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Children's Song Acquisition: an Examination of Current Research and Theories

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Title: Children’s Song Acquisition: An Examination of Current Research and Theories Author(s): J. Dianne Anderson Source: Anderson, J. D. (1991, Winter). Children’s song acquisition: An examination of current research and theories. The Quarterly, 2(4), pp. 42-49. (Reprinted with permission in Visions of Research in Music Education, 16(2), Autumn, 2010). Retrieved from http://www-usr.rider.edu/~vrme Visions of Research in Music Education is a fully refereed critical journal appearing exclusively on the Internet. Its publication is offered as a public service to the profession by the New Jersey Music Educators Association, the state affiliate of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. The publication of VRME is made possible through the facilities of Westminster Choir College of Rider University Princeton, New Jersey. Frank Abrahams is the senior editor. Jason D. Vodicka is editor of the Quarterly historical reprint series. Chad Keilman is the production coordinator. The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning is reprinted with permission of Richard Colwell, who was senior consulting editor of the original series. Children's Song Acqul.sl.tl.on:• • • An Exafllination Of Current Research and Theories ByJ. Dianne Anderson Arizona State University he perpetuation of a culture or so- Children's Music Universalities ciety is dependent on a number of Music universalities are elements common to Tfactors. Scholars, anthropologists, all musics the world over; their existence is and ethnographers subscribe to various recognizable and identifiable in the musics of views of those elements they judge crucial all cultures. According to Borris (981), "The for cultural survival. Language, religion, fine fact that the music of various cultures appeals arts, sciences, or any other societal feature to listeners in the whole world proves that in continues its existence only so long as it is each music there are universal sound ele- valued and practiced by a people. While ac- ments. They are not contradictory to the ele- knowledging the importance of these and ments of national music, which we refer to as other factors, the focus of this paper is not 'idioms" (p. 69), This powerful assertion finds on the what, but rather the who and the how support among scholars who have identified of musical cultural preservation. In whom music universalities. are traditions and practices entrusted, and Differences among various world musics how are they instilled? seem glaringly obvious upon first hearing, and It is believed that within any society the the most generic description of music must children are the carriers of culture, for they account for variance. Yet Borris states that are taught the "essence" of the cultural me- rather than emphasize the differences in music dia. So it is with music (Campbell, 1990). materials (e.g., melody, harmony, rhythm), Nettl (1983) states that "If ethnomusicology one should focus on the gestures and psycho- claims to study all of the world's music, it logical qualities that differentiate musics and must. in addition to explicating the central create national idioms. Citing Bartok's folk- repertory and style of a society, make special song contributions as a role model, Borris efforts to understand as well the music of (1981) urges the removal of all boundaries to those subdivisions of society that live outside understanding music languages and encour- the mainstream [including]. ..children" (p. ages the linking of music universalities within 344). Thus, information regarding the ways national idioms. This claim is supported by by which children know, experience, and Toynbee's (1971) prediction that music and perpetuate music traditions, together with the musicians could be the unifiers of mankind. ways in which they acquire these traditions, Nettl (1983) hypothesizes that music univer- sh~uld be of great interest to those who sals do exist because most societies have ex- value the study of world musics. perienced direct or indirect contact with other j. Dianne Anderson is completing tbe re- societies, thereby creating a macrocosmic mu- quirements for the doctoral degree at Ari- sical repertory with structural features specific zona State Unioersity. to smaller repertoires. His criteria for music 42 The Quarterlyfournal of Music Teaching and Learning universalities require that they: (1) fit the ized by yodeling, growling, and raucous imi- definition of music; (2) be found everywhere; tative animal cries and nature sounds, it is (3) exclude what could conceivably be re- intelligible to most Western ears because it is garded as music, but is not actually present in more or less diatonic, with pentatonic scalar cultures of the world 0983: 38). He differenti- progressions which utilize major seconds and ates between universals of sound and statisti- minor thirds (Nettl, 1983). cal universals of music by describing the latter ettl stresses the significance of children's as typical of the "healthy majority of songs by treating them as a musical subset, musics ...