Music Musing Monday - Awareness of beat in music and its significance to children beginning to read language.

Back in June I wrote about the work of Dr Anita Collins, an Australian neuromusical educator from the ACT. Dr Anita Collins has been back in Perth this past week and was a presenter at the national ASME (Australian Society for Music Education) conference held at the University of Western Australia. Although I was unable to attend the conference, I met up for coffee on Saturday with a singing teacher friend and colleague from Sydney. Of course, the conversation turned to the conference themes and presenters and my friend spoke excitedly of the neuromusical research presented – in particular the early childhood musical opportunities which, if utilised, can make a significant difference to a child’s capacity for learning.

We spoke about Dr Collins’ findings that a child who cannot maintain a rhythmic beat is not yet ready to read language. This seems, on one hand a concept so simple, and yet so elusive in our current education systems.

Why do we not train all early childhood teachers in the most fundamental concepts of music – beat and rhythm?

It is important to recognise that this is quite a different need to the equally important one of providing specialist music (and all arts) teachers in primary schools to provide worthwhile teaching and learning experiences. The significance of the early childhood beat and rhythmic work is that, if missed, the neurological benefit cannot be made up for in later childhood. Your thoughts?

I will be asking my primary music and early childhood teacher friends for their most effective classroom beat activities. Watch out for further details in future posts.

In the meantime – keep an eye on Dr Collins’ work – check out ‘Bigger Better Brains’ on facebook.

Music Tip Monday #8 - More on Neuromusical Development.

Children who play an instrument enjoy the ‘rewiring’ effects in their brains of participating in making music while moving (ie the action of playing their particular instrument).

In order for singers to get the same benefit, some movement while singing is necessary. It is not always appropriate for your school choir to move when performing. However we can all get into the habit of moving while warming up the singing voice – perhaps marking beat with some cross-patterning actions or indicating pitch changes with the hands or whole body.

How do you incorporate movement and singing in your teaching room?

Music Tip Monday #7 - Neuromusical education

Last Friday I attended a thought provoking day on music learning and brain development given by Dr Anita Collins, an Australian neuromusical educator from the ACT.

Anita is a passionate, practicing music teacher as well as researcher. Her three sessions focused on how learning music affects the brain and a child’s cognitive development. It was a discussion more about using music education as a powerful tool in building bigger better brains, than about the equally important function of music learning in an arts enriched education.

Here are a few points which resonated strongly with me:

1. Left brain / right brain is an outmoded way of thinking.
   

2. Hearing is our biggest information gathering sense.

3. The ages 0-7 are critical in the first wiring of the brain. Rhythm and beat form the basis of all brain development. ( Aside: any early- childhood classroom teacher is capable of simple beat and rhythm activities and is thereby enhancing the cognitive development of every child in the class)

4. In the ‘first wiring’ stage, significant results can be achieved by just 10 min of beat and rhythm activities per day.

5. After age 7 brain development is considered ‘rewiring’. It can be achieved but requires more minutes per day.

6. Singing and moving engages the whole sensory network.

That is just a taste of Dr Anita Collins’ work. To read more, check out ‘Bigger Better Brains’ on Facebook.