What are the advantages and disadvantages of a musical education ...

‘Good baby music is created with the right knowledge of how a baby interprets musical
information and how it responds. It must have the right tempo, soft and tender orchestrations,
and feature carefully composed melodies with the right use of rhythm’ (2002).
Repetition plays a huge part in teaching young children. Repetition creates familiarity and
familiarity helps children to feel comfortable. This is why it has been said that it is so
important to play music to babies while in the womb as they will be able to remember that
music after they are born.
Every loving parent wants to give his or her child the best possible start in life. They have
dreams and aspirations of what their child will grow up to achieve. This desire to give your
child the best possible introduction into the world doesn’t just start from birth. Some parents
choose to start to nurture and try to teach their unborn babies while still in the womb. One of
the most affective ways of doing this is believed to be through music. ‘The auditory system
starts to function at around the 24 th week in some fetuses and after the 30 th week in all of
them’ (Tafuri, 2008, P. 10). New research now also suggests that they will remember the
music that was played to them whilst in the womb. Dr Lamont writes:"It used to be assumed
that it was really noisy in the womb but actually it's quite quiet" (2005). This evidence
suggests that babies can pick up the sound of music coming from a stereo at a reasonable
volume and it isn’t necessary to apply headphones directly to the baby bump. An experiment
performed by Dr Alexandra Lamont, from Leicester University’s music research group, has
found new evidence on how music in the womb can influence early child development. ‘Now
we have discovered that babies can remember and prefer music that they heard before they
were born over 12 months later’ (Lamont, 2001). This evidence shows just how important
and influential the music played to a child while in the womb can be to a young child’s life
and early development. During the experiment Dr Alexandra Lamont found one woman who
talked about her experience of playing music to her baby while in the womb and how it then
helped after the birth:
"I used to have a daily bath and listen to Ella Fitzgerald at 6pm. It was my peace time. When
she was born she was very fractious with colic. We used to play Ella Fitzgerald at 3am to try
to settle her, and it really worked" (Unknown, Cited in Lamont, 2001).
The early months of a baby’s life can be a challenging and stressful time for both the child
and the parents. This woman’s experience proves that music can be used as a powerful tool to
help young babies get through these vital stages in their early months of life.
Interview (conducted by the writer) with Kathy Doolan Creator of Rhythm Time (UK
Music Franchise for parents and babies):
Music Education in Regard to Children CM6002 Emily McGregor 163930
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