Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pregnancy. Show all posts

Lullaby from Turkey




Turkey is a very special country with very rich culture. It is a Eurasian country located between Europe and Asia. Naturally, Turkish culture is a mixture of Eastern and Western culture. You may click and access to the Turkish Culture Foundation to discover more about this country. Now, let's listen to a Turkish lullaby.

Dandini Dandini Danali


Turkish instruments

1. bağlama (plucked stringed instrument)


2. Duduk (Wind instrument)


You may see other Turkish instruments we've discussed in class by clicking the following links: The Kasik (spoons) , Davul and Tar




This is a photo I took when I was in Istanbul, Turkey in the summer of 2010. The view of this red moon is so pretty!!

Lullaby and "Motherese"

"Motherese" is the term used in child devlopment research which refers to the special inflection, tonality and language used when caregivers (usually, but not necessarily mothers) interact with babies. Usually, we call it "baby talk". It is an interesting topic because it seems like the characteristics of "motherese" are similar across many different cultures.

Naturally, mothers talk and sing to their babies. When I say "singing," it may not even refer to a particular tradition song. How many times have you seen a mother sings a baby to sleep without a specific tune. Mothers know how to soothe their babies best with their voices.

Lullaby is another interesting topic in both music psychology and developmental psychology. Like motherese, there are many features in lullabies across different cultures that are identical. (the form, the interval used, etc.)

Nobody would mind listening to a lullaby because it it so soothing, it reminds us the time when we were in our own cradle. The sense of comfort may be traced back to the time when we were still the womb.

Here, I would like to share two videos from websites that I recommend parents to explore.

1) Language from the Cradle is an EU sponsored project which collect lullabies across Europe. 7 of them were put onto this webiste and Youtube, here's one of them from Czech:



2) Lullabies of the world is a site that i LOVE! This is a Russian site, similar to the one i recommended above, the site shares a collection of animated films based on lullabies of different nations. As you can see from the video below, the animation is of very high quality. I downloaded all 16 of them. This one is my favorite, it's a Chukchi lullaby (they are the indigenous people who lives in the Northern part of Russia). The animation reminds me of the photo I saw recently of a mommy and baby polar bear trapped on a floating iceberg.



Enjoy~

Prenatal music - does it work?

A lot of people have a misconception about "prenatal education." To me, I think the word "education" is misinterpreted when it comes to the topic of fetal learning.

Having read some articles on prenatal music, I know it is just lame to say that babies will grow up to be more musical or smart if they have been exposed to music intentionally when they are still in mothers' wombs. In fact, little is known about the effects of prenatal auditory experiences on infants' postnatal behaviors.

Many aspects from this field (prenatal music) remain unexplore. The following few conclusions are drawn from the research done by a few experts:

- 2-day-old infants recognize and prefer their mothers' voices over that of another woman

- infants recall stories and rhymes heard prenatally

- Infants exhibit changes in heart rate and movement when listening to music that was heard in the womb.

- Infants exposed to music during pregnancy are more likely to develop certain behaviours (might not related to music) at an earlier stage of development than non-exposed infants.

Playing music during pregnancy is not a magic trick; but as a musician, I can't find any reason NOT to play music during pregnancy. If music can soothe the mommy, it naturally send happy hormones to the fetus. So, both intentional and unintentional music listening benefit both mommy and baby.

If you're interested in doing some planned prenatal music listening, here are some of my tips (NOT based on research, I learnt it through talking to moms and families)


- start early (yes, i know the auditory system is not completely developed till the 3rd trimester, but again, I can't give you any reason NOT to start singing to your baby early so that you and your hubby grow familiar with a musical routine)

- Hum all the time (it relaxes the larynx and any tension we've gathered around our necks, and think about it, we only hum when we're relaxed and happy anyways)

- Sing a theme song to your baby, don't be afraid of repetition. (let the bonding start, pick an easy nursery rhyme that you're most comfortable with, e.g. twinkle twinkle little star or row row row your boat. It could become THE song that calms your baby down in future.)

- Classical music is good, but it shouldn't be your only choice. (You can expose them to different genre of music from around the world; you'd be amazed by fetus' reaction to different kinds of rhythms and songs. You may ask, like what kinds of music? I'd say, anything YOU enjoy would be good for your baby!)

