Babies and music
Babies and music should be a good mix. And music is so important for children to learn and appreciate.
Even though I love music, I didn’t really play lots of music to my bump when I was pregnant. It just felt a bit silly to me. So I’m trying to make up for it now, although I’m not listening to as much music as I should compared with having the television on in the background…bad habit to have especially once N’s a bit older (he’s already transfixed by it now!).
We had on bits of the Classic Fm Hall of Fame this Easter weekend which I always vote in. I’m pleased to see that my top tune Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no. 2 was top again pushing The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams off. But we didn’t really hear much of it so that was a poor attempt by mummy. In the living room it’s a bit of an effort as the radio channels need tuning in each time I turn it on so it’s too much effort. N didn’t seem too keen on Sibelius’ Finlandia which is a great powerful piece, but probably quite stormy and depressing for a young ear.
We quite often switch channels to 4music and Viva in an attempt for me to keep up with current music. I think he’s a fan of Lady Gaga’s latest track as well as Bruno Mars’ Grenade but other than that I think we’ve got a lot of music to play him.
We have started going to Rhythm Time which is one of the local baby music sessions near us. It’s 20-30 mins of singing, moving, and just general battiness to an adult, but the babies and toddlers love it.
Gradually they learn how to hear and keep the rhythm of music, how to listen to different sounds, and just generally appreciate the different music they hear throughout the sessions as they get older. It’s just the type of class I think is great for developing musical appreciation and understanding, but obviously once he’s at nursery and I’m back at work, we’ll no longer be able to go which is a shame. Hopefully I’ll learn enough to be able to help teach him things about music anyway with my background.
My main objective is to get my piano from my mum’s to our house as I really want to have it to play again, but also give him the opportunity of he wants to as it’s such a good grounding for any other instrument. Unfortunately OH currently refuses to have it in the house so it’s going unplayed which is a horrible thought.
How have you introduced your baby to music?