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The Development of the Musical Child: Sound Recognition and the Relevance of Prenatal Musical Enrichment Lisa G. Cole University of Washington A precious seed from a rare and wondrous plant is discovered. Conditions for planting this seed are discussed by experts to ensure the success of the adult plant so that many more of this incredible plant may grow. Every effort is made so that the soil conditions and nurturances given the seed from the first moments of growth provide even more than is necessary to bring about strong, healthy development. The life of a child is as precious and as wondrous as a seed, and deserves expert attention regarding growth, development, and potential from the first moments of life. The effects of sound experiences in the prenatal infant from the moment of first hearing and how these sound experiences affect development are being increasingly researched by scientists from many disciplines. Educating care-givers about this relationship between prenatal sound experiences and human development may be one of the most important goals of music educators in the twenty-first century. Prenatal Hearing Development and Implications for Music Educators  During the last three months of pregnancy, an explosive phase of growth of the brain occurs in the prenatal infant (Lind, 1978). Part of this growth is the development of hearing: this phase can be seen to have far-reaching implications for the music educator. Current research shows that musical interactions from these earliest moments are directly related to brain development and may be the building blocks for future musical ability, intellectual development, and ultimately full functioning in the culture in which the child lives (Sloboda and Deliege, 1996). Emily Cary describes a fitting and descriptive metaphor: “Like water through a hydro-electric plant, music generates the machinery of the brain” (Cary, 1987). Understanding the Sound Response Development of the Prenatal Infant  Central to the discussion of the prenatal musical experience is an understanding of the actual age of sound sensation. The development of the hearing apparatus for the fetus begins near the eighth gestational week, yet according to current research, the hearing apparatus is not functional until the twentieth week (Pujol and Uziel, 1986, in Lacanuet, in Sloboda and Deliege, 1996). Whereas auditory functioning is poor at this time, a gradual increase of hearing ability is found until the eighth gestational month when sound sensation is fully activated. As Clifford Geertz stated, “art and the equipment to grasp it are made in the same shop” (Blacking, 1995, p. 177). Sound recognition equipment has developed and the reporting of findings related to how the equipment responds to sound stimuli, especially music, becomes necessary. Music and the Development of Hearing  French scientist Jean-Pierre Lecanuet reports on the extent of study relative to in utero auditory stimulations. According to Lecanuet, some research shows that sound deprivation in the prenatal infant would induce a delay in development of auditory sensitivity. Other research suggests that prolonged exposure to selectively enriched sound environments stimulate auditory sensitivity in the prenatal infant (Lecanuet, in Sloboda and Deliege, 1996). From the results of the many varied studies reported on, Lecanuet hypothesizes that “sounds reaching the fetal ear might contribute to the structural and functional shaping of the auditory pathway” (Sloboda and Deliege, 1996, p. 18).  If it can be deducted that sounds that reach the fetal ear contribute to how hearing develops, then the importance of the types of sound stimulation becomes a primary focus. The significance of music as a prenatal acoustic stimulator is described by Lecanuet: ..it can be said that prenatal musical experience as well as, and some readers will say more than, any structurally organized acoustic stimulation may contribute to shaping auditory abilities and developing long-term preferences or general sensitivity to the type of sounds experienced (Sloboda and Deliege, 1996, p. 25).  Not only are music and the “equipment” to make it made “in the same shop”, but by adding musical experiences to the formation of the equipment, potentials for developing more sensitive musical equipment exists. According to Neurobiologist Dale Purves of Duke University, “Connections (in the brain) are not formed willy-nilly, but are promoted by activity” (Begley, 1996). The activity of a musical experience for the unborn child helps develop the brain connections that wire the infant for future musical aptitude. Beyond mere musical aptitude, brain research has also shown a relationship between exposure to music and the development of higher forms of reasoning and spatial intelligence (Hancock, 1996). A Mother’s Voice: Prenatal Musical Exposure and Infant Sound Preferences  Lecanuet reports on many studies that indicate the significance of the voice of the mother and its influence on the preferences of the newborn child. In one study, four and five-day-old babies were found to be particularly soothed and attentive to music that their mothers listened to during the last three months of pregnancy. Other studies demonstrate a newborn’s preference for the mother’s voice over another female voice. And lastly, an experiment performed by B. J. Satt on three-day-old babies found that the babies preferred the lullaby to which they had been repeatedly exposed during the last month of in utero existence over the unfamiliar one (Lecanuet, in Slobada and Deliege, 1996).  As explanation for these results relates the extent that the newborn is familiar with the mother’s voice upon birth. As hearing has developed and become fully functioning by the eighth gestational month, the unborn child attunes itself with the sounds perceived from inside of the womb. Yet these sounds may either enter the auditory pathways of the prenatal infant from inside of the mother’s body (maternal heartbeat, etc.) or from outside the womb. Sounds coming from the outside of the womb are airborne. Being that the mother’s voice is always near the womb, the infant has the highest exposure to the sound of the mother’s voice. Also, according to recent research, the maternal voice is transmitted through body tissue and bones. In one such study, the bones of the spine and the pelvic arch were found to be excellent conductors of the fundamental frequencies and higher harmonics of the mother’s voice (Lecanuet, in Sloboda and Deliege, 1996). Again, the mother’s voice is powerfully surrounding the prenatal infant at all times. Beyond the mother’s voice, sounds outside the womb also have been shown to have an influence on infant preferences. Creating a Prenatal Music Environment  The significance of these findings is of utmost importance to the parents of the unborn child. By creating an environment rich in prenatal auditory stimulation, parents can actually help their child develop an enhanced hearing ability: the formation of auditory pathways are influenced by the sensation of auditory stimulation. As the prenatal infant grows to further auditory sophistication, frequent episodes of musical enrichment enhance the unborn’s preference for music. A mother’s voice is particularly important. Singing by the mother sends a blanket of musical enrichment to the ear of the unborn child via airborne and body-born sound stimulation.  Other prenatal musical enrichments, including the playing of favorite classical works, may also ultimately influence the child’s ability to be soothed and relate to musical stimulation. Furthermore, there are many sources that relate this early exposure to music to developing cognitive abilities (Papousek, in Sloboda and Deliege, 1996). Prenatal Musical Experiences and Communication  Linked to the research on what music may mean to the prenatal infant are the written works of John Blacking (1973) regarding biological tendencies that suggest that like language “…music-making is an inherited biological predisposition which is unique to the human species…” (p.7). Maria Montesorri believed in the overwhelming influence of the first six years of life on the developing human. She discusses the development of hearing and a newborn’s strange tendency to appear to not respond to sound stimuli. Montesorri asserts that the infant is involved in “a deep gathering in of the sound; a concentration of sensitiveness…” (Montessori, 1967). This sensitiveness is the very mechanism that allows the infant to connect to the environment. After hearing the murmuring of sounds inside the womb including the beating of the mother’s heart and voice, an infant develops the desire to gather a broader catalog of sounds to eventually participate in imitation and communication. In Conclusion: Education Regarding the Importance Prenatal Musical Enrichment  Parents intuitively enrich the unborn’s perceptual environment without formal training. Yet, Piaget wrote: “The more a child has seen and heard, the more he wants to see and hear” (Lind, 1978, p. 36). New brain research indicates the strongly significant result of the addition of musical stimulation on the development of cognitive abilities. As Plato once said: “Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education” (Hancock, 1996, p. 58). Yet beyond mere cognitive abilities, “The more we learn about music, the deeper and richer our lives” (Campbell, 1998, p. 183). The goal of educating parents and caregivers of the significance of what the unborn child hears is vital in allowing for the deepest and richest development of this precious and wondrous seed.
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