Music, Movement and Rhyme: The Essentials for the Developing Child

Today's Therapist Sept/Oct 2007

There are many benefits to be gained from singing rhymes with babies and children whilst encouraging them to do simple exercises in time to the rhythm of the songs.  Not only can singing and movement enhance a child’s overall development, it can be fun and enhances communication between parents and their baby because it gives them the opportunity to watch and learn about their growing child.  As communication, understanding and respect are enhanced, so too is the parent-child bond. 

A BABY’S NEED FOR MOVEMENT

Primitive Reflexes

At birth a baby’s motor development is immature, so initially they rely on a set of basic primitive reflexes to assist them in the early stages of their life. Primitive reflexes require no frontal brain (thought process) activity; as they are activated from the brainstem, which creates a specific, automatic response.  These reflexes are essential for helping a baby through the birth, as well as for survival in the first few weeks of life and are progressively integrated into movements that help them through some early developmental stages (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).  For example, the Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex supports the early stages of head control, balance and postural stability; the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck reflex assists early reaching movements; and the Babinski Reflex helps with commando crawling.

Postural Reflexes

As a baby’s motor development improves, the primitive reflexes gradually become inhibited and are replaced by postural reflexes; which help them to balance and coordinate their body (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).  These reflexes will remain with the child for life.  The ability to balance is largely due to the vestibular system, which is situated in the inner ear.  Movement stimulates the vestibular system and in the early months of life this greatly contributes to the necessary development of motor skills (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).

The more a baby has the opportunity to move, the more they will develop muscle strength and tone, which is also important to help a child balance and coordinate properly (Goddard-Blythe, 2005), so that they can eventually stand and walk and manage the world around them.  The more a baby has the opportunity to move freely and to experience the world from many different dimensions (such as moving round in circles, up and down, from side to side as well as backwards and forwards), greater is their ability to take control of their movements; and the development of postural reflexes will be enhanced.

If a child does not pass through each of the developmental milestones (sitting, rolling over, commando crawling, crawling on all fours, standing, walking) the postural reflexes may remain under-developed (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).  This could be detrimental to the developing child, who may struggle to socialise or build relationships; and they may have emotional issues and learning difficulties later in life (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).

The cross-lateral movements used at the crawling stages are not only vital to help inhibit primitive reflexes and develop postural ones: they will also help general brain development, particularly in relation to the child’s ability to read when they reach school age (Marshall, 1999).  This is because this type of movement supports the development of the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain – thus encouraging greater cooperation between both sides of the brain (Hannaford, 1995).

 

THE NEED FOR MUSIC, SINGING AND RHYME

In light of the fact that music forms part of the structure of a society; and nursery rhymes form part of a culture’s linguistic customs and traditions, it is not surprising to find that music is considered to be crucial for a child’s social development (Cross, 2005).

Communicating From Birth

From birth, a baby is capable of communicating and actually becoming involved in a dialogue that involves turn-taking; much as a conversation between adults does.  In particular, a baby enjoys ‘chatting’ with their mother, whose voice is familiar to them because they became used to (and biased towards) their voice whilst in the womb (Welsh, 2005); and because it is the right pitch and melody to keep the baby interested in a ‘conversation’ (Trevarthen & Malloch, 2002; Welsh, 2005).  It is important that a baby is able to see and hear the person singing or speaking to them, which tends to prompt them to become more attentive and calm (Welsh, 2005).  This ultimately enhances the infant-parent interaction (Sawyer, 2005), because whilst taking time to ‘chat’ or sing, parent’s will have the opportunity to increase their understanding of their baby’s cues; and the baby will be able to learn from the experience as they start to interpret their parents’ emotions and behaviour towards them. 

Dysfunctional Interaction?

However, issues arise for mothers with postnatal illness, as they tend to have quieter, lower pitched voices and are less inclined to observe and follow the turn-taking ‘rules’ of a conversation.  Generally the pause between the mother’s speech and the baby’s is longer than the baby is attuned to and prefers (Welsh, 2005).

Singing nursery rhymes may potentially help overcome this situation, as the majority of rhymes need to be sung in a higher pitch than normal, as well as at a specific (usually upbeat) speed and tempo.

Some parents do not have depression, but still feel uncomfortable ‘chatting’ to their baby.  This is unfortunate, as it affects the child’s potential; in particular language development and social ability.  Encouraging parents to sing to their baby overcomes their need to think about what to ‘say’ to them.