- A more technical reminder: if the music routine involves playing a CD, make sure you turn it up a wee bit louder than usually (of course not so loud that can deafen YOU) so that the fetus can hear it better when he/she's in the womb.

- Get your hubby invovled. Ask him to hum, sing, read with you or solo! (I've only come across like 1 or 2 research articles about paternal music influence on fetus/infants. But again, it's the bonding that's most important)

I've done a few presentations on prenatal music. After reading those quantitative reports and journals, I always come to a conclusion that music should start before birth because we all know how music naturally bonds people at good times and bad; during prenatal and post-natal period, when bonding is SO important to the baby, music becomes the obvious starting point.

There is an article that I'd recommend if you're interested in this topic:
Mozart or Bach? Music, Pregnancy, and Fetal Development

Lullaby from Israel


The Jews have gone through a lot of tough times in history; it is not hard to find traces of bitterness in Jewish music. Listen to this lullaby and refer to the translation below, you would be able to empathize some of the deep emotions that mothers and children carry.

By the Wayside stands a tree

By the wayside stands a tree, bent against the storm.
All the birds have deserted it, leaving it alone and unprotected.
A child says to his mother:"I will become a bird
and sit in the tree to comfort it with my song during the winter."

"No, my child," his mother weeps,
"you will freeze to death, sitting in the tree.
But if you really must, be sure to put on your scarf and galoshes,
your fur hat and warm underwear."

The child sings:
"I lift up my wings but cannot fly.
My clothes are too heavy.
Sadly I gaze into my mother's eyes,
knowing that it was her love for me
that prevented me from soaring like a bird."


A very old Jewish instrument - Shofar
The Shofar is the horn of a ram. It is mentioned a lot in the old testament of the Holy Bible. In Jewish tradition, the shofar is played during religious ceremonies. In modern time, composers have incorporated the sound into their music. Let's listen to the shofar's sound.

In class, we have also discussed about the Wailing Wall at Jerusalem, you may click HERE to see the view the scene at the Wailing Wall.

Lullaby from Russia (The Chukchi Tribe)


Among the over 140,000,000 Russians, there lives many small ethnic groups. One of them is the CHUKCHI tribe. "Chukchi" means rich in reindeer - yes the Chukchi tribe leads a life which us, city dwellers, cannot imagine. Chukchi children learn to herd reindeers, build their homes which keep them warm and they learn to hunt whales - all the skills that is necessary for the tribe's survival in the cold weather. The following video tells you a bit about the Chukchi tribe.




Music exists in every culture, even at the end of the world! Chukchi people sing and dance and they have a unique music culture. Let's listen to a Chukchi song along with a video that shows you the life of this tribe.





Let's listen to a Chukchi lullaby and find out how Chukchi parents calm a baby!


Rosie's Lullaby


Norah Jones is a famous singer in the USA. She also plays the piano, the guitar and makes occasional appearance in movies. She started her singing career in 2002; her songs are very popular and have brought her a few Grammy Awards. Miss Jone's full name is Geethali Norah Jones Shankar - her father, Ravi Shanker, is one of the best sitar player in the world. You may click HERE to see a performance of Ravi Shankar. Now, let's listen to Norah Jones' Rosie's Lullaby, a track from her 2007 album, Not too Late.





Rosie's Lullaby



She walked by the ocean,


And waited for a star,

To carry her away.



Feelin' so small,

At the bottom of the world,

Lookin' up to God.



She tries to take deep breaths,

To smell the salty sea,

As it moves over her feet.



The water pulls so strong,

And no-one is around,

And the moon is looking down.



Sayin',

Rosie - come with me,

Close your eyes - and dream.

The big ships are rollin',

And lightin' up the night,

And she calls out, but they just her pass by.



The waves are crashin',

But not making a sound,

Just mouthing along.



Sayin',

Rosie - come with me,

Close your eyes and dream,

Close your eyes and dream,

Close your eyes and dream.

Lullaby from India

Hinduism is an important religion in India; it also plays a huge influence in arts. India has a rich music culture; its music system is totally different from the Western music's system. (for example, they don't go by d-r-m-f-s-l-t-d') Therefore, you can expect that Indian music sounds very different from what our ears are used to. Let's start with a lullaby. The following lullaby, Krishna, an Indian god, and his mother.



