Science Experiment: Calming Effect of Music

My daughter was asked to come up with a Science project to do with her friend.  They had a few ideas written down like "Does milk get you sleepy?", "Does a soap bar dissolve in water" and "Why does popcorn pop?".  The one they went with was "Does music really get you to sleep?"

Their idea was to play 3 different types of music, something from the radio, quiet music and loud music but the needed to figure out HOW to see the results.  

As part of my classes, we often include a time to relax and rock to calming music each week.  The kids are use to the routine.  Normally I play calming music.  Well, the other day, we changed things up a bit.  

We played Happy by Pharrell Williams first and the kids started getting up and dancing and jump.  We played it for about a minute and then I switched to a classical suite by J.S. Bach.  The children began to respond by laying down and relaxing.  Last we turned on Back in Black by AC/DC and the kids got up and jumped around again....without prompting.

My daughter and her friends were amazed by the results.

As a music teacher, I see the effects of music on the children I teach each day.  Knowing the way children respond to music helps me plan and structure their lessons to give them as many learning opportunities as possible.

Check out the brief video to see the results: 

The next time you are out in a store, party or at a concert, watch and listen to the people around you as different music comes on.  Maybe you even want to make your own play list of calming and loud, fast songs to see a response. 

That natural response and love of music encourages me to continue teaching every day.

     

  

Exploring Instruments!

As a child I remember my church, preschool and school would always have a box of instruments.  They would pull them out, ask everyone to grab an instrument, turn on the music and march around.  The box would be filled with cymbals, drums, rhythm sticks, triangles, sand blocks and tambourines.  We would all eagerly rush to the box to pick out our favorite.  I never remember really learning about the names of the instruments but this box of instruments seemed to be a staple in the classroom. 

A few weeks ago, I was using the triangle in my classes.  I always try to highlight different instruments, say their name and show how it's played.  The triangle is a great instrument to represent bell sounds so it fit well with a train song and a song about morning bells ringing we were working on.

This lessonwe were also working on turn taking so we would sing the song and each child got a chance to play the triangle. 

As an educator, I am always watching, assessing and ready to alter the lesson.

Sharing is always a difficult concept, especially with young toddlers, but I found that they were all watching and eagerly waiting their turn.

When it came to getting their turn, I could see this spark in their eyes as they held the triangle with one hand and tapped it with the metal stick.  The look was often priceless.  You can see how proud they were to get the instrument and hear it's sound coming.  They each played it with such excitement.

It's something so simple.  A triangle.  An instrument.  Yet it was magical to them.

That's what instrument exploration is about.  That opportunity to hear and see cause and effect.  When I tap loud, it's loud.  When I tap gently it's soft.  When I tap fast, it's fast and when I tap slow, it's slow.  It's also one of the most natural ways to experience a steady beat and rhythmic patterns.

Each time I see a class, from babies to big kids, instrument play and exploration has such an important part.  When we look past the fact that they kids are playing instruments and truly watch them, you see how much they are learning.  The beauty of instrument play and exploration is watching the learning unfold with the light in their eyes and the expression of joy on the face. 

Won't you try a class at our studio and give your child the joy music has to offer?

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