Bird's Eye View
Sing To Me, Please!
Angeline Lee
26 April 2006
A friend of mine related this phenomenal story to me. One day in her 32nd week of pregnancy, she experienced vigorous kicking in her womb. Her plan to rush to the hospital changed when she realized that the kicking (which lasted for 5 minutes) was a not series of haphazard kicks but a steady, consistent, Baroque-like beat. She even timed the beats to be doubly sure.
Being a music teacher herself, she had exposed her unborn baby to Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons daily from the 20th week of her pregnancy. The strange kicking experience was, in actual fact, the Vivaldi Effect. My friend's amazing experience demonstrated that music education begins in the womb.
It is a fact that the unborn child listens to the mother's voice and surroundings in the womb. Astounding research work as documented by music research and child psychologists has revealed that the unborn child communicates feels, memorizes and listens attentively in the womb!
In her book "How to Have a Smarter Baby", Dr. Susan Ludington-Hoe shares this amazing discovery. As soon as conception takes places, the brain cells develop rapidly and once 'cease' operation around the 5th month in pregnancy. By this time, the foetus' brain cells are already set, fixed and determined to grow further through sensory stimulation. As stimulation to the unborn child's senses is extremely important and necessary for positive development, it is time to turn to sound enhancement.
Sound and music are motivating stimulants to the foetus in the 5th month because its acute hearing is capable of receiving sonic stimulation as well as learning about music. Just imagine a sea of sounds from the gushing of blood, flow the bowel movement, the rumbling of the stomach, vibrant pounding heartbeat and her voice (speaking, singing, humming). Naturally this symphony in the womb enriches the foetus' listening skills thus causing more brain cells to multiply.
While the foetus' eyes remain closed, they are sensitive to light between the 13th and the 24th week while their ears start to form from the 4th week after conception. By the time the 8th or 9th week lolls around, the inner part of the ears is developing rapidly. From ultrasound observation, a foetus hears and responds to sound pulses as early as the 13th week. By the 20th week, the unborn child's hearing ability is advanced as that of an adult.
A foetus's ears are necessary for its survival because the sounds it hears will stimulate the growth of the brain cells. Therefore, this is the best time to stimulate the unborn baby with sounds and rhythm (music). By the time your baby is born, his brain would have reached 25% of its eventual adult size.
Through music, your unborn child received its first language lesson. Music is a combination of tonal pitch, timbre, intensity, rhythm and speed. Because these are the same elements we use in our speech, early childhood education experts advocate singing to the unborn child to nurture language development at an early stage.
Dr. Leon Thurman and Anna P.Langness, both American voice instructor and music teacher respectively supported the fact that the parent-child interaction through SINGING could be the potent focus for stimulating activity in all the nervous system.
According to them, humans must hear a lot of singing and speaking before mastering the language. They strongly advise that after the babies' birth, they ought to continue to listen to lots of music. Probably almost all experts and writers on early childhood education recommend singing to and with young children to encourage and nurture language advancement which is significant for human communication and understanding.
Dr. Thomas Verny, a medical doctor says in his book "The Secret Life of the Unborn Child" that the 4th or 5th month foetus responds to sound and melody. He even suggest that an expecting mother would be able to make her unborn child feel more calm and relaxed by listening to soothing music for a few minutes daily. And this emotional experience also does wonders to the mother!
Therefore, with the readiness of the unborn child to listen, what better ways to teach the foetus than to sing 'love songs and lullabies, speak in rhymes, narrate simple and short stories and stimulate further through playing music.
Sing to your baby today
Therefore, with the readiness of the unborn child to listen, what better ways to teach the foetus than to sing 'love songs and lullabies, speak in rhymes, narrate simple and short stories and stimulate further through playing music.
Music helps to bond you with your unborn child
giving him a strong sense of love and security that would ensure stability in the future years. When your baby feels safe and loved, the likelihood of him adopting unbecoming behavioral problems later in life would be reduced considerably.
Music cultivates intelligence and develops the brain!
Although more of a right brain activity, music contains analytical elements that help to develop the left side of the brain. The ancient Greeks had considered music to contain aspects of mathematics such as number relationships, ratios and proportions.
And finally, music develops your baby's confidence in ALL of his learning abilities!
In 1998, Martin Gardiner of Brown University, USA took in 6 and 7 year-old school children and found that they improved academically when they received regular music lessons. According to him "There is no mistake that the biggest thinkers in history had a greater role for the arts in their lives".
Introducing music to your unborn child ensures a bright future for your child, thus giving him a head-start in life. Music holds the key to developing your child mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Angeline Lee is a music educator who specializes in musical education for babies and toddlers. She has set up a centre for music learning, teacher training and rehabilitating at Tadika Sri Sedaya.
