Have you noticed that things are getting noisier and noisier? I live on a busy main road on the outskirts of a city so traffic is a big bug bear for me however there is also the situation of my next door neighbour playing his music too loud. I’m finding it is becoming unbearable for me and I don’t know if it is my age or the fact that there is just too much noise!
I remember when I first started teaching music to children I used recorded backing music and an amp. Generally most children loved dancing and being loud however there are always those few children who find it is all a bit too much – just too much noise. They either cover their ears with their hands or get really upset and I would put this down to the child being over sensitive or sometimes parents would get their child’s ear checked. More importantly I felt children should get use to this level of noise!
Over the past several years I have done a complete u-turn on this. We don’t need all this noise, it is hard to concentrate and hard to filter out sometimes and I admit it makes me edgy and unhappy –
So what must it be like for a baby or a small child?
If you have a young child you may have noticed if they are sensitive to noise. Both my children have hated vacuum cleaners and hand dryers (however both my kids are incredibly loud!) and my son in particular appears to find situations where there are lots of people overwhelming and this can make him agitated. Perhaps this is the reason he has never settled in any structured activity - maybe there is just too much going on.
How can children really listen with all this noise and stimulation going on?
Recently I’ve been reading the Highly sensitive child which discusses children who are very sensitive to these kind of environments and show certain characteristics – after reading I also looked at the highly sensitive person and realised I am like that too. Situations can become very stressful for me when there is too much going on, and I want to retreat to some quiet space and get my head together. Can you imagine what it is like for a baby? Suddenly without much warning they are thrust into this new environment with lots of voices, lots of other sounds, lights, colours, after being in a dark, warm cosy quiet place it must be quite frightening.
Thrusting our baby into over-sensory environments full of sound, lights and music (much like the baby raves that are now proving popular) can’t be that helpful for them and are possibly too over stimulating. However, they maybe what we as parents enjoy as we are use to loud music, lights and so on, its different and exciting. We also feel we should ‘do’ something with our baby, may want to make new friends for ourselves and our newborn.
Since I changed my classes to just singing and no background music, I have noticed that children actually listen and retain more. They are singing back in tune (pitch matching) earlier and more accurately than ever before; they are able to feel and tap pulse at a younger age and are much calmer.
A parent of mine recently told me she had been listening to a programme regarding young children and their ability to hear everything at the same time and therefore really nothing because they couldn’t tune in and focus on one thing. For example even if you have the TV or radio on at home young children find it difficult to isolate it from something else – such as your voice if you are speaking to them.
This is why I believe singing (the voice on its own) is much more effective in, not only music learning but also for children’s development. Having too much noise is just not necessary, it is too stimulating. This also goes for too many visual props like flashing lights and brightly coloured items scattered around - keep it simple! Babies especially tune into their main parent-givers voice and singing (without backing music) helps them connect better.
If you have children who are neuro-diverse you may also find they struggle in environments that have layers of sound. For most people we are able to filter these sounds however for anyone who is over-sensory to sound this will be a really difficult situation for them to be in.
We really do not need too much noise!
Visit my website to find out more about the best way to sing with young children.
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