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Introduction Carefully selecting the music that children SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS: The unborn child. Until just a relatively short while ago, a fetus was considered to be an unconscious being, unable to express itself, and incapable of seeing, hearing or feeling pain. Today, fortunately, thanks to advances in technology, such as ultrasound, sonograms, and fiber optics, just to name a few, we have been able to see and get to know babies both inside and outside the mother’s womb. Observations made from conception until birth reveal the continuous behavior and evolution of the fetus at sensory, motor, emotional, and cognitive levels. Recent studies and numerous experiments scientifically demonstrate that the unborn child, even before birth, is capable of SEEING, HEARING, FEELING and even LEARNING, even while it is in the uterus. All this, in addition to being able to dream, communicate, show preferences and interests, laugh, memorize and react with movements in order to express its needs. It has been proven that when a flashlight is held over the mothers womb, the unborn baby will cover its eyes, showing that it is bothered by the light. Through fiber optics, we have been able to photograph expressions of joy while the fetus sucks on something sweet, or of disgust when tasting something bitter. In her most recent studies, Sheila Woodward, doctor in Musical Education and Philosophy of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, demonstrated scientifically that music penetrates into the acoustical intrauterine environment, and that the response of the fetus is stimulated by music. She comments: "During the third trimester, the fetus is capable of recording a sound, relating that sound with one that it has heard previously, and interpreting its significance." For these and other reasons it has been necessary to create a new area in the study of human behavior: Pre- and Postnatal Psychology. This area of study involves carrying out neurological and psychological studies of fetuses and newborn babies. Specialists in this specialty have formed groups such as The Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health, and the International Music Society for Prenatal Development (IMSPD). Given the scientific findings and discoveries made to date, we must erase the false conceptions and prejudices that have existed regarding intrauterine life, which is the literal beginning of the unique life of an individual being. When do babies begin to hear? Babies’ hearing starts to develop on the 22nd day of gestation and the ear matures
structurally during the fifth month. (Anson & Donaldson, 1973: Gerber, 1977). "By
the twentieth week, the hearing mechanism is structurally comparable with that of an
adult."(Eisenberg, 1969).
The response to the musical stimulation was expressed through a change in the heart
beat, producing a state of attentiveness in 87.5% the babies. What happens when babies hear? The feel and respond! We have been able to observe changes in breathing patterns, movements of the head, trunk, eyes and extremities when sounds and voices are heard. We can also observe changes in their facial expressions. We can conclude from these reactions in the unborn and newborn child that there is a cause and effect relationship in babies when they hear voices and music. Does this have an important effect on the unborn child? The reaction of the unborn child to music depends on if it is an "awake or
sleeping" state and of the affective relationship that exists between mother and
child through the music itself. Maternal sentiments are somehow RECENT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC DURING THE FIRST STAGES OF LIFE In the February 19, 1996 edition of Newsweek magazine, the editors published the most recent scientific studies about the importance of music and the positive effects of this experience on children’s brains:
How does learning occur during the first stages of life? Learning begins when some physical, emotional or intellectual activity is distinguished, comprehended and understood. Every human being is born with a potential for learning. However, only those people who develop this potential can use their abilities to the fullest extent. It is possible to learn easier and faster during infancy, since the brain of a child is much more active than that of an adult. During the first stages of life, learning is translated into brain connections that transmit and store information. When a baby is born, its brain is a jungle of neurons, all waiting to be woven into the loom of the brain. The child’s genetic makeup has already connected some of the neurons, thereby creating circuits that control breathing, heartbeat, regulate temperature and establish reflexes. But billions of billions of neurons remain pure, with infinite potential, waiting to be formed into circuits that some day may be activated to compose music and carry out mathematical calculations. If the neurons are utilized they are integrated into the circuits of the brain and are connected to other circuits. If they are not used, they are discarded, sometimes definitely, by the nervous system. These connections are created through repetition and experience. Dale Curves, of Duke
University, says: "Connections aren’t formed just because we want them to be:
they are created through activities." In the case of children, not all knowledge is
processed easily. For example, it isn’t easy to teach a child of four years of age to
