Introducing music to children, especially unborn and newborn
children, has been a hotly debated cultural subject. Some experts assert that exposure to music
aids in the development of the neurological system, while others argue that
even at low volumes, uninterrupted music does not allow the body to fully be at
rest.
For me, not enough data has emerged that concludes that negative effects outweigh positive effects, especially when music is presented in a responsible way. The fact that newborn babies respond positively to voice suggests that loudly amplified music played back through headphones placed on a mother's abdomen is unnecessary; however, the practice continues. I suppose it is all about volume control, and balancing music intended for baby with other considerations of the baby's surroundings (i.e., using headphones lets baby experience music, while mom sleeps).
Even hospitals are beginning to use music therapeutically, especially in circumstances where baby and mother are separated for treatment. Here's an article:
Semiautoethnographically, I decided to compare how I've introduced music as an element of my children's lives with others' endeavors of sharing music with their children.
Being a frequenter of baby goods retail stores, I noticed that what used to be a couple of novelty CDs of music for children has emerged into an entire cottage industry of creating and distributing music for children. I therefore created a survey to collect data on how parents share music with their infants.
Survey facts:
1. Almost no one (at least of those parents I surveyed) bought or shared music specifically created for the baby retail market.
2. Nearly all parents surveyed reported that they shared music with their unborn children; however, only two responders reported using headphones on mother's abdomen.
3. The reasons for sharing music varied widely from establishing a sense of rhythm to specifically encouraging musicianship. The most reported single reason was to calm baby.
Samples of retail baby music:
I shared music by playing the piano around my wife before and after my children were born. Here's my son, Jack, at 11 months:
I like to think that my inclusion of music in his life has sparked his own creativity:
I also shared other music with my children, but music like this:
And this:
Which brings me to another realm of music and children: musical toys. They range from good to bad to insanely terrible. What is so bad about the "bad" toys is the quality of music coming out of them.
The whole notion of a new market for baby music is strange. Probably because baby things kinda freak me out, but that's besides the point. i'm assuming this is all a recent thing and emerged because our capitalistic society has room to market to anything that hasn't been marketed to.
ReplyDeleteObviously this sort of baby music isn't needed because in the past lullabies sung by parents has been sufficient. I almost want to say it's morally wrong to have a whole market targeted for baby's needs, considering these needs are minimal!
Also if baby music is there to stimulate a child's mind wouldn't one think that music of quality would be played? not frog noises haha. Because for the most part mainstream pop music isn't stimulating but entertaining and rockabye baby seems to be the baby equivalent of pop so the intelligence argument behind this type of music seems flawed.
haha I totally agree with you about the baby things being a little...freaky.
DeleteBut rather than only being a capitalist endeavor (which it undoubtedly is), I think it also has to do with this constant pursuit of 'improving' us humans as a species. If the children are our future, it seems natural (or unnatural, whatever) for parents to seek options as simple as a music 'TYPE' that supposedly makes babies smarter & perhaps just 'better.' Now, what "better" is, we don't know. It's a standard set by some people at the top who want to take advantage of our own insecurities as humans as well as the innate desire to improve ourselves.
I think that if it was guaranteed that a child would be better at reading comprehension or spatial reasoning if it listened to "X" kind of music, most parents would want that for their child. But as Ryan & Afsar point out, the apparent 'dumbing down' of music for babies in this new genre seems completely counter-productive. I hardly think 'plink plink *croak*' renditions of Led Zeppelin or Radiohead are proven methods of making babies smarter. If anything, why not make them listen to the ORIGINAL versions of the songs?? More cost-effective & also more believable (for me at least) that it could be stimulating a baby's mind in some way. More than rockabye baby anyway.
Hey Ryan, cool presentation. I enjoyed all the toys that you brought in and demonstrated.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help but agree that all the baby-fied rock renditions seemed pretty silly. I think such products are absolutely for the parents and not the baby. If they were really concerned for the baby, I don't see what's necessarily wrong with playing the originals instead of the dumb-downed versions. The instrumentation was the same for all the pieces that I don't imagine it would be very stimulating for a child. I like your more active approach in getting your son to be creative and make music himself. Limiting your child's soundscape to 'baby' sounds almost seem more detrimental as it doesn't allow them to expand their musical vocabulary.
