Babies can be puzzling. They are little, they are squishy, and they seem to need help doing everything. And yet we know that huge development is happening on the inside, as their brains grow at an astronomical rate. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What’s going on in there?” you’re not alone. We can help with… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Babies
Music + Your Baby: Talking or Singing?
Parents are sometimes surprised to hear that they can start Music Together® classes with their babies as soon after birth as they’d like. That’s because all children are born music-makers. Yes, your baby’s cries, coos, and squeals are also their first attempts at singing! How do babies go from “aahh!” to “do, re, mi”? Like… Read more »
Making the Most of Music Together: Spotlight on the Keene Family
“Music…was the first language that my children learned. And because all my children attended Music Together, we all ‘speak’ that same language.” Read more
Making Music Together: Building Connections in Mind, Body, and Soul
At one point or another, we have all experienced the connection and bonding that can arise when making music or dancing with another person or in a group. Maybe it was singing in a choir or singing as a family in the car. Read more
First Notes: How Your Baby Responds to Music
Babies noisily make their grand entrances into this world. At first, all of those cries might not sound like music, but they’re really the first signs of a baby’s innate musicality. Just as they have to babble to develop language, babies have to “babble” in music to learn to sing. Little ones are born with a natural capacity to make music, whether they’re cooing, squealing, crying, or, eventually, giggling and babbling. Read More…
Infant Learning and Music
As a new faculty member at Iowa State University in the ‘80s, Sister Lorna Zemke was an important influence for me. Sister taught at Silver Lake College and was a pioneer in prenatal music development. I was fascinated by her program, which involved singing to babies in utero. She observed that newborns recognized their parents’… Read more »
A Music Class for Babies?
When I first started teaching Music Together nearly twenty years ago, I remember trying to explain to my grandmother what my new job was. She seemed to grasp the general concept of a parent-child class that encourages family music-making, where participants learn new songs, play with percussion instruments, and carry on the music at home. But… Read more »
The Power of Lullabies
When my daughter (a recent University of Pennsylvania graduate!) was born, one of my greatest pleasures in being a new mother was singing to her. I sang often: to amuse her, to distract her, to comfort her, and, frankly, to keep my own spirits up as I went about caring for this mysterious, wonderful, yet… Read more »