play Even before birth babies can assimilate maternal emotions that, as in the case of music, are determining factors in their formation. Ultimately, these impressions influence the forging of the children’s personalities. Of all the discoveries that have been made in neuro-scientific laboratories in past few years, that of the electrical activity of the brain cells that help change their physical structure is one of the most impressive. The rhythmic connections of the neurons (the so-called "synapses") isn’t observed as a product that is fabricated, but essentially as a process, and this process of interweaving begins even before birth. During the first week after conception the brain shows the beginning of configurations of filament-like fine threads, that move outside the embryo’s neural cavity. The fact that almost 250,000 neurons a minute are created and developed in a baby’s brain during the gestation period never ceases to amaze. When neurons join together they form neuronal connections. Genes determine the routes that the neurons have to travel in order to make these connections. After birth, signals reach the brain through sensory experiences to thus form species of impressions that become progressively and increasingly refined. The brain cells of a baby proliferate copiously, making connections and forming models that can exist for life. It is widely known that the first three years of the life of a child are especially important in determining its later life. It is, then, the overall experience of the infant which determines which neurons are utilized and which are connected to the circuits of the brain. Just as a programmer configures the circuits of a computer, your child’s experiences determines if it will grow up being highly intelligent or less intelligent, confident or unsure of itself. The neurological pediatrician Harry Chungani, of Wayne State University, says: "The first experiences are so powerful that they can completely change an individual’s character and personality." What it the relationship between music and language? In the world of the newborn, sound exists before words. When a baby hears a sound (ba-ba) several times, the neurons in its ear stimulate the formation of connections in the auditory cortex of the brain. Once the basic circuits are established, the baby begins to change the sounds for words. "The more words that they baby hears, the more rapidly it begins to speak," affirms Janellen Huttenlocher, of the University of Chicago. During the first years of life, the brain begins to develop and continues developing through a series of extraordinary changes that occur. Immediately after birth, the baby’s brain produces billions of connections between the neurons, much greater amount than it can actually be use at that stage. As we have already pointed out, over the course of its life the brain eliminates connections or forms circuits that are either fixed in place or rejected. In accordance with the most recent discoveries, experts have arrived at the conclusion that a baby doesn’t enter the world either genetically programmed or with a mind that is completely in blank, completely at the mercy of its surroundings, but that it is born with something much more interesting, in which the world of sensations that it experiences encourages the formation of circuits. Each time that a baby tries to touch or reach for an object, each time that it tries to caress a face or listens to a lullaby, small electrical shocks travel through its brain, weaving the neurons together and forming circuits. Educating a baby means playing with blocks, telling stories, talking, listening to certain kinds of music, and developing an affective emotional link that will help it develop cognitive, social and motor skills. At about four months, the cerebral cortex beings to refine the connections that the child will need for more developed powers of perception. At a year, the centers of the brain are ready to produce one of the most magical moment of infancy, the first word, marking the moment when language begins to blossom. The children that have been "bathed" in music and motivated in this way usually perform better in mathematics and reading. Singing lullabies and telling stories to the baby, even before birth, stimulates the beginning of speech. It provides verbal preparation. According to Huttenlocher: "There is an enormous vocabulary to be learned, and this can only occur gradually through the repetition of words." EMOTIONS AND MUSIC: The trunk lines for the circuits that control emotions are established before birth. Parents play a vital factor in their development. Probably the greatest influence is what the psychiatrist Daniel Stern calls
"AFFINITY." This is the process through which the adults that interact with
babies can reinforce their internal emotions. When there is contact with a baby through a
smile or a hug, the circuits of the child’s emotions are reinforced, if the child
manifests its excitement. Between 10 and 18 months of age, a cluster of cells in the prefrontal cortical cortex are busy connecting to the emotional area of the brain. Stress and a series of unpleasant experiences can reactivate the emotional circuits. But, going back to our main subject, music has the capability of transforming emotions into love, moments of happiness and tenderness, and thus contributing to the child’s harmonious development. What happens when we hear music? Howard Gardner, author of the theory of multiples intelligences, says that humans have six intelligences that are related to different areas of the brain and their respective processes. One of these intelligences ? that which is related to the subject in question ? is what he refers to as "musical intelligence." Through its sense of hearing, the baby receives the first evidence that something to
which it can relate exists outside of its environment. What are the benefits? The newborn, when it hears music that it heard when it was still in the mother’s
womb, eats more, sleeps more and cries less. This occurs not because the babies have
received any special treatment, but because powerful, positive links were created through
love and music. Carefully composed and well selected music fosters musical intelligence.
It also has a tranquilizing effect on the child and gives him or her the opportunity to
learn about music, as well. The children’s personalities begin to form around
beautiful melodies, and this helps to develop creativity, concentration and coordination.