The SITAR is a plucked stringed instrument commonly used in Indian music; it is like a guitar with 21, 22 or 23 strings. One of the most famous sitar player in history is Ravi Shankar (born 1920), who also brought sitar music to European countries. Let's lisetn to his performance.



The Tabla drum is also very important to Indian music. Let's hear a demonstration introduced by Ravi Shankar. You will start to notice how differently the Indian musicians feel rhythms.  Please click HERE to learn some of the most popular Indian tala.  (For teachers, click to view an Indian Music Worksheet)


The Western world is inspired by Ravi Shankar's virtuostic playing. Perhaps his musical gene is in his blood; he has definitely passed his musicality onto his daughter. Miss Shankar has established a very successful singing career in the USA; we know her as Norah Jones. You may click HERE to hear a lullaby that's from her 2007 album "Note too late."

Lullaby from Japan






The Cow Herder and the Weaver Princess



There was once a weaver princess called Orihime and a cow herder named Hikoboshi living beyong the Mily Way. The Princess' father and king decided that Hikoboshi was a good candidate as his daughter's husband. But after the two of them met each other, they fell so much in love that they forgot their jobs and played all the time. The king was angry with them and separated them on opposite sides of the river. But when the king saw how much grief his daughter felt, he made a deal with the couple. The king allowed them to meet only once a year on 7th July. This become the Star Festival (Tanabata) in Japan.



Not only is this a legendary folktale in Japan. The 7th July in also celebrated by the Chinese in the name of the two lovers. In fact, as we have discussed in class, Japanese culture and Chinese culture do have a lot in common


Let's now watch a performance of traditional Japanese music, which includes the Koto (琴 or 箏), the Shamisen (三味線) and the Shakuhachi (尺八). (You may click HERE if you would like to read more about Traditional Japanese music)





Traditional music has lost its popularity because of its slow speed and repetative sound. There are many ways to save these traditions. One of them is to play these instruments in a pop style, although the older generation may frown at this, the Shamisen version of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi can certainly draws more attention from the young generation!




If you'd like to learn more about Japanese culture, you may visit KIDS WEB JAPAN.

Lullaby from Azerbaijan



Azerbaijan is the largest country in the region of EURASIA - at the crossroad of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Azeri music has long tradition. Its style is a mix of Turkish and Iranian music. Let's start our unit by listetning to a lullaby from Azerbaijan which tells the story about an Azeri baby's dream.


English Translation

Sleep very very sweet my baby grow up,
Become big and clever my baby
One day you'll add your voice
To the voice of universe, my baby
Every passing bird, every river says lay-lay to you
My baby in our most joyful and beautiful motherland
You are my pride and joy
You are my soul that is within my own soul
Your breath is so clean and innocent
Like the light wind in the field

Let's watch another video which is a clip of Iranian cartoon. You can see some instruments that are common around the Eurasia area. You can also see and hear the two Azeri strings instruments which we have discovered in class, Tar and Kamancheh. 

Creative and beatiful baby pictures

This is an awesome series of beautiful pictures taken by a creative mother, Adele Enersen, while her baby princess is asleep. =)





Beautiful, aren't they? Please click to its original link to see more!


Every moment is a precious moment



Mamas and papas have to be task-jugglers in order to survive parenthood nowadays. On top of giving children our undivided attention, we have to work, run errands, keep a social life, etc. Some parents have a guilty feeling about not being able to spend enough time educating their children.

Actually, let's forget about playing playdough, music or flashcards for a while. Do children stop getting information from their surrounding environment while we stop using these stimulus? The answer is obvious. Therefore, busy parents, we can sometimes sit back and let the enviornment teach what our children need to know.

Recently, Zero to Three has published a downloadable series called The Magic of Everyday Moments. (one for babies 9-12 months old; another one for toddlers 18-24 months old)

These two booklets reminds us how daily routines, like running errands, going to the grocery and saying hello and goodbye, play an important role in our children's development. It also tells us what to expect from our children and how to interpret their responses in the most ordinary situations.

