We all know that every little baby is an amazing, beautiful miracle, right? And what about those perfectly formed, adorable ears? Are they the most incredible things ever? Possibly. Research has also shown that new-born babies have quite amazing hearing abilities. They are capable of recognising all the sounds in all the languages used on the planet, whereas us poor adults find it difficult to distinguish between the long and short 'e', or the 'o' with or without the umlaut! So, what goes on in those soft delicate folds?
In short, selective hearing. From the age of around six months, babies start to focus on vowel sounds. They begin to recognise the ones they hear most often and store them away for future use. Later they do the same with consonants. By the age of one year, they have stored all the sounds they need to communicate. At an older age, language learning becomes progressively more difficult.
Knowledge of music is also learnt in these early months. The more music your child listens to at a young age, the more aware s/he will be of all the sounds in the world. This will give a huge advantage to your child when learning about music, learning to play an instrument and discovering his/her own vocal expressions.
Vocal play is a natural form of communication between parent and child. The more varied it is, the more sounds your child will hear, and therefore remember, and be able to use at a later date. The vocal play in Kindermusik classes will give you some ideas to use at home. There are few, if any, rules so feel free to let loose and express yourself through your own personal instrument – your voice. The sound of the parents' voice is important to a child's listening skills, music ability and language development.