Linking Music And Speech

Both music and language are considered to be ‘communicative mediums’ (Cross, 2005). Generally, communication between a parent and baby is musical or ‘proto-musical’ (Cross, 2005) by nature because it includes pitch contours, rhythmical timing, turn-taking and links sound and movement.  There is more than a notable connection between music and speech (Sawyer, 2005), particularly as the strong timing and rhythmic elements of music impact on the speech centres in the brain (Thaut, 2005).  Babies have the ability to imitate simple rhythms long before they develop speech (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).  A baby’s babbling has pitch, tone and rhythm - all of which are key elements of music and are deeply entwined with early language development (Cross, 2005). 

Singing And Speech

Adults generally tend to distinguish between ‘speech’ and ‘singing’, but babies and young children tend not to make this distinction (Welsh, 2005).   When ‘chatting’, babies will imitate the tone and tempo of adult speech, long before they can talk.  The sound of this ‘chatting’ is usually melodious, as if they are singing or humming a song (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).  From a developmental point of view, this is the fledging stages of a child’s vocabulary bank forming (Welsh, 2005).

In response to a baby’s need to sing when ‘chatting’, it is common for parents to reply accordingly, using, what is known as, infant-directed speech (‘motherese’ or ‘parentese’).  Infant-directed speech is, in fact, very similar to the singing of lullabies and nursery rhymes; because the acoustic features tend to be simple, repetitive, higher pitched than usual speech and expressive (Welsh, 2005).

Music, Singing And Child Development

Music and singing can be very positive for a young child’s overall development.  It can affect the overall functioning of the nervous, endocrine and immune systems (Thurman & Welsh, 2000).  Music, in particular, also contributes to brain development, as it is a powerful tool for supporting learning and develops left-hemisphere abilities, and the development of the inner ear and links motor skills, sounds and visual images that are essential for reading and writing skills (Goddard-Blythe, 2005).  Also, the critical aspects of timing and sequencing within music and rhyme may positively affect a child’s attention and their ability to make decisions (Thaut, 2005); and can enhance short-term memory because of the repetitive nature of singing (Goddard-Blythe, 2005). 

RHYTHM – A COMBINATION OF MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

Although it is possible to experience music in isolation and movement without music, often one enhances the other.  Imagine how difficult it would be to stay perfectly still whilst a favourite piece of music or song was playing?  Or, how much easier an aerobics class is when there is music and song to assist the timing of the exercises.   This is because music and singing impact on the sensory systems in the brain that control the timing, sequencing and co-ordination of movement (Thaut, 2005).  Furthermore, sounds have the capacity to stimulate the spinal motor neurons at the brainstem and spinal cord level.  This promotes a state of readiness for the execution of movement (Thaut, 2005).

The repetitive element of singing rhymes is enhanced when accompanied by rhythmical exercises, which can help a child retain their flexibility, gain strength and improve muscle tone; as well as potentially enhancing the development of co-ordination and balance.  Joining a class to enjoy the benefits of rhyme and exercise gives the opportunity for parents to sing in a group, which can reduce stress hormones and muscle tension and help the heart rate normalise.  Also, combining rhymes and exercise for children gives the parent and child time together to just have some ‘fun’!

Pauline Carpenter is the Chair for the Guild of Infant and Child Massage www.gicm.org.uk and a Director of Touch-Learn Ltd.  www.touchlearn.co.uk , a training company offering infant massage and Rhythm Kids™ music and movement teacher training courses.  Pauline has also co-authored ‘Teach Yourself Baby Massage And Yoga’ and ‘Rhythm Kids: Fun Time Exercises for Babies’.

References

Cross, I. (2005) Music And Meaning, Ambiguity And Evolution  In Miell, D. MacDonald, R. & Hargreaves, D.J. Musical Communication  Oxford University Press  Oxford

Goddard-Blythe, S. (2005)  The Well Balanced Child  Hawthorn Press  Stroud

Hannaford, C. (1995) Smart Moves: Why Not All Learning Is In Your Head Great Ocean Publishers US

Marshall, C. (1999)  Reading and Writing and…….. PMEA News, cited on www.menc.org/networks/genmus/litarticles.html

Sawyer, R.K. (2005) Music And Conversation  In Miell, D. MacDonald, R. & Hargreaves, D.J. Musical Communication  Oxford University Press  Oxford

Thaut, M.H. (2005)  Rhythm, Human Temporality, And Brain Function  In Miell, D. MacDonald, R. & Hargreaves, D.J.  Musical Communication  Oxford University Press  Oxford

Trevarthen, C. & Malloch, S.  (2002)  Musicality And Music Before Three: Human Vitality And Invention Shared With Pride  Zero to Three  Vol. 23  No. 1

Welsh, G.F. (2005)  Singing As Communication  In Miell, D. MacDonald, R. & Hargreaves, D.J.  Musical Communication  Oxford University Press  Oxford