MUSIC BEFORE THE AGE OF SIX
The psychology of music and the psychology of the child are giving us
new vital conceptions of the nature and role of music in child life. To
understand this fully is to understand adequately the nature of the
child mind and the nature of music.
_From smile to music._ All mental development begins with some inherited
form of behavior and gradually differentiates into richer and richer
meanings and forms of expression. The taproot of all music is the smile.
This in its first appearance is a pure reflex, expressing the well-being
of the organism.
Observe some typical steps in its history in high lights. When the
infant has had its fill from its mother's breast, its head falls back
and the mouth puckers as a result of withdrawal from the nipple. The
mother looks at this and says to herself, "He is satisfied." The child
has thus acquired one means of communication--the expression of
well-being. This rapidly radiates into many situations. When the infant
is patted on the back, is bathed, is rocked in the arms, or feels the
waft of comfortable air, the same puckering of the mouth seems to convey
to the mother a sign of well-being, and the meaning of this puckering is
thus enriched.
It gradually radiates from the lips through more general expressions of
comfort in the face as a whole, and we have a clearly developed smile.
Gradually it becomes associated with sounds--inceptive gurgling, simple
droning, light chatter, and other inceptive forms of vocalization,
always accompanied with a smile, which thus develops new meanings, and
mother and child acquire mutual understandings, because from the first
the mother tends to respond sympathetically in like language.
As this association grows it takes the form of audible laughter which,
at a comparatively high stage of development, becomes a "ha-ha-ha" with
musical inflections. This is a form of language, still not expressing
specific ideas, but the general attitudes of well-being, comfort,
satisfaction of young life as a whole. The mother knows it, loves it,
and responds accordingly; and this mother's response draws from the
infant a growing hierarchy of new types of responses, meaning the same
thing.
Gradually these infantile sounds develop inflections and modulations in
pitch, in loudness, in rhythm, and in tone quality. These inflections
are the beginning of beauty in voice, and each new conquest gives a new
form of satisfaction to the child and mother.
The mother may stimulate natural forms for expression of mutual feeling
by her own musical laughter. Gradually the playing with these sounds
becomes an object in itself, the making of a particular sound for mere
pleasure. This is the beginning of singing and the appreciation of
musical sounds.
We observe the child playing with modulations in pitch, in loudness, in
duration, and in different kinds of tone quality. This is the beginning
of musical experiment, of musical creation, and musical appreciation in
the child. Blessed is the mother who can appreciate the music thus born.
She then sees the significance of the rhythmic patty-cake as music which
gives pleasure to mother and child alike. She then begins to understand
that the jingling of a bell is sweet music to the child. She can see how
the appreciation of rhythm is gradually revealed through the progressive
development of means of making sounds and hearing varieties of sound.
Perhaps unconsciously she sets patterns for a musical inflection which
the child begins to imitate. To the child, noise is music, and the
discovery of noises and the mastery of various noises play an immensely
rich and important role, even in the highest forms of adult music.
Thus, the recognition and feeling of pleasure in sounds, and the power
to make agreeable sounds, reveal to the child an unfolding musical
world. His whole organism responds to it. This is an element of musical
feeling.
Let me digress for a moment to say that the beginnings of mental life
tend to develop from two fundamental needs: attraction and repulsion,
likes and dislikes, approaching and getting away from--these being
respectively the positive and the negative aspects of adjustment. The
smile is the sign of the positive side. The companion piece of the smile
as a taproot is the frown, which gradually develops through crying and
is the reciprocal of laughter. The history of the frown and crying is
quite parallel to the history of the smile and laughter in mental
evolution and in the development of the individual.
_Music in play._ While it does serve a purpose as language in social
adjustment, the musical activity of the young child is expression for
the love of expression itself. This play aspect early differentiates
itself from the use of sounds to convey meaning in language.
The child composes, rapidly revealing new melodic progressions, new
rhythms, new kinds of sounds, and new patterns in the durations of
sounds for his own delight in self-expression. Through them he wins
manifestations of appreciation from those around him who constitute his
audience. He repeats each new achievement as the momentary goal of play
until new patterns progressively take their place. In these actions of
musical composition, the same mental faculties that we see in the active
adult composers are at work, but limited to the child's natural level of
successful achievement.
He early reveals command of the four elements of all music, as such;
namely, pitch, loudness, time, and kind of tone or tone quality; and we
observe the unfolding of melody, dynamic expression, rhythm, and
richness of tone. Through these he imitates the sounds of nature,
speech, music, and noises at his level in the surroundings. In terms of
these he develops memories, indulges in fantasy and creative
imagination, and gradually begins to think about music. These are the
avenues through which the child expresses his needs and urges vocally or
instrumentally; but they are music in so far as they are indulged in for
the pleasure of the hearing or the making of the sounds themselves.
Note that the child composes by performing; therefore, each musical form
that he develops is clearly at his command in performance. Notice also
that the repetition of achievement is limited by the play attitude of
always demanding something more difficult. Composition, performance,
appreciation, body response form interlocking steps. That is what makes
the procedure natural. The joy of conquest, characteristic of play, is
the dominating motive. Here nature has her way in the development of
knowledge, appreciation, and skills.
