The musical value of rhymes

Rhymes are fantastic for kids in so many ways.

Firstly, rhymes help children understand and feel the beat.  When you say a rhyme and bounce a child on your knee, the child learns that the beat is a steady pulse that continues through a rhyme or song.  The child feels the difference between the beat and the rhythm, and develops an understanding of both long before they are able to name or define "beat" or "rhythm".

Secondly, rhyming helps children understand the structure of words.  If they are able to identify rhyming sounds when they are young, this will help them with their literacy later on. Improvising new rhymes is also great fun.

Thirdly, it is good for children to hear rhymes performed expressively.  This shows them that good reading is artfully done.  It is not delivered in a flat drone. Meaning is conveyed in the way the words are delivered.  This becomes a model for their own reading.

Fourthly, it shows children that there is joy to be found in well-crafted words.

Traditional rhymes are great to use (eg Pease Porridge Hot, Hot Cross Buns, etc etc).  There are many great compilations of rhymes for children.  There are also a great many children's books with rhyming words.

Some of my favourite rhyming books for children include:

- Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack (Lynley Dodd) - The words are such a delight to say - I love the opening two lines: "It was drowsily warm with dozens of bees/lazily buzzing through flowers and trees".

- Let's Go Visiting (Sue Williams & Julie Vivas, illust) - suitable for very young children

-  Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar (Clare Jarret) - fantastic if you can get through the book without becoming tongue-tied!

- Over in the Meadow (many versions including Jane Cabrera) Jane's version has beautiful illustrations, very whimsical.  Gwen Turner also did a version of this with superb realistically drawn illustrations.

-  The Man from Snowy River (Banjo Paterson, Freya Blackwood, illust.)  Paterson's rhythm, momentum and brilliant story-telling abilities appeal to older children (and adults).

Image from graphicsfairy.com

When should my child start an instrument?

As with most aspects of child rearing, everyone has their opinion on this point, and there are various different approaches. However, I believe it is often (never say always!) better to wait until the child is at least 7 before contemplating an instrument.

Here are my reasons:

• Fine motor skills: - Little children often have not developed the fine motor skills necessary to manipulate their instruments. In some cases, they are just physically too small to hold or play them properly. We know a little boy who has a saxophone that looks bigger than he is. He has to rest it on the case to play it. It doesn't look very comfy. I heard about another four year-old girl who desperately wanted to learn the recorder, but quickly became very frustrated because her little fingers wouldn't cooperate.
  

• The discipline of practice: - To stay with the lessons and practices over the long term requires a certain level of maturity.
  

• Musicianship: - Younger children are not likely to have the musicianship skills that can really help when learning an instrument. Unless they have good pitch, for example, they may not realise when they hit a wrong note.

Kodaly believed that the most important instruments for children are their voices and their bodies. They can happily develop their musicianship skills for many years through singing, moving, rhymes and games. It comes naturally to them. Voices and bodies are also portable, always available and inexpensive to use!

Once they learn to keep the beat and sing in tune, other musical concepts are introduced. After years of Do Re Mi classes, 7 year-olds are able to sight-read simple tunes on the stave. By this time they are ready to sail easily into learning an instrument. Because they are so familiar with musical notation and other musical concepts, they can concentrate more on learning how to operate the instrument they choose.

The first instruments we introduce to children in classes are percussion instruments, both tuned and un-tuned. These are satisfying for little children because they are able capable of playing them well.

Image: 'Vintage Postcard ~ Girl Playing Harp'
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