To children, every moment is a precious moment - only if parents can see that as well! =)

Please click on the links below for the whole recommended series:



The Magic of Everyday Moments (6-9 months) [1324.52kb, .pdf, 20 pages]





All downloadable folders from this articles are from www.kpirc.org

音樂與BB (0 至 9 個月)

這幾年﹐遊戲班的冒起令家長開始留意到學前教育的重要性。坊間的選擇眾多﹔音樂﹑體操﹑語文等等都是家長的選擇。未知家長們有否留意﹐大部份的遊戲班通常都建議BB在六個月大時開始參加﹐只有音樂班會歡迎剛出生的BB參加。(從前教音樂班﹐最小的學生在參加時只有三個星期大﹔每個星期看著他一點一點地成長是多麼奇妙的事情!)

那是為什麼﹖難到體操班﹑語文班不想早早招攬生意嗎﹖BB通常會在出生後的頭六個月﹐慢慢掌握從頭﹑到頸﹑到上半身﹐最後到下半身的活動。這是生長的定律﹐不用上課﹐不用特別訓練﹐正常的BB也會自然達標。既然還未能坐起﹑未能轉身﹐當然沒有需要上體操課﹑Flashcard課。但音樂不同﹐BB的聽力早在他們出生前已經很發達﹔他們喜歡聽爸爸媽媽的聲音﹑他們才幾個月大便已經有自己喜歡的音樂。(如喜歡簡單的旋律﹑不喜歡吵耳的Rock 'n Roll﹑喜歡唱歌聲音多於樂器聲等。)

其實不用上遊戲班﹐父母都可以在家透過音樂與BB玩遊戲。以下是我從Zero to Three出版的“Getting in Tune"裡﹐針對零至九個月BB的部份。希望在這裡跟各位父母分享。


1) 用音樂建立關係 (Bonding with your child through music)

出生後不久﹐BB便會認出爸爸媽媽的聲音。聽到父母的聲音﹐他們會特別安心﹔所以請不要小跟BB說話與唱歌的時間。那是小孩子跟父母建立互信的第一步啊!

如果你有細心留意﹐不論國籍﹐當成年人跟BB說話的時候﹐我們總會提高音調﹑放輕聲量﹐而且說話的內容通常都很有節奏。BB未必會分辨出那究竟是音樂還是說話﹔他們就是愛聽。

BB很喜歡看著你說話和唱歌﹐大一點的BB甚至會開始模仿。有時候﹐看久了﹐BB會把頭擰開。爸爸媽媽﹐請不要介意﹐他們不是不喜歡﹔他們只是剛才太專著看你而變得累了。這時候你可以把他的頭貼在你的胸口﹐聽你繼續輕輕唱歌說話直到入睡 - 他們會睡得特別甜因為那感覺就像當天住在媽媽的肚子裡那樣安全。

當我鼓勵父母跟BB唱歌﹐他們有時會覺得尷尬﹔因為他們覺得自己不懂唱歌﹐有的更誇張說怕自己會弄得孩子五音不全。我對他們說﹐在這個階段﹐BB需要的不是一個模仿對象而是一份安全感與歸屬感 - 而只有父母的聲音才夠滿足他們。


2) 從音樂中學習 (Learning through melodies and movement)

當我談嬰兒﹑幼兒的音樂發展﹐我通常會特意迴避用“教育”二字。因為家長對“教育”有特定的期望﹐所以如果他們看見“幼兒音樂教育”﹐他們便會立即聯想到一些不設實際的假設﹔比如說他們希望音樂能令孩子聰明些。音樂的好處並不存在一種與其他科目的因果關係 ﹔如“因為學音樂﹐所以幼兒能數數”或“因為學音樂﹐所以BB的集中力提昇了”- 這些想法即使來自有學術研究﹐對我來說都不及一句“因為學音樂﹐孩子便愛音樂”來得重要。

在幼兒明白語言之前﹐他們已經記得旋律。如果你在BB睡前給他唱同一首歌﹐他們會把那旋律和安靜聯繫在一起。他們不需要知道那是首有關星星或綿羊的歌﹔只要旋律一想起﹐他們便知道爸爸媽媽想他們怎樣 (當然他們服從不服從又是另一回事)。這不正是溝通的第一步嗎﹖而教育跟本就是兩代間的溝通。