Musical activity is normally a form of play, expression for the
satisfaction in the expression itself without ulterior motive, and this
attitude may be carried through life. A person who cannot take a play
attitude toward music perhaps has no music in him. The play attitude
does not free one from effort, even systematic and arduous effort, in
the acquisition of the art. Witness all the sports at all stages of
growth. There is nothing to relieve us from understanding facts involved
in music; but the driving motive is found in the play attitude, and the
result is pleasure in play. On these observations of nature's ways in
play, the future pedagogy of music will be built.
_Environment._ It is astonishing that the child is often treated as
unmusical unless he can sing or play adult compositions or show an
intelligent appreciation of high art forms. How pitiful it is for a
mother to say that her child is not musical because he does not sing her
songs and understand her artistic playing. How vastly could a mother's
appreciation of the child be increased if she realized what constitutes
music at his level and how fundamental the musical reactions at his
level are to the development of music in the adult!
To be musical, the child must be musical in response to his environment.
There are natural laws of evolution in the race and in the development
of the individual for types of reactions to the music that abounds
around us in nature and for the various means at our command of
expression through imitation of them. To the primitive tribe, the drum
is a powerful, thrilling musical instrument. So are all forms of
drumming to the child. He imitates the whistling, tooting, rattling,
banging sounds in his environment, sometimes until he becomes noisily
tiresome. He feels in harmony with the clock that ticks, the birds that
sing, the dog that barks, the cat that mews. He loves to bang on the
piano and blow his horn.
This craving for pleasure in sounds radiates through the sense of rhythm
into graceful movements, the beginnings of dancing and dramatic action,
even from the crudest rhythmic kicking and tapping movements of the
infant. His speech becomes rhythmic, melodic, dynamic, beautiful. His
whole body becomes reverberant in response to the sounds of nature.
Laughter progressively acquires new and beautiful forms. Even crying may
give satisfaction of an artistic sort. The swinging of the pendulum of
the old clock on the wall is music. The patter of rain, the splashing of
water have musical elements.
The child does not think of the artistic forms as does the musician; but
like the canary which, even if grown in isolation in a soundproof cage,
in due time produces his natural tours in repertoire, the child
instinctively comes out in melody, dynamic modulation, and rhythm. But
all these are modified by the environment.
_Music and speech._ Speech has the same media as music; namely, pitch,
loudness, time, and timbre which result in such musical forms as tonal
and dynamic inflection, rhythm, articulation, and vowel quality. A child
is, of course, not conscious of any of these as such, and yet, under
favorable circumstances, will quickly develop beautiful speech, which
means that it is well inflected, well modulated in loudness, beautifully
rhythmic, rich and clear in vowel qualities. If the child has a good
ear, instinctive liking for these aspects of speech will develop
surprisingly early.
To give the child musical environment means therefore not only exposure
to formal music but rather a motivation for hearing musically all sounds
around him, for acting rhythmically, and feeling the rhythmic impulse in
all forms of activity, for responding by imitation or other forms of
appreciation to all sounds beautiful. These acquisitions naturally take
the form of beautiful speech. Musical education in the nursery,
therefore, comes most effectively through informal education toward
beautiful speech.
The child becomes proficient in speech long before he becomes
correspondingly proficient in musical performance and appreciation. It
is therefore very important to recognize that music and speech employ
the same medium; namely, sounds which vary in pitch, loudness, duration,
and kind. The child reveals flexibility, richness, rhythm, and all other
forms of meaningful inflection in speech earlier than he does in music.
Indeed, by the time the child leaves the nursery, even at the age of
five, his characteristic form and command of speech are fairly
crystallized. The command of elements of beautiful speech is the first
step in a beautiful singing voice.
Speech is an index to character, and the means for the development of
character. Beautiful speech is musical speech. Genuinely beautiful
speech is a revelation of beautiful character. Let the mother who
worries about early piano or violin lessons first give thought to formal
sympathetic cultivation of a beautiful speaking voice.
Unfortunately, the child's speech is very largely determined by
imitation of those around him. How few mothers and fathers, how few
teachers, how few older children have beautiful speech! The young child
as a rule, therefore, encounters unfavorable speech environment. The
civilized world is just awakening to the possibilities and significance
of beautiful and effective speech.
Train the young child to the appreciation and development of power in
beautiful and effective speech, and you will have laid the best
foundations for musical appreciation and formal entrance upon musical
training.
_Musical talent._ Children differ in musical talent, both in degree and
in kind. One normal child may be twenty-five, fifty, or one hundred
times as sensitive as another normal child in matters of time, in
matters of pitch, in matters of loudness, and in matters of tone
quality. The normal child may be very high in one of these four musical
traits and low in another. Let me illustrate how these traits may be
observed very early in a very highly musical child.
