Literature for young children includes the likes of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, sensitive little poems and lovely little stories, throughout early childhood. Little children are exposed to the full spectrum of literature at every level of development. Some is simply for fun. At the other end of the spectrum is fine poetry—with its imagery, sound sense, and artistry. Somewhere in between is quality prose—more sophisticated than the child’s speech, yet not such high art as poetry.
Music literature for young children should offer the same opportunity for growth throughout early childhood. Some songs can be simply for fun. At the other end of the spectrum—the poetry of song literature—are Art Songs, which invite sheer musicality. Somewhere in between are the quality prose of song literature, what we might call “Gem Songs”—little gems that feed developing musicianship (G-E-M, Growing Expressive Musicians).
Traditionally, the choice of songs for young children has most often been based on song words. Cute is not sufficient to meet musical needs. Of course, all songs for little children have to be age appropriate, serving their precious personalities at every age and stage. They must also, however, meet the musical needs of the young child at every age and stage of development. Only then can young children grow as musicians. Little children deserve the full spectrum of song literature.
Play Songs include folk songs, playparties, and traditional children’s songs and games that have dominated early childhood music. They are part of childhood. They charm, entertain, invite participation, and carry the culture. They are very appealing and serve many kinds of learning, but they do not meet the musical needs of young children. Tonalities and meters are very limited, dominated by major and duple. Words, rather than the music, are the driving force, putting the thinking mind in charge.
Art Songs for tender ages appeal to the musical mind and offer sheer musicality. They engage little children in the art itself, as children experience and explore the intertwining of rhythm, melody, and text as poets and artists. Art Songs come in a variety of tonalities and meters, with lovely poetry that is beautifully expressed in melody and rhythm. The words are important, but not so much for their literal meaning as for their sound, their imagery, their reflection in rhythm and in melody, and their expression. Art Songs feed and challenge music learning at every age and stage of development.
Gem Songs also appeal to the musical mind, offering delightful songs to grow on musically. They come in a variety of tonalities and meters, authentically expressing their unique texts that delight the young child. Gem Songs include playparties in unusual meters and settings of folk rhymes and poems in various tonalities and meters, feeding and challenging music learning at every age and stage of development. Rhythm and tonal difficulty must increase as children grow musically, and should be given as much consideration as text in choosing songs for young children.
Text is the heart and soul of vocal music, yet the literal meaning of text is not, in itself, reason to choose a song. Text also has sound. It has imagery. It has its own rhythm. It has its own expression that implies pitch direction. Only when all of these things come together into one artistic whole is a song worthy of young children’s artistry.
A well written song is a vocal stage play, with the intertwining of text, rhythm and melody serving as the staging, scenery, and costumes for the dramatic delivery of the text. Little children engaged in movement with song become the directors of the “play” of energy, with the text as script. Art Songs and many Gem Songs are little kernels of choral art waiting to bloom in the musical minds and bodies of little children—little choral artists who are waiting to bloom in songs that merit their artistry.