等BB長大一點﹐這種溝通會漸漸變成雙向。你跟他們說話﹐他們會靜靜聽﹔當你停頓﹐他們便會模仿你去“發言”。不要看漏這小小的一步﹐"turn-taking"是很多幼稚園生還未學會的習慣啊! 再大一點﹐他們會開始一些律動﹔他們會搖晃身體或坐著用屁股彈彈彈﹐然後到大肌肉的活動﹑最後連小肌肉也能參與舞蹈!我們不需要刻意“教”BB怎樣拍手﹑怎樣轉圈。只要他們有機會多看﹐很自然地﹐他們便會開始模仿。所以﹐爸爸媽媽﹐請不要覺得害羞!與你的BB盡情跳舞﹐他們看見自己的父母享受音樂﹑享受舞蹈﹐他們怎會不熱愛這兩種藝術。說到底﹐BB時期的教育其實來自父母對不同事情的熱愛。媽媽愛音樂﹐BB自然喜歡聽歌﹔爸爸愛遠足﹐BB會喜歡親近大自然﹐同樣地﹐媽媽愛shopping﹑爸爸愛跑馬﹐BB也愛...=)


3) 用音樂去啟發創意 (Music - Creativity connection)

BB的創意﹐是成年人不能理解的。他們聽到音樂﹐會開始動起來﹔雖然他們的律動沒有特定節奏和拍子﹐但看他們快樂的樣子﹐我們成年人不得不承認BB真的懂得陶醉於自己的音樂世界裡。到他們的小手能夠捏東西﹐他們又會隨著音樂響起而搖動手裡的小樂器。

從前有家長在上課後緊張地問我﹕“我的寶寶怎麼還不懂得跟這老師做﹖老師打鼓﹐他卻自己爬開﹔老師說要安靜﹐他卻偏要繼續打鼓。怎辦﹖”我通常會笑著回答﹕“如果一個還未滿一歲的BB能夠完全跟著老師做﹐那不是很可怕嗎﹖”我常說﹐遊戲班裡的活動﹐根本是滿足成年人的安排。一堂四十五分鐘﹐先有歡迎歌﹐再來按摩﹑接著有快歌跳舞﹑玩樂器﹐最後有慢歌時間讓BB靜下來 - 這樣兩百塊錢總算沒有白花。但我相信每位父母都知道﹐那種走馬看花的速度﹐與BB的學習速度根本完全不配合。爸爸媽媽﹐要緊記﹐無論何時﹐BB都需要時間去聽﹑去想﹑去觸摸﹑去記住﹔趕快地完成打鼓﹑跳舞﹑搖鈴等活動﹐覺得多姿多彩的﹐到頭來只有父母。

對我而言﹐音樂課裡最美麗的一刻是當成年人便成旁觀者時﹐BB會在音樂裡決定自己表達的方式 - 有的會爬來爬去﹑有的會呆著看其他人爬來爬去﹑有的會咿咿呀呀地叫﹑有的會抱著爸爸媽媽﹔ 藝術的美正在於百花齊放﹐而創意就是跟別人不一樣。

耳朵是關不掉的﹐無論BB選擇在聽音樂是做什麼﹐只要是安全﹐便隨他們罷!

This article is inspired by the outline of "Getting in Tune" by Zero to Three, please click here to access to the original .pdf publication.

A beautiful Jewish Lullaby - By the Wayside stands a tree

The Jews have gone through a lot of tough times in history; it is not hard to find traces of bitterness in Jewish music. Listen to this lullaby and refer to the translation below, you would be able to empathize some of the deep emotions that mothers and children carry.


By the Wayside stands a tree

By the wayside stands a tree, bent against the storm.
All the birds have deserted it, leaving it alone and unprotected.
A child says to his mother:"I will become a bird
and sit in the tree to comfort it with my song during the winter."

"No, my child," his mother weeps,
"you will freeze to death, sitting in the tree.
But if you really must, be sure to put on your scarf and galoshes,
your fur hat and warm underwear."

The child sings:
"I lift up my wings but cannot fly.
My clothes are too heavy.
Sadly I gaze into my mother's eyes,
knowing that it was her love for me
that prevented me from soaring like a bird."

Ear & Eye Candy




Human senses are amazing. I bet most of us would perceive these pictures of desert plants differently just by quickly glancing at them. What we see, hear, smell, taste and touch have the potential to cause immediate changes to our heartbeat rate, our breathing rhythm and our emotional state.

Pregnant women tend to be more sensitive to these changes within as they always pay attention to the little life that's living inside their bodies. That's why it's encouraged that moms-to-be should look at beautiful things. Some Chinese from the older generation even believe that by looking at pretty baby photos during pregnancy, baby would become more beautiful after birth.