Playing with a little girl eleven months old, I noticed that she
responded to the music over the radio. I put a simple two-step on the
victrola, and she marked the time correctly by a free sympathetic
swinging of the arms. I changed this to waltz time, and she picked up
the rhythm. As she could not yet stand on her feet, I held her on all
fours, and then she shimmied with her trunk. Was that child musical? I
could give one positive answer. She had a splendid sense of rhythm and
urge for rhythmic action. As I watched her in succeeding years, she very
early developed original dances, and at the age of four gave delight in
original "shawl dances." Her speech very early was beautifully
inflected. Her speech was also very early characterized by fine and
meaningful modulations in loudness for emphasis and meaning. She gave
early evidence of power to imitate different sounds.
Of course, the less musical a child is by nature, the more difficult it
is to find early evidences of this sort. We do not need measuring
instruments so much as we need training of teachers and parents to an
understanding of what constitutes musical capacities so that we can
observe the child critically in his early natural responses. By the age
of eight or ten these specific capacities will become more conspicuous,
and at that age the competent psychologist in music can analyze and
measure talents reliably.
_Musical education._ When and how should musical education begin? It
should begin in the earliest infancy by giving the child a musical
environment suitable to elicit his response. This means not simply the
hearing of formal music, but, far more significantly, a sympathetic
response to the child's natural vocal expressions at each level, even to
the making of sounds of all kinds.
The child from the first needs a sympathetic audience. It is not so much
how beautifully the mother sings as how sympathetically she responds to
the beginning croonings of the infant; and this sympathetic enjoyment
includes recognition and encouragement for the hearing of all sounds
around, whether animate or inanimate. The mother's first task is to be a
good listener.
The first elements of formal musical training should be devoted to
speech. Ideally this would come most effectively through the child's
opportunity for hearing and imitating the beautiful sounds and speech of
those around him. Even if the mother and other associates cannot set the
model for the child, they can do a great deal to further musical
development by showing their appreciation of the instinctive
outcroppings of the musical qualities of the child's speech.
During the first six years there should be no formal musical
instruction; but, by the end of that period, the musical child should
have gradually acquired a sense of appreciation for musical sounds,
pleasure in self-expression in musical intonations, confidence in his
ability to compose a tune, some proficiency in singing and good speech,
and some degree of satisfaction in free playing with an instrument.
The principles here developed for early childhood have profound
implications for later musical education. Let the emphasis lie upon the
broadness of the meaning of music to the child, upon the child's
learning by doing, at his natural level of successful achievement, and
upon the utilization of natural motivation in place of formal
instruction.
THOUGHT REVIEW[C]
General Principles
(1) Musical activity is always a form of play.
(2) To be musical the child must be musical in response to his
environment.
(3) To the child noise is musical.
(4) Musical education for the preschool child comes most effectively
through formal education toward beautiful speech.
(5) Musical education should begin in infancy by giving the child a
musical environment suitable to elicit his response.
Do the above statements by the author modify your own theories in
regard to the musical education of your children?
Questions to Consider
(1) What may we be doing when we say to our husky two-year-old, "Oh,
Johnny, don't make so much noise?"
(2) Why is it that children so quickly lose their lovely childish
intonations and inflections?
(3) How does Doctor Seashore endeavor to help us recognize music in
our children?
(4) In our efforts to develop musical ability and response in the
child, what errors do we, as adults, commit?
(5) Is it ever too late for adults to cultivate a beautiful speaking
voice?
(6) Do you agree with Doctor Seashore that "genuinely beautiful speech
is a revelation of beautiful character"?
(7) What methods are you using with your young child to elicit musical
responses? Are they in accord with Doctor Seashore's advice?
(8) Do you think that the radio is helping to encourage musical
speech?
(9) What practical steps can the adults in the family take toward
improving their own influence upon the child's musical
development?
Discuss These True Situations
(1) I listened to the droning voice of a mother reading to her small
son. Would it be better for the mother to tell the story with
animation?
(2) Mrs. Brown is what is termed "high-strung." She has much to do
with household duties. Her three toddlers ask many questions, over
and over again. She finds herself speaking louder and louder with
each repetition. What would you suggest? (In a similar situation a
five-year-old said, "Mother, why don't you relax a little?" C. E.
S.)
(3) In the Black household the radio is on continuously. Is this
helping the musical education of the older and younger children?
(4) "I simply can't get Johnny to practice his music lessons unless I
sit down with him and make him do it," says Mrs. Young, who voices
the complaint of many ambitious parents. What would Doctor
Seashore say?
(5) A mother, musically talented, said to me, "I simply can't help my
children at all with their music. I get frantically impatient with
them."
(6) In a crowded railroad station I was admiring a lovely looking
woman who held an equally lovely looking child by the hand. Then
she spoke to the woman sitting next to me and it was with great
effort I kept a look of consternation from appearing on my face.
Her voice was harsh, metallic, unmodulated. Is it possible for her
to help herself?
-----
Footnote C:
This outline was prepared by May E. Peabody, Supervisor, when it
appeared in _Parents' Magazine_. It seemed to me so stimulating for
thought about the reading that I have adopted this general plan for
all the chapters in this volume. C. E. S.