The Importance of Music in Early Childhood

by Lili M. Levinowitz, Ph.D.

Lili M. Levinowitz is a professor of music education at

Rowan University of New Jersey, Glassboro.

Printed with permission from:

General Music Today, published by Music Educators National Conference, Fall 1998.

The media's popularization of findings from studies indicating a causal link between music training and
spatial reasoning in young children (Rauscher et al. 1993, 1997) has caught the attention of many and
spurred interest in the inclusion of music in early childhood education. Curriculum models that substantiate
this point of view are credible; however, music educators need to remind decision makers about other valid
reasons for teaching music in the early childhood curriculum. The purpose of this article is to survey some of
the work in music education that validates the inclusion of music for its own sake in models for early
childhood learning.

Music is a way of knowing. According to Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner (1983), music intelligence is
equal in importance to logical - mathematical intelligence, linguistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily -
kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence. According to Thomas
Armstrong (1994,5), "Intelligence is galvanized by participation in some kind of culturally valued activity and
that the individual's growth in such an activity follows a developmental pattern; each activity has its own
time arising in early childhood."

Making music is as much a basic life skill as walking or talking. Peery and Peery (1987) suggest that it is
desirable for children to be exposed to, trained in, And enculturated with music for its own sake. That is, it is
a birthright for all people to be able to sing in tune and march to a beat (Levinowitz and Guilmartin, 1989,
1992, 1996). To ensure a comprehensive learning experience, music must be included in early childhood.
Practically speaking, the argument that music education is a frill finds no objective support.

The importance of music instruction for music development during the early years of childhood has been
widely investigated since World War II. The Pillsbury studies (1937 - 1958) (Moorhead and Pond, 1977)
provided the first glimpse into preschool children's musical lives and informed us about the nature of their
spontaneous music behavior. Characteristic music performances of young children provide a window through
which music psychologists and educators can understand the sequence of the child's developing music skills.

Early Childhood Development

Generally, we have learned that children from birth to approximately age six do not express music like
adults. Early childhood, a period of rapid change and development, is the most critical period in a child's
musical growth and has been identified in the literature as the "music babble" stage (Moog, 1976; Gordon,
1988) or primary music development (Levinowitz and Guilmartin, 1989, 1992, 1996). Even the youngest
infant is wired to receive music and discriminate among differences in frequency, melody, and stimuli
(Bridger, 1961; Trehum et al, 1990; Standley and Madsen, 1990; Zentner and Kagan, 1996).

The years from birth through age six are critical for learning how to unscramble the aural images of music
and to develop mental representations for organizing the music of the culture (Holahan, 1987; Davidson,
1985). This process is similar to that which unfolds for language during the "language babble" stage. The
body of knowledge acquired through research thus far supports the notion that, like language development,
young children develop musically through a predictable sequence to basic music competence, which includes
singing in tune and marching to a beat (Levinowitz and Guilmartin, 1989, 1992, 1996). Consider this
analogy; in cable television, visual images are readily available for any channel; however, to see them you
need a cable box to unscramble the images. During primary music development, children create a "box" or
mental representation to unscramble the aural images of music. This multifaceted, complex mental
representation is known is "audiation". Audiation is paramount in importance because it is basic to all types
of musical thinking. Without audiation, no musical growth can take place.

Early childhood is also the time when children learn about their world primarily through the magical process
of play. The substance of play in very young children is usually comprised of the environmental objects and
experiences to which they have been exposed. If the music environment is sufficiently rich, there will be a
continuous and ever richer spiral of exposure to new musical elements followed by the child's playful
experimentation with these elements.

Edwin Gordon has identified early childhood as the period of developmental music aptitude (1988). During
these years, music potential or aptitude, which is based on the complex construct of audiation, is in a state
of change. Because of this state of change, the child's musical aptitude is vulnerable to positive or negative
influences through both instruction and environment. Without sufficient stimulation and exposure, a child has
little with which to experiment and learn through his or her musical play. The most typical negative influence
on developmental music aptitude is simply neglect. Hence, the inborn potential for musical growth may
actually atrophy.

