Preschoolers and Music: Sophisticated Ears
It’s summer, and my neighborhood is buzzing with “eight and unders” manning lemonade stands, creating sidewalk chalk masterpieces, and chasing each other through sprinklers. Summer is magic. Yesterday’s magic was especially interesting though. Gathered on my front porch were no fewer than eight preschoolers and kindergarteners sampling music from a variety of CDs. Their CD player had a built-in microphone that was used as a karaoke prop for only the best of songs. And as I listened to the children give commentary, I noticed something quite interesting. These children knew what they liked—and they knew why! In their own way, these little ones articulated ideas about rhythm, beat, lyrical quality, and melody.
Being an author of a preschool curriculum that offers music, I was curious how our music would be perceived by the children on my porch (excluding my son who will be entering first grade and who knows all the songs by heart). Of the 16 tracks, the following songs were voted as the top three: “Gone Investigating,” “Over in the Meadow,” and “Bad Weather Blues.” There was even a tussle for the microphone about halfway through the blues song. Now that’s an endorsement!
