Is my child musically talented or not? Essential musical aptitude is the same for every baby and for children up to age 9

Edwin Gordon (his site http://www.giml.org/) is my cornerstone, as I teach musical literacy to children.  And my article today is mostly to do with these three points:

1.      Gordon’s research proved that if children begin music as an infant, EVERY child can become musically literate. (simple chart below).  I think the first three years are best/ideal, as brain formed at age 3, but children in my studio and others “catch up” adequately, when they enter later.  But those starting as infants clearly have a more effortless, deeper tool box, at 9.  What they already know makes them available for more new information.

2.      Musical literacy is learned at the same time language literacy is, and in the same steps, from ear to eye.  Historically, music was mostly visual.  Playing "by ear" can be taught to children easily, and even to adults.  Not just a magic skill.

3.      All that is required for a child to become musically literate by age 9 is family input and some training. Birth-9, music is no respecter of persons.  Again, literacy is mostly taught, and the ear should be the focus for a child for the first years anyway.  Think language literacy and when student's eyes kick in.

Literacy is simply to "read and write meaningfully", whether language or music.  Knowing a word in Spanish (memorized) does not mean a person knows what it means.  A child can memorize visually the notes on a staff but never be able to sing them.   

 From my own life, I can say that reading musical notation was all I ever learned, in traditional piano lessons started at age 7.  (some piano teachers add by-ear, just my experience)  My parents were told to have me start “when I knew how to read.”  Many still believe that, but I passionately believe that by age 7, your child or student can be 2 years from musical literacy.  Then he/she is ready to make any musical choice for their future, such as instrument, voice, composition, arranging.

Though I had fabulous opportunities to play the piano, I could never read the unfamiliar hymns in church.  I would sweat, since everyone assumed that the one playing the fancy offertory must know everything about music.  I would just stand and sing nothing or even move my lips silently.  Those were the days.  Ear training in college, for my music degree, was beyond difficult.   And I could not play Happy Birthday, even though I won talent shows, since I could not play without music.  I would sometimes disappear, when cake time began, as I was a strong pianist BY EYE but completely helpless by ear.

Both are essential, but I love Gordon's approach to preparing children both by ear and by music (ear and eye).

Incidentally, my greatest satisfaction and driving force, as a teacher of young children, is knowing I send my students out  prepared for what I actually know they will need "in the big [musical] world"!  Musikgarten curriculum has been the perfect curriculum for me, as I find it something I could learn as an adult, and at least be ahead of the children!  I am now learning, slowly, how to have "an ear" and teach them Happy Birthday!

Gordon studied children and how they learn music, his entire career. His musical aptitude test, although originally with teenage subjects, was found to also apply to very young children.  Essence: "talent" is our word for a child who "performs" well.  

Performing well, in his studies, did not indicate future performance.

Participation in music during the years of language literacy was the only focus needed.

So what, in short, do children need to be successful in achieving musical literacy (musical fundamentals) between birth and 9?

Environmental influence: training and family. 

Some of the essential musical tools, I believe, are ear training, solfeggio, rhythmic competence, tonal pattern and rhythmic pattern competence and understanding, composing ability, singing tunefully, basic dictation, sightreading grand staff, and more to be sure.

This was just science in my head, when I began teaching, but it has come through as what happens with each student, absolutely without fail.  And various factors can even be a bit messy, like attendance, skipping one year, etc., especially when they learned from birth to 3.  There's a whole article there!

When children start as babies or toddlers, they have a noticeable ease with all of these areas, through graduation at age 9.

Huge to me is that it matters not what their home life is, their IQ, their parents knowledge of music.

They all come out at the same point, when they finish the final three years in group piano, where they simultaneously learn chords, theory, musical analysis, improvisation, and no they don't master everything, but they have a strong grasp of it.

I want to include the best article I have read on significant benefits of children learning music, especially including piano.  Most of the article is 1-2 short paragraphs, on any one point, so I can't improve on it by paraphrasing.

http://www.gymboree.ch/pdf/articles/wired_for_sound.pdf

I have seen autistic children (teach one/one) come out of their shell, because they are in music with me, their parents know that is the difference.  I don't mean miraculously cured, but they are confident for school presentations and feel good about themselves.  That moves me.  Many other examples, but my favorite is a recent one.

One 7yo began my group piano/music literacy program last fall, and her mother said she was terribly shy in all her activities.  They had tried everything.  By accident really, they bought a one-month auction prize for my group piano class, and the daughter agreed to try.

Five months later, she came home from school and told her Mom, "I sang Ode to Joy for my music class [22 kids] today, all by myself.  They loved it!"  She sang a duet on the song last week, in front of the entire piano family audience.

Frankly, I get goose bumps recounting this.  I love what I do and adore the Musikgarten curriculum that I have chosen (www.musikgarten.org), but the power of music is beyond my control.  I want families and teachers to know what IS in our control, and that is to simply know all kids have aptitude before 9 and let parents and other teachers know.

Here is the language literacy - musical literacy acquistion comparison.  Believe me, mine is easier to read than Gordon's.  I recommend doing a wikipedia search on him, for the medium version.

Music and language are learned:

1.  Through absorption (birth).  Absorbing, Jr.  

2.  Imitation without comprehension.  Ba ba for language.  Ba ba for music, but on solfeggio simple pattern "do mi sol" "sol mi do" etc. (solfeggio is "do re mi fa sol la ti do"  global positioning for the ear/eye development)            

3.  Language: Associate label with person or thing.  Music: Associate label with musical tone or rhythm.  ba ba ba becomes "do re mi or mi re do or sol sol me  etc)

4.  Ears isolate familiar word.  Music: Ears isolate familiar musical pattern. (Suzy, can you hear "do mi sol" in this song?)

5.  Visually picks out familiar word in sentence.  Music: Visually picks out familiar word in musical phrase. (Games with tonal patterns where one card is "sol me do" awhile.  Then show a song with that visual in it, "can you find it"?)

6.  Visually figures out unfamiliar word, using familiar information.  Music: Exactly the same.  (read solfeggio, but in song the child doesn't know by ear first)

7. Composes complete sentences.  Music: Composes songs.

Thanks, Gordon!  You have given us a legacy of music literacy for every child before 9.  No child left behind, with no government involved!

Katy, Katy's Musikgarten, Seattle, WA

www.katysmusikgarten.com