Over the last 50 years, scientific research has proven what we have always known to be true: Music is an essential part of the holistic human experience.
But what about babies? Do they gain any benefit from hearing and learning about music?
Well, if you think about it, whether she is musically inclined or not, a mothers natural instinct guides her to sing songs or nursery rhymes to her baby sometimes from within the womb and definitely from birth. Singing to a baby has a soothing calming effect and is often the start of their musical journey.
Music ignites all areas of child development and helps children in so many ways. A 2016 study at the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute found that music in early childhood can accelerate brain development, particularly in the areas of language acquisition, reading skills. skills for school readiness, including intellectual, social-emotional, motor, language, and overall literacy. It helps the body and the mind work together.
Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words. In fact, children during early childhood can easily acquire perfect or absolute pitch which is the ability identify the exact notes of music when it's played. This is something that is very difficult to learn in adulthood but children's brains are wired for it. Having this ability is not only helpful in music, it creates connections in the brain that help with math, reading and language as they grow.
Besides all of the amazing benefits of music for babies, it simply brings happiness to any moment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to teach your child absolute pitch (which can be taught from 6 months of age) check out this channel on YouTube. https://youtu.be/RFwQUhljews