What’s on Your Baby’s Playlist-Musical Tastes
What is on your baby’s playlist? Exposing your baby to music is one of the more pleasant aspects of parenting. It is a part of their musical journey.
As an adult, you have developed musical tastes and they are reflected in your playlist. You have been on some type of musical journey already. You may be into jazz, R & B, hip hop, rock and roll, a particular decade of music, or classical.
To begin the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey”, your very young baby needs to listen to music that has simple form, recognizable melodies.
It also needs a harmonic structure that ultimately resolves itself.
(That’s a fancy way of saying the end of the music leaves you satisfied that it is completed.)
Quite simply, your baby needs to listen to music that will not rattle their little nervous system. There are plenty of other things that can do that and music doesn’t need to be one of them!
Choosing Music for Your Baby’s Playlist
“If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline, and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.”
Shinichi Suzuki
The music should have:
- A simple structure, not too long or elaborate, about 5 minutes
- Recognizable melodies (tunes), reasonably easy to sing
- A harmonic structure that resolves dissonances (notes that clash with each other and create tension)
- A simple rhythms structure, you can easily tap the beat
- A fairly simple orchestration (in other words, not too many instruments playing that make the music incredibly loud and create too much tension)
Do you notice a common thread here? KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Now, you’ve just had a crash course in music theory! So let’s explore a bit of music history. There are six musical eras that are commonly recognized today.
Don’t worry, we’re only concerned with two of them right now. Keep it simple, right?! If you would like to learn more about these musical eras, http://classicfm.com is an excellent site to check out.
The Baroque and Classical Eras are the two that provide most of the music that would be most appropriate for you baby. This repertoire (fancy word for the music that composers write) best fits into the suggestions given above.
The Baroque Era Playlist (1600-1750)
Johann Pachelbel-almost everyone knows the Canon in D! He wrote other nice stuff, too.
Antonio Vivaldi-a most prolific composer! These are good starts:
- Concerto in A Minor for Violin
- The Four Seasons
- Concerto in C Major for Mandolin
- Concerto in C Major for Piccolo
Georg Friedrich Handel–
OK! Messiah is too long!
- Selections from Music for the Royal Fireworks
- Selections from Water Music Suite
- The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
- Six Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach-I had to specify J.S. because he had several sons who became composers as well.
- Violin Concerto in A Minor
- Violin Concerto in E Major
- Six Suites for Solo Cello
- Goldberg Variations for Keyboard
The Classical Era Playlist (1750-1830)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart-there are numerous composers in this era, but hands down, we almost always land on Mozart. There is plenty from which to choose. The difficulty will be picking a favorite. Here is a start:
- Violin Concertos Nos. 3, 4, or 5
- Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra
- Symphonies Nos. 39, 40, or 41
- Piano Concertos Nos. 20, 21, or 23
- French Horn Concerto
- Oboe Concerto
- Concerto for Flute and Harp-an enchanting piece of music
Now It’s Time to Choose Your Baby’s Playlist!
As you can see, there is no shortage of repertoire to choose to put on your baby’s playlist and they are all beautiful pieces of music.
Your job is to choose ONE piece of music to play for your baby!
Now Do This…
Play that ONE piece DAILY for your baby for 3 months. You will begin to see your baby react when you play that piece of music. They may become quiet and attentive, show excitement and recognition, or have an all together different reaction that you may see every time.
After spending time with this one piece, you will select another piece to add to your baby’s playlist and continue on in this manner. You and your baby will grow to recognize these pieces, know them, and make them a part of yourselves.
This is repetition and thorough mastery that Dr. Suzuki found in the Mother-Tongue Method of Education. We will talk more about those ideas and the Suzuki Early Childhood Education Beliefs and Concepts in the future.
“It is necessary to be concerned about the importance of educating a really beautiful human spirit”
Shinichi Suzuki
For now, begin your baby’s musical journey with this list. Develop your baby’s listening habits with one of these simple, cleanly orchestrated pieces that have pleasing melodies, harmonies, and rhythms.
On the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey” with you,
Susan
Share Your Musical Choices Here
Do you have a favorite piece of music? Or when you choose a piece from the list above, let me know in the Comments below. I would really like to know what piece of music you put on your baby’s playlist!
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