There are two kinds of movement essential to music learning—movement on the beat and movement between the beats. Movement on the beat is manifest through weight. Movement between the beats is manifest through flow, creating momentum. The more little children engage in flowing movement with music, the more musical they will become, and the more meaningful movement on the beat will become.
Flow is the canvass upon which we place weight and organize time. Weight imposed within flow gives rise to beat and to meter. Responding to music with flowing movement is one of the most basic, yet most developed musical responses. Flowing movement transparently exposes musicality in both the novice and the professional musician.
So much emphasis has traditionally been put on prescribed movement with young children, relating either to words or to beat. It can be a challenge for the teacher to break out of old patterns and engage in flowing movement that communicates the freedom to move and sheer musicality. Use the whole body to model flowing movement—extend the arms in space, activate the hips, bend the knees, keep some part of the body moving through space throughout the musical experience. Let the music move you as much as you move the music.
Your little children may not be physically able to engage in flowing movement, but your flowing movement model provides not only a model for them, but a virtual experience of flowing movement and a visual animation of the aural. Little children may simply stare at your flowing movement. They may imitate, perhaps just an arm. Young children can get caught up in flowing movement. Some may appear awkward, while others will move you with the beauty of their musicality.
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