Don’t be surprised if your little one spends a good portion of the day singing—making up songs, singing segments of familiar songs, chanting rhythm, humming, and coming up with a song for every occasion. Don’t be surprised if your little one dances, bounces, sways, or moves in some manner to everything musical, including his own made-up songs and the silent songs in his little musical mind.
Singing and dancing are your little one’s way of “practicing” music. Whether the music is inside or outside your little musician, you are likely to witness its expression. Just as your child might talk himself to sleep or tell his teddy bear a story, your little musician may sing himself to sleep or make up a song about a truck, getting dressed, or going potty!
Your little one’s song may not be tuneful, and the dance may not reflect the beat, but it is through such “practice” that your little one explores and learns to manipulate his primary musical instruments—his own body and voice. Your child’s command of words will likely reign over fledgling tunefulness and rhythmicity, but as your child develops greater rhythm and tonal skill, you will hear growing approximations of tunefulness and rhythmicity, even with words. Your little musician’s incessant song and dance are an expression of both musicality and the joy your little one finds in music.
|
