Playing With Music

“Let’s go driving. Buckle up, start the car, and off we go. Where shall we drive today?” These are my words during a weekly early childhood music session as I give a laminated “steering wheel” to each child in preparation for the next song. Missie, age 3½, grabs her steering wheel enthusiastically and begins to sing “driving, driving, a car, shopping, shopping, a car.” She is only approximating the lyrics, but her sol–mi (falling minor third) is as perfectly in tune as any Kodály music educator could hope for. Missie’s mum and I are amazed, and we both compliment her on her beautiful singing.

This moment is particularly special because Missie has recently been assessed as having a moderate developmental delay. The music group that Missie and her mum attend caters specifically to children with disabilities and their families. Missie and her mother have been enthusiastic participants in the group for 9 months, and the driving song, composed by me after observing the strong interest in cars shown by several children in the group, has been sung every session. Each week when I get out the steering wheels, the children cluster enthusiastically around me, then “drive” off around the room, often vocalizing the sounds of engines and car horns. The children have gradually become familiar with the song’s structure, which involves stopping for red traffic lights and moving off

when the (imaginary) green light appears. However, this is the first time a child in the group has actually sung along with the song, so it is a momentous occasion. I began to share this song with the children as a foundational musical experience based on their interest in transport, rather than with any assessable musical outcomes in my program. My aim was for the children to respond actively to the song in playful ways according to their individual interests and capabilities. Their responses have been varied but always enthusiastic. Some have stood still or been held by parents while exploring the steering wheel for many sessions. Some have hovered on the sidelines, watching the other children intently. Others have moved energetically around the room, making vehicle sounds, absorbed in their pretend play. Over the weeks and months, children have experimented with “driving” in different directions, following friends, driving alongside their mums, or moving just ahead of mum, pretending that she is a passenger. As the song has become familiar, a range of musical responses have also become evident. Most of the children

have adapted the speed of their movements to the tempo of the song and their styles of movement to its beat and melodic structure. And today, the song has actually been sung by a child, with accurate pitch and rhythm. In short, through responding playfully to this song, the children have shown over time their developing awareness and skills in relation to beat, tempo, form, and pitch. They have created their own musical learning, using play to build their own curriculum. Although the above vignette describes music making in an early intervention center, similar musical experiences can be observed in any early childhood setting. In my work over many years as an early childhood music educator and researcher, I have become firmly convinced that play is central to young children’s engagement with songs and musical experiences and that through play children can construct their own musical learning.

Concluding Thoughts

In adopting a play-based, child-centered approach to early childhood music education, we may not necessarily change the fundamental aspects of our program, but we will change the way we approach them with children. We will still be singing, moving, and exploring sound. We will still be providing rich resources for children so that they experience a variety of musical elements and genres. The children will still be developing awareness and skills in singing and playing instruments. However, our pathways may be different in that we will structure