Early musical education - opportunities and opportunities

Early musical education includes all types of encountering small children with music. Learning an instrument is not yet necessary. For some, early promotion of children with musical activity has the aftertaste of a drill to instrumental virtuosos or for the purpose of systematic improvement in mental abilities.

However, the correct emphasis lies on promoting a child's natural systems with the experience and experience of music without coercion and above all without fear.

What is traditional early musical education?

With beginnings in the 18th century, early support and early teaching in music has been established since the 19th century. A well -known example is the promotion and training of the pianist and composer Clara Schumann by her father.

Musical early funding is institutionalized in programs of many music schools for children , especially between the age of 4 and 6 years. In the background of these programs, there is often the idea of preparing the children for later lessons in vocals or instrumental games. The content therefore often includes getting to know the notes for the first time, even if, of course, singing , dancing and playing, for example on Orff instruments, are the focus in such programs.

How is early musical education seen in the extended sense?

Their basic idea sees music as a natural result of the basic human behaviors and forms of expression. Singing develops from melodic speaking, dance from every rhythmic movement. Instrumental game results from the connection of the generation of tones of different heights with the human voice and with objects of the environment.

Musical early funding includes all of these aspects and not only in an institutional framework. Every encounter with music even before birth and afterwards until the beginning of formal lessons in instrumental play or singing and dance is part of early music pedagogy .

This type of elementary music can also be followed after the transition to formal lessons. Music for early funding also has a charm for mature musicians who can enrich her more demanding musical activities her whole life.

What role do talent and plants play in early musical funding?

The debate about the weighting of Nature Versus Nurure has been an issue for a very long time and affects the entire spectrum of human activities. It can be determined that our understanding of human neurology is still far too low to finally decide this debate with derivations from corresponding scientific results.

For the closer area of ​​music, however, certain statements can be made about the framework conditions. Extremes are of interest not only for those directly affected, but for everyone. The young Mozart ideal conditions for his musical development in the household of his father's household, but also the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach .

In the Mozart family, the son became more important musician than the father, in the Bach family it is reversed. These examples suggest that not only the environment, but also natural systems of a musician are essential for his career.

The experience of many musicians shows that talents are not only different in size, but also in type. Some musicians are good leaf players, others find it difficult. Nevertheless, such interpreters can have great success with carefully prepared pieces. Similar differences can be seen in topics such as improvisation and hearing.

From these empirical values, a lot can be derived about the role of an experienced educator for music education . Numerous methods are already available for the imparting of musical content that support themselves strongly on information technology. However, a pedagogue who stands by a expectant musician with advice and an assessment is still necessary.

Should you eradicate certain weaknesses or better concentrate on your strengths? Such an assessment should hardly be automated in the foreseeable future.

What does early musical education do?

Musical early funding is not only a basic musical training, but also supports and develops a wide variety of skills. This also applies to very young people.

Experience shows that the acquisition of motor skills to make music is better possible at a young age. Realing at older age is often associated with considerable additional effort. There are also new approaches and the old principle of "what Hänschen does not learn, Hans Neverhish does not learn any general validity in the music.

It is undeniable, however, that the going through an otherwise intended training in music fails again and again, even if older students are highly motivated and a considerable effort are willing to do.

As a parents, you can definitely give your child a great gift if you enable him early acquired basic musical training.

How can you promote music?

Studies show that babies react to acoustic stimuli such as the heartbeat and the voice of the mother before birth. After birth, infants react the most to the voices of their closest caregivers, with whom they can take up the moods of these most important people for them.

The singing is particularly useful in the first few months. Under no circumstances should it be neglected on the basis of the idea, the child still understands too little.

Every natural encounter with music is positive for small children. This includes a musical environment as possible in the parents' house. Playing recordings is not yet easy for smaller children, but they certainly take part in the extent in which this music means something to them and in which they react to them.

What do the children learn while making music?

Early musical education consists of the first experiences with music in all its forms. This includes hearing, singing and experiencing rhythms by moving your own body. Children often have initial experiences with creating sounds with Orff instruments.

From the age of four, children develop the ability to remember musical elements and to do them. This creates a repertoire that is also available for your own creativity, such as improvisation.

Early musical education therefore basically includes the age of approx. 4 to approx. 6 years and is considered preparatory lessons for later instrumental or singing lessons. In the subsequent short video you can accompany music teacher Larissa Obst from the Musikschule Geilenkirchen with the musical offspring.

What do you promote children with music?

A number of skills that are related to music can be promoted with music, but extend far beyond them.

This includes coordination and all positive effects of movement, such as the sense of balance, which is promoted by dance. Singing and language naturally complement each other and often emerge.

Through joint making together, contacts with other children result from the need to listen and coordinate the group.

The particular advantage of early musical support is that all of these aspects are not isolated, but are improved in a natural combination. In this combination, reinforce and deepen yourself. Up to the age of 5, the development of skills in motor skills, language and music cannot be separated.

How can you bring children to music?

The younger your child is, the more important a playful access to music . Small children also show an interest in getting to know the traditional instruments, which is essential for the later choice of an instrument for systematic lessons.

Experience shows that younger children are quite open to listening experiences of more demanding traditional music. So it is by no means the case that smaller children are even more than teenagers only accessible to the sound with commercial pop. In recent years there is not only a ability to record higher -quality music, there are no reservations that such music is too little "cool".

So how can you present music to your child convincingly, especially when an instrument is already being considered? Access is less suitable in which you, as an adult, hardly participate in musical activity, but rather limit your role to control the child's practice.

This will almost inevitably lead to your child to perceive music as a more or less annoying obligation.

A separate and active interest with a participation in music is much better. Even a passive interest with conscious listening is much better than none at all. If you as a parents feel too little capable of active participation, there may be another person in the area that could take on this role.

Finally, there is another way to make children with music known at a high level. Parents are often worried, their children could be bored or restless during a performance of such music. However, it is often to be observed that children listen to the almost spellbound and thus immediately open up such music.

Didactic foundations for early musical education- especially for educators, music teachers and educators- offers us, for example, Manuela Widmer, teacher for elementary music and movement education in training and further education, Institute for Music and Dance Education- "Orff-Institut", University of Mozarteum, Salzburg/Austria in a specialist article .

Musikschule Münchner Klangwelt offers a possibility for early musical education in Upper Bavaria . Children between the ages of 4 and 6 are introduced to music in this early education program.

A special feature of this music school is the integration of the child's parents. It is actively encouraged and means an active participation of a parent in the program. Music lessons are possible for numerous instruments, including concert western and electric guitar, piano, vocal formation, violin, flute, saxophone, recorder, choir or drums (for large number of teaching units also online ).

This offers you an ideal basis for further common musical activities with your child.