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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
music as a language, what does that mean?
music as a language, what does that mean?
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Tin Lizzie
156 posts
Nov 25, 2010
11:26 AM
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I am taking care of twin boys part time. They are now just a little over a year old. They are very musical little creatures. Loving dancing, singing, drumming, playing my keyboard and harmonicas. They are Jimi Bott's babies, for those of you who know who he is.
Since I hear time and again how music is a language, I am paying close attention to how these babies are learning language.
They understand a lot of what I say to them. I say "want a snack? and they head for their high chairs, I say "let's go change your diaper" and they head for where that happens, I say "where's John? and they point at John, I say "Where's my leg"" and they jab my leg with their finger. Those are just examples, they understand quite a lot at this point..
They definitely have the idea of communicating what they want and are pretty successful at getting it across. They are doing it with body language and emotional expression with their voices. Not with words. Words seem to be the last thing to learn.
They can say a few words now, mostly identifying objects...kitty, shoe, mama, dada kind of things. They "talk" a lot but in their own language. It has a rhythm and phrasing and feeling. Sometimes someone says things that they repeat in their language; that is, they copy the phrasing and rhythm but can't say the words yet.
I am thinking about all that and how it applies to learning music and musical expression. I hope you will share your thoughts.
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Tin Lizzie
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ZackPomerleau
1313 posts
Nov 25, 2010
11:32 AM
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I always saw the language as the theory, rudiments, what have you. Playing and composing/writing sheet music is just the usage of your skills.
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Rubes
146 posts
Nov 25, 2010
12:15 PM
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Check out 'Daniel Levitin', he's written some very interesting stuff on music and the brain.
Makes sense to me that music has been at the forefront of communication and language in the evolution of our species, children learning basic things with the help of basic easy to 'remember' tunes. And when we start to lose our minds and memories in old age, funny how we can still remember lyrics and musical sequences of our youth!
Last Edited by on Nov 25, 2010 12:15 PM
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Littoral
197 posts
Nov 25, 2010
12:37 PM
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As a teacher (and very serious about doing it well) and a parent I have a lot of experience in cognitive development. What amazes me is the mimicry that kids use. Sometimes it's obvious but usually it's discrete. If you watch carefully you'll see patterns repeating directly from their experiences but it emerges in unpredictable places. Twins, I would expect, would really magnify this. I also guess that having two allows for you to notice communication patterns that would be difficult to see/hear without the regular interplay between the two.
What experiences have they had? Im sure music is usually around that house and clearly genetics are at work. Jimi is about as fine a drummer as there is.
Last Edited by on Nov 25, 2010 12:38 PM
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jbone
441 posts
Nov 26, 2010
6:15 AM
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my sis had twins and saw that unique language they developed to talk to each other. sort of a private language. nobody knew what they were talking to each other about and the language they adopted for the world at large was sort of a compromise.
the other thing i notice about music and children is, before they learn what embarrassment or shame is, they will express what they like musically by moving to it. at street gigs like the farmers market locally i have seen this so many times. i think it is hardwired into our makeup to respond to certain rhythms and grooves. kids of a year old on up to say 4 or 5 are so uninhibited when it comes to music. this sometimes passes on into later development if what i've seen is any evidence. even older folks- 70-plus- and a lot in between, while they may not stop to listen to what we're doing, as they walk by we see a shake to the booty, a spring enter the step, a snap of the fingers.
to me music is an elemental source of comfort and a place where disparate people- different economic brackets, education, culture- can meet and shed preconceptions and just enjoy.
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