence because people who have either (or both) of those intelligences share an aptitude for patterns.

Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (Number/Reasoning Smart)

While you might assume that a person who is number/reasoning smart naturally excels in math, computer science or at chess, a better description of this intelligence has to do with being able to recognize patterns (especially abstract ones), numbers and their relationships, logic, and scientific thinking and investigation.

So how does this show up in a child, who doesn’t really begin to think abstractly until late elementary/middle school? (Which is why 6^th graders generally don’t do well in Algebra.) A number/reasoning smart child will tend to ask a lot of questions about how things work, and enjoys experimenting. These children will also have a more advanced sense of cause and effect than their peers.

These children also like categorizing and organizing things. They notice patterns and contrasts. Strategy games (like chess) are especially fun, and they have good critical thinking skills. And yes, these children do well in math – especially computing arithmetic problems in their heads. Number/reasoning smart children often grow up to be scientists, mathematicians, detectives, accountants or engineers.

How to Encourage Your Number/Reasoning Smart Child:

strategy games (chess, checkers, cards,)
board games
math games (love this local store – http://mathnificent.com/store/) Blink and Set are both great pre-math games.
science experiment kits (check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/)
logic puzzles or brain teasers (check out http://www.criticalthinking.com)
collecting – rocks, bugs, etc. Anything that will allow observation and categorization.
read mystery books
water play (it’s all about cause and effect)
sorting and stacking play

Musical Intelligence (Music Smart)

Who doesn’t love music? I think every child should grow up with music in their lives, but children with musical intelligence are especially sensitive to pitch, rhythm, timbre and tone, and to music’s emotional power. They can tell you when something is “off” in a performance, and may have perfect pitch. They often have well-developed language skills, and are often aware of sounds others miss.

Music smart children can easily remember melodies, and have a good singing voice. You might find them singing to themselves, or speaking and moving in a rhythmical way, and they might use songs or rhythms to learn. These children easily recognize rhythms and patterns around them.

Interestingly enough, movie producers are usually musically intelligent. Music smart children grow up to be composers, conductors, music teachers, disc-jockeys, and instrumentalists and singers, of course!

How to Encourage Your Music Smart Child:

music classes (like Kindermusik!) and music lessons around the age of 6 or 7
instrument box with a wide variety of instruments
listen to lots of different kinds of music and talk together about what you hear
encourage them to make up songs and music, and record them
sing to and with your child
make instruments
play musical and rhythmic games
join a band, choir or orchestra
attend age-appropriate concerts

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who shudders at the thought of advanced mathematics, but realizes that being music smart helped her get good math grades and love logic.