Just as all children are born with the potential to learn to speak and understand their native language, all
children are born with the potential to learn to perform and understand their culture's music. When a child
has developed a mental representation of his or her culture's music, the inner reality (audiation) should
enable the outer performance to be more accurate. By first grade, many children develop the ability to
perform the music of their culture with accuracy. However, many children do not.

Understanding and Performance

The research conducted by Geringer (1983) and Apfelsradt 1984) suggests that understanding the culture's
music and the ability to perform accurately are not necessarily related. Being able to perform music
accurately may be attributed to two factors. The first is audiation, which involves acquisition of sound and
the processing of it. The other is the performer's technical acquaintance with his or her singing and
movement "instruments," which are largely kinesthetic (Weikart, 1987; Bertaux, 1989). Therefore, in
addition to developing the mental representation or audiation of music, the early childhood years are also
critical for developing the ability to engage in music through singing and moving.

Our profession has frequently studied vocal development. From that work, we have come to understand that
using the singing voice is a learned, complex skill (Phillips, 1992). To be developed properly, it must begin in
the early childhood years. If singing is not properly developed, the ability to perform music vocally will not
coincide with the ability to think tonally. The vocal range is remarkably wide from birth. Infants can imitate
and experiment with their vocal instruments: and even match pitch as early as three to four months of age.
Purposeful singing can begin at around twelve months. At this time, adults can recognize snippets of songs to
which youngsters have been exposed. Through continued exposure to spoken chant, songs, and vocal play,
young children can develop the use of their singing voices during the remaining early childhood years.

If the environment has supported vocal development, most children will enter kindergarten with some use of
their singing voices. Unfortunately, a recent study (Levinowitz et al. 1998) shows a decrease in students' skill
in using their singing voices over the past two decades. In fact, less than half of kindergarten-age children
were able to differentiate between their singing and speaking voices when performing a familiar song. It
seems that this may be the result of missing the key time to develop the singing voice during early childhood
through playful activities and thoughtful adult guidance.

Both contemporary research and the traditions of many cultures have demonstrated a profound connection
between rhythm and movement. The study of rhythm can be thought of as the study of all aspects of flow of
music through time. We experience rhythm as the flow of our movement through space. From the
developmental perspective, children must experience rhythm in their bodies before they can successfully
audiate rhythm in their minds. The early childhood years are crucial for using the body to respond as a
musical instrument in many ways to many different kinds of music. Real musical instruments, like tools, can
then become simply extensions or amplifications of the body's ability to be musically expressive.

Phyliss Weikart, a pioneer in movement pedagogy, has noted that many school-age children cannot walk to
the beat of music, perform simple motor patterns, or label how their bodies have moved (1987). She
suggests that children can gain this experience in naturally occurring situations during infancy and early
childhood, especially if adults recognize the importance of early gross motor development and of language
interaction about rhythm and movement with young children. Furthermore, other motor theorists' research
supports the importance of movement in early childhood. They have found that most fundamental motor
patterns emerge before the age of five and are merely stabilized beyond that age (Gilbert, 1979).

Adult Involvement

Parents, care givers, and teachers can do a great deal to provide the necessary stimulation through music
experiences to nurture the young child's music abilities. In fact, the importance of environmental factors in
music development is supported by the case studies undertaken by Kelley and Surron-Smich (1987). They
studied three first-born females from their births to two years later who were reared in families with three
contrasting musical backgrounds. One set of parents was professional musicians, another set was musically
oriented but nor practicing professional musicians, and the third set was not musically oriented - and hence
made fewer musical choices in their child-rearing practices. The differences between the family that was not
musically oriented and the other two families were startling in that the two children who experienced richer
musical environments were considerably more developed in their music behaviors.

Teachers and researchers have gleaned information from their professional experience suggesting that early
childhood development in general and successful educational programs in particular can be attributed to the
partnership between the young child and his or her significant others. Similarly, it seems that this philosophy
could be applied practically to early childhood music education. Forming collaborations among the adults who
care for our nation's youngest children and understanding the learning processes specific to early child-hood
will foster music abilities and contribute significantly to the overall growth and development of the child.
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