With that in mind, I'm not sure how I feel about anyone playing just Mozart for a baby either - I'd imagine that the limitation would have similar effect even if it is more 'intellectual.' I once went to one of Don Campbell's Mozart Effect workshops and was pretty skeptical through the whole thing. One thing he did make the audience do, however, was some paper plate activity where we respond to the music. That interactivity with children, no matter the music, I think is the best and most fun route to go.
I thought it was really interesting that you found a primary motive of parents exposing their babies to music is to encourage musicianship. Like many things, there is a genetic and environmental component to musicianship. We can see through history that many musicians come from the same family. Is it their genes, or upbringing? Probably both. I did read a paper last year that mentioned a specific gene showing an association with musical inclination, but there is no doubt that what environment you are in will also affect how musical you are. Similar to how parents try to feed their babies whatever is best for their growth, they also try to feed their baby music to most better his or her intellectual capacity. Does it have to be baby music? No idea, but it may have something to do with a variety of sounds that can intrigue babies. This however, can be found outside the baby music world. Babies are a lot smarter and experimental with their surroundings than we take them for, so what they hear must affect them somehow.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your project as it was something that you are directly involved with on a daily basis, and your account of what's going on provided a unique perspective on the topic. I'm really curious about what exactly makes Western Art Music the genre of choice when it comes to playing music for our children. Sure, it was created by geniuses and has been around for hundreds of years, but who's to say that it's scientifically better than playing, say, the Beatles. My parents would play Uriah Heep to calm me down in the car and the Beatles, Queen, the Police, etc. at home. I feel as though I turned out alright, but my parents didn't really play Western Art Music during my developmental years. I think it's time for a well-planned, well-funded, long-term research that focuses on a particular group of children from the minute they're born until they're 21, playing predominantly different styles of music for each individual and seeing how it affects his or her IQ down the line.
ReplyDeleteI still can't believe that there is a baby version of stairway to heaven. The face that something of that nature is even present, let alone commonified to the point of "best selling album" is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of my personal musical development, my parents used to play Beethoven and Bach before I was born. Although I do have an appreciation for classical music, I think it's hard to make a distinct correlation between the process of exposing infants to classical music and the appreciation of the music itself. At the same time, I think that an early exposure to music is a sure way to accelerate a young mind's perception towards music. I know that when I am old enough to be a parent I will expose my children to the music I feel is worth appreciating.
I was surprised to see that the Rockabye baby music series is on the top-selling charts for baby music. I actually heard about it a couple years back from a friend of mine who really enjoyed the Radiohead - No Surprises rendition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0HdzBoPEQ), but I did not think much about the music at the time. I am curious as to how many of the sales comes from people like my friend, who does not have a child and just finds the "baby" version to be really amusing and sleep-inducing. Ben mentioned how the music box and "baby" sound is probably not that sleep and baby-friendly and that most people likely developed this notion that it is from the history and development of trying to put kids to sleep with music-boxes. If anything, this music is more well-suited for older people like my friend who have been conditioned to find this music soothing and sleep-inducing.
ReplyDeleteI'm also curious about whether Western Art music really affects development in a more positive manner than other music. I have read all sorts of beliefs about how growing up with metal and generally "harder" stuff would negatively affect a kid and make him/her more aggressive. I only know of one case of someone being raised with music of this nature and it involves one of my childhood friends. He grew up listening to a lot of his dad's music, so that includes a lot of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Black Flag. I believe that exposure to music helped my friend develop his musical skills at a young age and probably molded his music tastes to a large extent. However, in terms of aggression and other personality development, I am not so sure. I have seen my friend get into a couple of fights, but he does not have any serious anger or aggression problems to my knowledge. Of course, one example certainly does not say much about general results from growing up in such a manner. Also, anything that primarily attributes music to a child's aggression probably misses out on other, possibly more so, reliable and effective factors that affect the child's disposition in such a way.