Lessons in rhythms and beats
My four-year-old has developed a sudden and inexplicable passion for Simon & Garfunkel videos. He watches Garfunkel crooning to Scarborough Fair with dog-like devotion and vigorously strums along on his toy guitar. My husband and I don't quite know what to make of it, except to heave a huge sigh of relief that he's out of his Himesh Reshammiya phase. No, don't judge us. We didn't introduce him to Himesh. On the contrary, we kept him away from all things Himesh. Like all new-age, over-enthusiastic parents who read copious amounts of scientific research, we did everything we could to 'expose' him, even in utero to shlokas and Mozart (so he would be both right and left trained, so he would have a greater affinity for math, so he could create jazz) but no go. Nothing seemed to turn our bundle of joy on like Jhalak dikhla jaa. To my audiophile husband's horror, this kid would break into the happiest grin when Himesh's nasal callisthenics would belt out from every passing auto rickshaw. Naturally, the blame would then be laid squarely on my half of the family tree. So, Scarborough Fair has indeed played a huge role in restoring the question of paternity in our home.
On a much more optimistic note, as we realised that our son was developing a real interest in music and musical instruments, we took him to neighbouring music shops where he strummed real guitars, played the keyboard and learned the difference between a tabla and a bongo. It was then that I heard about a class called music bonding (www.musicalbonding.com) conducted in Khar, Juhu, Andheri West and Powai for kids between the ages of 6 months to 5 years. Started in Mumbai by a lady who moved back from California, Aditi Shah actually discovered a similar class for her daughter while in the US. The Mumbai class is a part of the American franchise. This 10-week world music class, where it is mandatory for a parent to accompany the child, emphasises on the language of music so very young children can get familiar with rhythm, beat and tune. Not only do they teach children's songs from countries like Russia, Spain and Mexico but kids are also exposed to little-heard world musical instruments like kokinkos, castinets and resonator bells, which they can touch and play and thereby build eye-hand co-ordination.
The interesting part of the class I attended in Khar was how interactive it was. About 20 mothers and children sat around a circle singing along to very catchy songs. Toddlers were crawling around the circle, evidently enjoying the music. Older children were sitting cross-legged and singing. Some were thumping their hands and feet to the beat with great gusto. Different boxes of musical instruments kept appearing in ten-minute intervals, keeping them constantly engaged. At one point, cobalt blue eggs that make swishing sounds were brought out and the kids stumbled over themselves in excitement in an attempt to get to the boxes.
However, as parents, we shouldn't place too much emphasis on what scientific bigwigs like Dr Frances Rauscher (who pioneered the research on the Mozart-effect on children's brain development) say about the cognitive effect of music on children under the age of five, or the fact that it increases spatial ability. While research is indeed important and has now proven that children have a natural affinity for rhythm and beat and can make up songs and create their own music even as early as two, (an ability they lose by five as the brain then goes on to develop language ability), I think the only reasons to introduce our kids to music is because they love it, it's a lot of fun and it makes them happy. And honestly, watching them that happy, makes us parents happier.
My four-year-old has developed a sudden and inexplicable passion for Simon & Garfunkel videos. He watches Garfunkel crooning to Scarborough Fair with dog-like devotion and vigorously strums along on his toy guitar. My husband and I don't quite know what to make of it, except to heave a huge sigh of relief that he's out of his Himesh Reshammiya phase. No, don't judge us. We didn't introduce him to Himesh. On the contrary, we kept him away from all things Himesh. Like all new-age, over-enthusiastic parents who read copious amounts of scientific research, we did everything we could to 'expose' him, even in utero to shlokas and Mozart (so he would be both right and left trained, so he would have a greater affinity for math, so he could create jazz) but no go. Nothing seemed to turn our bundle of joy on like Jhalak dikhla jaa. To my audiophile husband's horror, this kid would break into the happiest grin when Himesh's nasal callisthenics would belt out from every passing auto rickshaw. Naturally, the blame would then be laid squarely on my half of the family tree. So, Scarborough Fair has indeed played a huge role in restoring the question of paternity in our home.
On a much more optimistic note, as we realised that our son was developing a real interest in music and musical instruments, we took him to neighbouring music shops where he strummed real guitars, played the keyboard and learned the difference between a tabla and a bongo. It was then that I heard about a class called music bonding (www.musicalbonding.com) conducted in Khar, Juhu, Andheri West and Powai for kids between the ages of 6 months to 5 years. Started in Mumbai by a lady who moved back from California, Aditi Shah actually discovered a similar class for her daughter while in the US. The Mumbai class is a part of the American franchise. This 10-week world music class, where it is mandatory for a parent to accompany the child, emphasises on the language of music so very young children can get familiar with rhythm, beat and tune. Not only do they teach children's songs from countries like Russia, Spain and Mexico but kids are also exposed to little-heard world musical instruments like kokinkos, castinets and resonator bells, which they can touch and play and thereby build eye-hand co-ordination.
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However, as parents, we shouldn't place too much emphasis on what scientific bigwigs like Dr Frances Rauscher (who pioneered the research on the Mozart-effect on children's brain development) say about the cognitive effect of music on children under the age of five, or the fact that it increases spatial ability. While research is indeed important and has now proven that children have a natural affinity for rhythm and beat and can make up songs and create their own music even as early as two, (an ability they lose by five as the brain then goes on to develop language ability), I think the only reasons to introduce our kids to music is because they love it, it's a lot of fun and it makes them happy. And honestly, watching them that happy, makes us parents happier.
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