The task of parents is to enrich the lives of their children through what they hear. Why
not give them the best, conscientiously and with love? Listening to music stimulates the nervous system, because learning through hearing
rhythms and music helps development and intelligence and fosters the association of the
sensations of pleasure and security. All of this, I repeat, has been proven
scientifically. Music provides babies with love and attention, creating a natural a state of alert relaxation, creating an open climate of give and take in future relationships. It also provides them with the opportunity to learn music. This fine education gives children well being, inner richness, and great happiness. The combination of sounds, rhythms and harmonies, makes them feel peaceful and intensifies the physical and emotional contact between parents, their baby and their children of other ages. Gordon Shaw , of the University of California, Irvine said: "Hearing classical music stimulates children; it exercises their cortical neurons and strengthens the circuits used for mathematics. Music stimulates inherent brain patterns and reinforces the tasks of complex reasoning." Shaw and Rauscher gave 19 preschoolers daily piano and singing classes. After eight months the researchers proved that the children in the study substantially improved their reasoning skills, cin comparison with the children who weren’t given the music classes. The children who did receive the music classes demonstrated a better ability to do puzzles, draw geometric figures and copy patterns with colored blocks. The earlier a child is exposed to musical language, the better it develops its reasoning, mathematical, and language abilities and strengthens its emotional development. What kind of music? Each baby responds to the kind of music it was exposed repeatedly during its life in the mother’s womb. It depends on the mother’s musical taste and culture. I would like to recommend, however, singing "Lullabies," especially those that allow you to best express your love, aspirations and desires. Singing to your baby repeatedly, while you carry out your daily chores, is a ritual
that increases tranquillity. It also provides excellent preparation for the child’s
verbal stage and strengthens family ties. This music, which has been included in our collection, has been carefully selected for type and beat, which approximates the cardiac rhythm of a serene adult. Unborn babies and infants do not need music that has been especially composed for them. What they do deserve, to the greatest possible extent, is the best and most authentic music. If you like Mozart, listen to the authentic music of Mozart; if you like The Beatles, listen to the original music performed by this English group. It has been shown that immediately after birth, the music and voices heard before birth have a "magical" effect on babies, since those sounds and voices were imprinted on their memories. When they hear them again, they associate them with a sense of pleasure. CONCLUSIONS: What begins well ends well. It is important that the beginning stages of life be as wonderful as possible because it gives us a greater opportunity to promote learning. Parents are their children’s first brain and their most important teachers. Bruce Perry, of Baylor Medical School, in Houston, affirms: "The task of parents is to established their children’s neuronal circuits." I hope that PRENATAL MUSIC has been able to convince you of the importance of your role as parent, teacher and friend of your children. Take them by the hand and make those wonderful moments of tenderness even better. Above all, demonstrate your great love for one another by holding your baby and young children, talking to them, and listening to classical music. Every lullaby, every caress, every massage, and every conversation helps your baby and your children develop new neuronal paths, forming networks that, some day, will possibly result in the creation of a work of art, in showing a preference for a special talent, or in refining the great art of making and keeping friends. The best and the deepest part of a human being emerges when he or she listens to music. It creates harmonious sensitivity, an openness to emotions, tranquillity, and, above all, a kind heart. In order to learn about music we need to listen to it, even before birth. That is how the taste and desire for music is imprinted in the memory of each individual. It fosters a love and taste for music which, undoubtedly, is the first step toward a substantive, lasting and gratifying relationship. As the great Berlioz said: "Love and music are the two wings of life." Both, needless to say, are the foundation for creating human beings who are happy, confident and secure." INSTRUCTIONS FOR LISTENING TO OUR COLLECTIONS: Listen to the music in the collection for at least 10 minutes a day. Find a moment
during the day in which your child isn’t tired or hungry. Listen to it while you hold
and stroke your child. What helps to develop the child’s mental activity is the
frequency and constancy. Physical contact gives the child confidence and a sense of
security. Relate to your baby through its senses. When you look into its eyes, massage, caress, talk, and tell stories. These sensory experiences create a bond that results in the formation of cerebral connections. For older children we also suggest that they listen to classical music while they do homework, engage in manual activities, play, or when they are riding in the car. Enjoy the music. Music shouldn’t be an obligation, it should be associated with
moments of pleasure. Taste in music develops over time: the more you listen to it, the
more you enjoy it. Express your love for your child to the rhythm of the music. To develop a musical culture it is important to mention the name of the instrument being played or the composer of the piece that you are hearing. You should exclaim, for example: " How beautiful the piano (flute or strings) sound!"
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hear before they are
born can enormously enhance their physical, emotional and intellectual development. This
program has been designed to create awareness in parents about the benefits of music.
Listening to music touches our deepest sentiments. It increases our sensitivity and
internal harmony, and makes us kinder.