Teaching Music to Young Children

Where to Start:

When some people hear that the pleasure of my life is working with young children, they react with an overwhelming sense of admiration and fear. It is particularly interesting to observe the reaction of other music teachers, especially ones who define their lives teaching older children the complexities of the oboe or marching band. Oftentimes, with changing economic situations, these same teachers find themselves teaching elementary general music or early childhood music. They come to me with almost the same question: What do I do?

In order to conduct effectively an early childhood music program, the educator must understand the child. This means becoming familiar with the early childhood developmental theories of people such as Piaget, Steiner, Froebel, Montessori, and Vygotsky. Take time to observe young children in several environments such as their primary classrooms, home, and play area. Consider the following: their interactions, how do they interact with their peers and caregivers; the development of their language usage; what objects they choose to play with and how they conduct their play. Observe them objectively, almost as if you are a scientist discovering a new species. Consider everything a child learns in the first six years of his or her life: the ability to move almost perfectly; the ability to communicate fluently; the foundation of understanding social situations and so on. It is important to remember that the young child is capable of acquiring this vast amount of information because they learn by absorbing information from their environment. This is in contrast with the way in which older children, adolescents, and adults acquire new information. We learn through studying things logically. When teaching young children, it is important for the adult in the child's life-especially the teacher- to model the behavior, control of movement, posture, gracefulness, and language that he or she would like to see and hear from the child.

A good place to begin when designing any music program, especially one for small children, is defining its scope and parameters. Consider the questions: What kind of program would you like to have? What kind of program would the school like to have? What musical goals would you like the children to meet? What nonmusical (social, communicative) goals would you like the children to meet? What are the resources at your disposal? I begin with the resources provided by the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in the National Standards for Music Education.

I like to define musical goals for the children to meet in basic terms such as development of the singing voice, understanding and demonstrating contrasts such as loud and soft (dynamics) and fast and slow (tempo), moving expressively, active listening, instrument playing and improvisation among others. I believe the key to the development of a successful early childhood music program is the integration of an academically-based system such as the National Standards, knowledge of child development, and the love for music. Most importantly, if you convey the love you have for music and for the children, your program will be successful!

Personally, I begin with a two-fold goal: the development of an appropriate singing voice, and the ability to internalize and play the steady beat. Generally, the best range for children to sing is the octave in between middle C and the C above it. Please make sure the songs you choose are pitched in this range! A way to call attention to the singing voice is by demonstrating and having the children echo whispering voices, speaking voices, calling voices, and singing voices. You as the teacher are the model, it is important to remember to show good posture consistently in front of children, especially while singing! When teaching them songs, remember that developmentally young children learn by absorbing information. Experiment with teaching the song by having the children echo you in phrases or singing the song and having the children join as they know it. What works better for you? Try teaching the children the words of the song without pitches and then adding the vocal line. Find a style that works for you.

The ability to internalize a steady beat is vital to any musician. Think where we would be if we could not keep a consistent tempo while playing! Most educators I have met agree that steady beat must be the foremost aspect of a music curriculum. Try keeping the beat of every song you are singing, encourage the children to keep it along with you on the knees or by clapping. Introduce a variety of music for the children to play the steady beat with instruments such as rhythm sticks. Have the children walk, run, or jump a steady beat in a variety of tempi while you accompany on a hand drum. The ideas are endless!

I believe introduction of dynamics and tempi are also important components of a music curricula. You can demonstrate both elements through movement, vocal, and instrument play. For dynamics, I generally focus on loud and soft. Some ideas include bringing in instrumental music that has dynamic contrast and have the children play a percussion instrument such as egg shakers to correspond with the dynamic they hear. Have the children explore movements that make loud sounds such as stomping or jumping and movements such as tiptoeing and flying for soft sounds: try integrating this with a piece of corresponding instrumental music. Consider having the children make loud and soft shakers with their parents at home and bring them in! In terms of tempo, I try to keep the focus to fast and slow. Activities for fast and slow are similar to those for loud and soft: accompanying instrumental music with a fast and slow tempi with drums or woodblocks, exploring fast and slow movement with see-through scarves, having the children move quickly or slowly as you play the hand drum, the opportunities for expression are endless!

The educator must formulate a structure for the music class in order for it to be successful. I have found that the ideal music class for young children is between 20 minutes for 2 and 3 year-olds and 30 minutes for 4 to 6 year-old children. Young children require structure and routine in their lives. This must apply to the music class. I begin with a hello song I compose or find in an early childhood music text, move into a movement activity such as one mentioned in the fast/slow section or a pretend game. (It is important to note that young children love to pretend play. Such play should be incorporated into the music class as long as it is concrete and applicable to the child's life such as pretending to be a firefighter or a toy maker. Please stay away from fantasy objects such as unicorns and dragons. (The child has not yet developed the ability to differentiate between what is real and what is fantasy.)

From there, I introduce some sort of musical instrument (pitched and unpitched percussion instruments are staples of the general music classroom). There are several essential factors to consider with instrument play in the early childhood music class. First, it is important always to model body percussion (clapping patting the knees or patsching) before handing instruments to children. Consider demonstrating to the children how to carefully take the instrument out of its basket and keeping it still on the floor in front of you before you pass around the basket of instrument. Remark on how careful the children are treating the instrument. I like to name this resting position. Next, go over with the children how to pick up the instrument without playing it, I call this "ready." Finally, when all of the children have their eyes on you and are "ready," give them a slight nod to begin playing. This process is similar to how as orchestra begins to play a piece by following the gestures of the conductor. The rest of the class consists of alternating between various movement, instrument play, and finger play. Even though every class is different, I try to limit the amount of time the children sit consecutively. I like to limit the amount of sitting time to 2 minutes at a time. At the end of the class, consider singing a "goodbye song" to signify the end of the class.

A few more factors to consider when formulating a class: When choosing repertoire for you class, consider that young children require repetition. It is appropriate to use the same activities for a few weeks in a row, provided you extend the activities to using extra movements or adding a new instrument. Also, children are developing their musical palates during this age, please incorporate music from a variety of cultures as well as their own!

In addition, just as the young child learns by absorbing information from every aspect of his or her environment, it is important for the child to have access to developmentally appropriate musical activities throughout the day. This may entail training the staff of the school regarding concepts such as the importance of using an appropriate singing voice, and age-appropriate musical goals. Furthermore, the development of a music area in the classroom in which the children have access to instruments and recordings may be an idea to consider.

In conclusion, providing music education to young children need not be an issue of fear and trepidation. With knowledge of the child, developmentally appropriate curricula, age-appropriate activities, and a love of sharing music, every educator who has the desire can succeed in musically educating the young child!

Resources

MENC

Kindermusik

West Music

JW Pepper

Association Montessori Internationale

National Association for the Education of Young Children