Because of my work, sometime, I would go online and look for some pictures of artwork and photos. To me, many beautiful pictures I've seen are either photos of the nature or paintings that are inspired by mother nature. I find it very soothing and inspiring when I simply browse through a series of nature picutres. (If moms-to-be are looking for entertainment at home, why not look at these pictures instead of a tabloid magazine?)

Sometimes, when I reflect on my own teaching, I would question myself if I've overwhelmed children with too many instructions and activities. They're already doing so much during the day, don't they deserve a rest? I'm trying to set aside the last few minutes of class for plain music sharing. Without my talking, children can watch a music video or listen to a song while they rest their head on the desks with their friends - perhaps this is the moment some of them treasure most in a music class.

This is a music video of some very ordinary pictures and a familiar song, yet it has over 10,000,000 hits on youtube. Sometimes, we forget what a wonderful world we've living in until we see the most ordinary things from mother natre.



Another video that I'd like to share with my students is this one:



The background music "You are my sunshine" (performed by Elizabeth Mitchell) is one of my all-time-favorite songs. And I love the randomness of the photos in the slideshow - if we look around carefully, we can find sunshine everywhere! =)

How Mother Goose helps Baby Massage


Baby massage has become quite popular. Even if parents do not know the massage techniques, they still enjoy touching their baby gently because they know that their babies like it. Baby massage is an intimate time between mommy/daddy and baby - baby lies down comfortably at a position where they can make eye contact with mommy/daddy (whoever's giving the massage), and they long for every touch. Although it feels vulnerable when we lie down with the tummy facing the sky, but babies know that mommy/daddy is not going to harm them - this is one of the the first steps of trust-building between parents and baby. (This can also explains why some babies do not feel comfortable lying down in a class or any other strange environment; they do not feel as secured as they are at home.)



If massage is not a pre-naptime routine for the baby, parents may move onto a series of gentle streching exercises so that babies can enjoy the fun moving their limbs and joints.



Click here to learn more about the benefits of infant massage and how it help babies grow (source from Infant Massage USA) .



Some parents choose to play gentle music during massage and more up-beated music during exercises. Even better, some parents would sing a song or speak a rhyme when they play with their babies - this is when the Mother Goose Rhymes can come into play. Since it's a collection of English rhymes from quite long time ago, there exists some old English. (e.g. Bow wow wow, who's dog art thou...) Although the content is suitable for children, I feel that it is not the best resource for speech training for older children. So I guess these rhymes are meant to be read by adults to children.



Please click here for the complete collection of Mother Goose Rhymes in alphabetical order



Even if you consider yourself as not so musical, it is quite easy to speak the rhymes to a steady beat. Since I've shared with you earlier on how babies like steady beat, it's musical and fun while parents accompany massage and exercises with songs and rhymes.



If you're not familiar with Mother Goose rhymes, I can share with you 10 of my personal favorites:



1) Baa baa black sheep

2) Dickory, dickory dare

3) Diddle diddle dumpling

4) Hey diddle diddle

5) Jack and Jill

6) Jack be nimble

7) Little boy blue

8) Oh dear! What can the matter be?

9) Ride a cock-horse

10) Wee willie winkie



There's another Mother Goose website I'd recommend. The page design is not great (and it has non-stop music accompanying it, which makes the homepage quite annoying) , but if you browse around you can find some downloadable games (with Mother Goose rhymes themes) and printable resources, which are suitable for older children. Click here if you'd like to explore it.

On Youtube, there is a series (9 in total) of Mother Goose Cartoons which includes the melodies of many tunes. Here is the first video of the nine.

Music perception and Cognition in the First Year of Life (Ilari, 2002)

This is a journal title from an 2002 issue of the Early Child Development and Care; the author is a professor from McGill who has contributed a lot to this field.

The article tries to review the literature published and experiments done on music perception and cognition for babies.

