What do you do with a baby, an infant, in Kindermusik?

I've been teaching Kindermusik since 1995. Maybe it was in 1998 that I began teaching the brand new Kindermusik Village class for babies who are newborn to 18 months. Now families did not need to wait until their baby was a year and a half old to experience this great program! But, oh, my goodness! What does one do with these babies? And just how young should they start???

The miracles that I experienced in teaching babies over the years turn out to be everyday occurrences! Miraculous nonetheless! One day I noticed a tiny, tiny baby babbling on the resting tone of the song that I was singing. (The resting tone, or tonic, is the tonal center. You might recognize it as the first note of the scale a song is built on. For instance in the song, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, the tune both begins and ends on the resting tone.) Now THAT was a miracle.  That baby is a genius! A musical prodigy! I heard it! And now after more than 10 years of hearing this miracle in nearly every class I still believe each and every one of those babies is a musical genius. I hear them babble, sing, fuss and even cry on the pitches of the songs we sing in class every day.

Babies in Kindermusik come to me as young as 5 weeks old. Here they're a bit older and more able to act on their curiosities. They are able to prove to us their receptivity to musical experience. With the very tiny babies we must trust in their ability to process musical input with out the obvious feedback. But if you watch very carefully, and know what to look and listen for, the proof is right there!

Shinichi Suzuki wrote in his beautiful book Nurtured by Love: The Classic Approach to Talent Education that he had witnessed a newborn sibling of one of his violin students wriggle in recognition of the music that the student had been working on while the baby was yet unborn. This newborn infant's reaction to music is miraculous too! But many, many mothers have reported that their newborn babies are calmed or animated by music that they had enjoyed when pregnant.

The article below explains some of the research being done to document an unborn baby's music perception. I  have read that the ear begins to perceive vibrations as early as 23 days gestation and this article states that it is fully functional around 5 weeks before birth.

Infants Recognize Melodies Heard in the Womb

 But, getting back to tiny babies in Kindermusik, I'd like you to know of other miracles I notice on a regular basis. One of my favorite musical activities, favorite because it always gets the babies' rapt attention, smiles, and active participation, is the stop and go game. For this we sing a song like

"Walk all around now, walk all around. Walk all around now, walk all around. Walk all around now, walk all around. Walk all around now, walk all around, and STOP!"

(you can download this song from Kindermusik.play.com )

I ask myself "How much self control or physical body control does a baby have? Can a 6 month old, or a 2 month old, play in this stop and go game? The walkers (the older ones who can prove their musical processing to us) can stop and can even learn to anticipate the phrase to stop at exactly the right moment. But in observing the babies in their mothers' arms do it too! They go from wiggling arms and or legs, moving their heads around, vocalizing, etc. to absolutely motionless! The entire room is silent and motionless. Another miracle! These babies can measure and predict the timing of the phrases just like the older ones! The rest of the games includes extending the "waiting" of the stop until you get a signal from the baby to begin again.

Here's the important lesson I have learned.  

Babies get it.  They come out of the womb already knowing about the pitches, tonalities, the patterns of melody, rhythm, phrases, sounds and silences, and so much more.  We adults have to be ready to notice it too. If they notice that we notice it (repeatedly) then they will decide it is worth knowing about, worth remembering. THAT is when the neural connections solidify and become permanent. Otherwise this music aptitude just goes away! 

And the question for the parents of these musical genius' is "How long should we wait before bringing our baby to Kindermusik?" How many missed opportunities to notice musical cues? Many grown-ups need coaching in noticing and how to show your noticing to your baby. That's my job! Don't wait. Come to visit a class for free with your baby. I'll help you to see the miracles for yourself! 

http://www.kindermusikwithyvette.com/index.php/home/free_class/

There's my baby with my oldest (just 15 years ago)! She began her Kindermusik journey in utero! Her out of womb experiences in class began at 3 weeks. She helped me teach all my classes! Her very first class was a Kindermusik for the Young Child class (5-7yo).  She cried and cried when the parents came in for the sharing time. I decided to sing the explanation for the home activity and like a miracle she stopped crying and was very attentive!