Music babble is essential to the development of a sense of meter and a sense of tonality. It is a child’s attempt to speak the language of rhythm and tonal; to imitate what he has heard; to “practice” singing in tune and in rhythm; to make his own meaning. Similarly, children babble syllables on their way to securing rhythm and tonal syllables. Again, this is a child’s attempt to “speak the language,” to imitate what he has heard; to “practice” using syllables; to make his own meaning. As with language, the more a child tries to make his own meaning with syllables, the more he attends to the conventions of syllables and the more precise he becomes.

Syllables, like any layer on rhythm or tonal, can temporarily derail a sense of meter or tonality, but generally, a child with the readiness for rhythm and tonal syllables demonstrates a developing sense of meter or tonality, to which he is trying to attach syllables. He is engaging in “syllable babble.” Delivering in Rhythm or Tonal Dialogue what you think the child is trying to deliver in syllables is as effective with syllables as it is without. [Rhythm Dialogue, Tonal Dialogue]  Also, re-establishing the meter or tonality with syllables, just as you re-establish a meter or tonality without syllables, sets audiation back on track with syllables, and invites dialogue in syllables. The more you engage children in Rhythm and Tonal Dialogue with syllables, the more they will be able to deliver rhythm patterns and tonal segments in dialogue with syllables. Some children will repeat your patterns, others will deliver patterns they know, even if babbling syllables.

Children will acquire syllables through Immersion, Interactivity, and babble with syllables.  There is no need to correct children’s syllables. Children will self-correct after hearing you sing what they were trying to deliver. There is also no need to “drill” proper names of meters and tonalities. At this point, proper names are incidental, casually indicating that there are different meters and different tonalities, all of which the children know in sound. Syllables more accurately label what the children know in sound than do proper names. Young children will often refer to Duple meter as “Du de Dus,” or Dorian tonality as “Rim Rums.” Later Discrimination Activities will make greater distinction between meters and between tonalities.

You can learn a lot about a child’s developing sense of meter or tonality through his syllable babble. For example, a child might demonstrate security with macro and micro beats with syllables, while babbling syllables with divisions. This may direct you back to division patterns without syllables to determine whether it is division patterns that are not quite seated in audiation, or the syllables of division patterns, guiding you to meet the child’s needs in Rhythm Dialogue.

A child might demonstrate security with macro and micro beats in both Duple and Triple meters, yet spontaneously flip from one meter to the other, with appropriate syllables. A simple, “Oh, you did Triple meter, didn’t you?  You did Du da di Du.  We’re doing Duple meter.  We’re doing Du de du, Du de Du,” is generally all that is needed to bring the child back into Duple meter.

Rhythm syllables with patterns more difficult than macro and micro beats will begin to fall in place for children who are secure with macro and micro beats with syllables and secure with the more difficult patterns without syllables. The children simply need greater Immersion, greater Interactivity, and the opportunity to babble syllables, rather than an expectation of precision or correction of responses.

A child who generally demonstrates a sense of tonality may be temporarily derailed by tonal syllables, needing to babble tonality or tonal syllables before securing the tonality beneath the syllables. More typically, children learning tonal syllables will babble tonal syllables, while demonstrating security within the tonality, even if pitches and or syllables are not yet discreet.  The child may be unmistakably within the tonality—yet “floating” in the tonality, babbling tonal syllables within that tonality. Typically, the child uses the appropriate set of syllables for the tonality set up with a prep, demonstrates security with the resting tone, and often the dominant (working tone) as well, while not yet secure with which syllables go with which pitches around the resting tone and dominant. Again, we can learn a lot about a child’s audiation through their syllable babble, as the acquisition of syllables mirrors the acquisition of audiation.

Presenting tonal segments in syllables, with tonal segments spinning around tonic and dominant pitches and leading to the tonic, will seat tonal syllables in audiation. Security in Resting Tone Activities with syllables provides the readiness for Tonal Dialogue with syllables. Appropriate syllables for pitches other than tonic and dominant will begin to fall in place with greater Immersion, Interactivity, and opportunity to babble, rather than expectation of precision or correction of responses. Awareness of the one-to-one correspondence between syllables and pitches comes much later. Children who are secure with syllables on the tonic and dominant, who are seated in the tonality, and using the appropriate syllables for the tonality, even if not the correct syllable for each pitch, are well on their way.

Children will respond with rhythm syllables more quickly than with tonal syllables, just as they respond more quickly with rhythm than tonal in earlier levels of music learning. Children ready for tonal syllables, however, move forward with focused attention, as the syllables make so much sense to the musical mind.  Very young children will float in and out of audiation with syllables, just as they do without, so they might deliver syllables precisely one day, and the next day not even be in the meter or tonality. [Expect Inconsistency in Musical Response from Young Children].

Rhythm Dialogue, Resting Tone Activities, Macro/Micro Beat Activities, and Tonal Dialogue can all be done with or without syllables. Occasionally sticking in phrases or verses with neutral syllables (Bah, Too) amidst those with rhythm or tonal syllables reinforces what children know in sound, giving greater meaning and immediacy to syllables, keeping children fluent with both sound and syllables, and providing an opportunity for lagging children to keep pace at their own level. The more children become familiar with rhythm and tonal syllables, the more you can use syllables without the occasional neutral syllables. Only new rhythm and tonal content would then be presented on neutral syllables.