The first thing I looked at was its 3-pages long references. I took out my highlighter and highlighted the key words to all the relevant researches. The following is the list of research done about BB's musical perception:

- Perception of duple versus triple meter (and BB usually prefers duple)
- Perception of temporal grouping in auditory patterns (that's like tempo and meter and stuff....)
- Preferences of major/minor
- Rhythm perception
- Speech perception
- Preferences for motherese speech
- Musical memory (which is a popular one)
- Sensitivity and perception to phrase structure
- The head-turn preference (this is a very interesting test)
- Categorization of musical motifs
- Pitch contours discrimination
- Perception of time and temporal regularion
- Perception of melodies
- Perception of timbre
- Music and speech processing
- Perception of good and bad melodies
- Perception of consonance and dissonance

Though, just like any research, all of these researches and studies have their limitations, psychologists are trying to prove babies' potential among the many facets of music~And these research are all published in prominent (developmental) psychology journals and bulletins~I wish I'll have time to read each of them~


ON PITCH PERCEPTION
(Based on clinical research done from 1984 - 2000)

- Infants perceive pitch while still in the womb
- Infants discriminate low pitch sounds, and hear them better than sounds with high pith.

This pattern reverses by six months:
- Not only can they discriminate low pitches better than low ones, they also show preference for high-pitched sound


ON PERCEPTION OF MELODY AND CONTOUR
(Based on clincial research results from 1984 to 1999)

(Note: melodic contour = the up and down of pitches in a melody)

- 6- to 8-month-olds can discriminate a change of a single pitch in a short melody previously heard (GING! That's like ABRSM Grade 1-3 aural test!)

- 8- to 11-month-old could discriminate some altered versions of a melody heard

- Infants encode melodic information by focusing on contour

- Infants can discrimiate semitone changes, even frequency smaller than a semitone

Implication:
- Aside from musical relevance, pitch and melody plays a big role in the aquisition of language.


ON PERCEPTION OF NON-WESTERN MUSICAL SCALES AND STYLES
(Based on clinical research done in 1990 & 1992)

- 6-months old infants show equal ability in detecting mistunings in all kinds of scales (western ones - major/minor, or non-western ones, the Javanese pelog scale in this study)

- By 12 months old, they can perform better when detecting mistunings in Western scales (major and augmented scales in the study)

Implication:
Acculturation plays an important role in music perception


ON HARMONIC PERCEPTION
(Based on clinical research done from 1991 to 1998)

- at 4 months old, infants show bias toward the consonant version over the dissonant verstion of the same songs.

- Infants can detect more changes in simpler intervals (e.g. minor 3rd, s-m) than in complex intervals (e.g. augmented 4th, d-fi)

- Infants prefer consonant (major, in the study) to dissonant (augmented) triads.

- Can discriminate changes of patterns in related keys more easily than unrelated ones.

Implication:
- infants prefer music with simple melodies and uncomplicated and repetitive accompaniments. (That's why children are usually drawn to pure singing!)


ON PERCEPTION OF RHYTHM, TEMPO AND METER
(Based on clinical research done from 1977 to 2001)

- Rhythm has something to do with perceptual grouping skill which occurs in early life.

- 6- to 9-months old can detect the alterations of rhythm within a repetitive pattern group.

- Infants group rhythmic figures by similarity

- Infants can readily discriminate contrasting rhythmic patterns.

- Infatns prefer duple meters (e.g. a marching piece) to triple meter (e.g. a waltz) (I think it's because duple meters are similar to the eveness of mothers' heartbeat and walking pace....seldom do people walk with a waltzing beat in daily life...)

- Infants can discriminate between contrasting meters and tempo (see how they get excited when they here fast music and calmed by lullabies)

Reference:

Ilari, B.S., (2002) Music Perception and Cognition in the First Year of Life, Early child Development and Care, 172(3), 311-322.

Music during pregnancy

The great Hungarian music educator, Zoltan Kodaly, once said, "Music education should start 9 months before baby is born."

Prenatal music reminds to be an under-explored field in psychology and music. However, it is quite obvious that music can have positive effects on pregnant women both physiologically and psychologically. The well-being of every mom-to-be is so closely-tied to fetus' development.

I have come across two recent articles on the internet which you may be interested in. One is Familiar Music Can Work Wonders For Your Pregnancy, published in December 2009 and the other is Music during Pregnancy, published in Oct 2008. They both very informative and reliable sources which includes results from clinical experiments.

Lullaby by Goran Bregovic

A lullaby by Goran Bregovic.

Bregovic is a modern composer from Eastern Europe. His song, like this one, carries the musical heritage of Serbian and Romanian themes. Hopefully, this can serve as an alternative to Classical music listening.

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