My nephew seems to really enjoy it when I play the flute or the clarinet (he's almost 8 months old, bright as a button and very "with it" - not that I am biased... ) - he also likes chewing on the clarinet but that's another story...!

I keep encouraging his mum to sing to him and I think she is doing more so, and he gets sung and played to when he sees me when he's old enough I already have a Winnie The Pooh xylophone book for him (v cute!) and will doubtless be the auntie who provides all the noisiest toys.

He also loves the musical "piano" thing that goes in the end of his cot.

I keep promising Claire, his mum, that I'll find a CD for her (or buy tracks on itunes and make one up) to play to him... my mum has loaned them some gentle classical music for him to listen to at night when he won't sleep. Any other suggestions for things that babies/toddlers may like? I have a couple of versions of the Saint-Saens Carnival-o-t-Animals, will invest in Peter and the Wolf sometime... he enjoys listening to Claire reading Dr Seuss books, which have a sort of musical cadence. I know he won't be understanding all this as yet but he seems to enjoy the classical music he's heard and it'd be lovely to build on that.

Which sort of leads on to point 2 - what kind of musical stimulus is useful and indeed fun for this age group? (or older, after all I'm planning on being the noisy auntie for quite some years ) I mostly play him nursery rhymes and not toooo high pitched, often the nursery rhymes he has heard elsewhere... sometimes I play him classical things too. As I say, he gets sung to reasonably often - at least once a week in one of their baby-and-toddler groups (babysigning, which uses loads of nursery rhymes) and usually more often as Claire sings them with him at home...

Basically he seems to enjoy musical things, and I know his parents would be delighted if he were to show interest at a later age... plus it'd do him no harm anyway as we all know So what else would be good to nurture that apparent enjoyment?

When Zoltan Kodály was asked at a lecture when he thought music education should begin, he replied 'Nine months before birth'. Then he said, 'No - it should be nine months before the birth of the mother!'

It sounds as if you and Claire are doing all the right things already!

I don't think any amount of recorded music is ever a substitute for live music, whether singing or instrumental.

Lucinda Geoghegan (in conjunction with the National Youth Choir of Scotland) has produced an excellent book, 'Singing Games and Rhymes for Tiny Tots' which contains just what it says on the packet. Loads of finger plays, bouncing rhymes and songs, nursery rhymes - it's a really excellent resource (and contains a CD for mums who don't read music). There are suggestions as to the most suitable age range for each song or rhyme, too (as well as the rationale behind each activity and what the child is learning unconsciously through the repertoire).

Let me know if you have any trouble finding it as I can always get hold of a copy for you (sorry, I can't remember how much they are at the moment).

Despite my appalling formal music education experiences aged 6-17, I'm convinced that one reason that I managed to start unlocking all this music that was inside me (and I had no idea was there) in my early 20s was that it had been put there by a mother who sang to me loads as a baby/young child and grandmothers who bounced me on their knee and told me the same rhymes over and over again, which I loved.

You need to fill up the tank in order to make the car go - so please keep giving these invaluable early music experiences to your nephew - they will pay dividends AND HOW later on, I feel sure...

My great nephew (he's 5 months) is already going to a music class!! He has a tambourine to bash (with some help from Mummy).

He has a very full social life and goes to swimming and yoga classes too. I don't know how he fits it all in with all the eating and sleeping he has to do as well.

C, should've known I could rely on you - brilliant


Thanks - I'll look out for it and get back to you if I can't get my hands on it

Jane:

No probs!

I run mum and baby classes starting with babies who are about 8 weeks old. The babies all respond to the classes, and I've never yet had a baby who didn't seem to enjoy them. Although some young children can clap hands on the beat, respond to dance-type music, shake a baby maraca approximately in time to the beat etc from just a few months old, I think all children enjoy music in their own way, and with others their response will be more subtle, but none the less valuable for that.

There's a wealth of music, especially songs, for this age group, and I use loads of props as well. I have a cupboard full of baby music stuff. The next day or two are rather hectic - I'll give it some thought and let you have the names of some of the best books and some other ideas.

I have a feeling that Classic FM did a CD of Music for Babies.

I used to tap rhythms and put the radio to my tummy when I was pregnant with my daughter. She has said that she cannot remember a time when she didn't know how to read or to love music.




Yes...I've just checked on the internet and Classic FM music for Babies (2005) is out there.

There are a few I think, with no babies myself, I cant say I have tried them. There is Baby Einstein which I think Classic FM did and its all sorts of classical music and then the Mozart for babies. I cant remember which one had two cds - one for bed time and one for playtime.

I played my clarinet to a 10 month old baby the other day, and the look on his face was just pure quality - he didnt know whether to laugh or cry! In the end he cried....

my grandaughter did that last time I played the clarinet near her.
She likes the piano though

Thanks for all the ideas, folks

On the grounds of exposing him to as much music as possible, I was playing the cello to Jack yesterday afternoon. He was a bit grizzly, but as soon as I started playing, he started watching, fascinated, from his mum's lap.

She put him on the carpet and he crawled over and grabbed the endpin. I thought he was going to try and put it in his mouth (where most things end up at the moment!!) but apart from yanking it a couple of times (he's surprisingly strong for 8 months old ) he was quite happy to sit and hold it, and ended up with both hands on it. We think he was enjoying feeling the vibration of the sound through it.

He did get distracted after a while but on and off he was fascinated by the sound of the instrument for 2 hours, and got his hands on it as much as possible ( ). It was great fun! I also made up a new song for him