[which focuses onl...consensus of and groups tile use of lullabies, games, and world's societies, not physiological or percep- plays which aid children in learning the cul- tual aspects" (p. 38). He identifies universali- ture and acquiring the rudiments of musician- ties of sound, singing style, and children's mu- ship as children's musics universals. He fur- sics. ther describes children's music as possessing Several universalities of sound classified by short forms, restricted scales with intervals Nettl (1990) include: (1) close from semi tones through mi- approximation to a major sec- nor thirds, and employing ond as the chief melodic inter- "Music universali- repetitive rhythms. Other val; (2) tendency of most studies of children's musics musics to descend at the end; ties are elements concur with Nettl's asser- (3) internal repetition and cornman to all tions (Shehan, 1987; variation; and (4) a rhythmic musics the ~orld Davidson, 1985; Miller, structure based on distinction 1983). among note length and dy- over. Their exist- The existence of these namic stress. Statistical uni- ence is recogniz- music universals verifies versals include: (1) tetratonic that all cultures share music and pentatonic scales of un- able and identifi- commonalities. If, as pos- equal intervals, often major able in the musics ited earlier, children are the seconds, minor thirds, and carriers of these various singing in octaves; (2) stanzaic of all cultures." musics, are there also com- song and piece structure; (3) mon ways in which chil- use of idiophones and sound dren acquire their musical tools; and (4) large number of songs and pieces language? Specifically, is children's song ac- that are very much alike along with exceptional quisition the same regardless of cultural pa- material at borders that is often the most highly rameters? The examination of possible theo- valued. ries related to the process of children's song Regarding singing style, Nettl states that acquisition may offer valuable insight to though certain aspects of musical culture these queries. may undergo rapid transformation, singing Song Acquisition of Children style and overall sound patterns change very Early Childhood Research slowly. Singing is one form of music that is Some scholars have examined parallels be- most characteristic of and closely tied to cul- tween language acquisition and song acquisi- tural value structure. The stability of singing tion. In language, infants begin speech by style within cultures has led some scholars to making utterances common to all languages, propose that singing and sound are tied to but increasingly produce only sounds heard heredity and race; this opinion asserts that in their own cultures. This process (see the way the voice is used is directly related Gardner, 1981) typically is characterized by to racial peculiarities, appearance, skin color, the following stages: and other racial features. But Nettl (990) 2 years: 2-3 word utterances argues against this narrow view, emphasizing 3 years: sentences the fact that Western people can perform 4 years: grammatical structure and expressive Eastern musics and vice versa. Although powers. singing in African music cultures is character- Gardner's (1983) theory describes a more Volume II, Number 4 43 "Between the ages of 12 and 18 months, children experiment with nonspecific pitch inflections. Then, by 19 months, they pro- duce distinct pitches and begin to acquire rhythm patterns and melodic organizations." specific sequence for song acquisition: organization, and a range of melodic mo- 15 months: undulating melodic fragments of tions. The suitability of a contour-schemes brief intervals; model is substantiated by its child-oriented ba- 18 months: intentionally produced pitches sis. This model does not assume fixed pitches, (major second, minor third) measured intervals in scalar terms, or orga- 2-2 1/2 years: spontaneous song--continual nized performance based on keys or melodic expansion of the intervals to include fourths and fifths; undefined and unmemorable; un- contours (Davidson, 1985). In addition to the organized; lacking tonality and harmony, and contour-scheme model, the six-year study re- rhythmically irregular; ported several findings. First, contour schemes 2 1/2 years: fragments of learned song inter- tend to be more stable in learned songs than spersed in spontaneous song; in spontaneous songs. This model for 3-4 years: learned song develops rhythmic children's song acquisition may
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