Early musical education

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Under Musical early education both inside and outside school aspirations were summarized introduce children early to music. According to today's understanding, however, this is also extended to adults. One speaks generally of musical elementary education .

Early musical education in the classical sense

Early musical education encompasses ages from around 4 to around 6 years. It has been established at German music schools for over 40 years and is regarded as preparatory lessons for later instrumental and vocal lessons. One of the pioneers of the MFE in Germany was the Yamaha teaching program for the MFE, which has already been modified several times. With the groundbreaking teaching program Curriculum MFE (1968) of the Association of German Music Schools (VdM), the essential teaching content of the MFE was outlined: singing, dance and movement, instrument science, listening to music, elementary instrumental play (here: glockenspiel and Orff instruments), elementary music theory and improvisation . As a result, there were many other teaching concepts with different approaches and teaching focuses.

meaning

On the one hand, musicality is based on a special talent , and advanced learners cannot do without cognitive knowledge and skills . On the other hand, it is largely based on abilities and skills in the psychomotor area. These can be created or promoted at the earliest stages of development and are also useful for other areas of life.

According to studies, the cognitive development of preschool children is promoted through music lessons .

The extreme examples of child prodigies such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart indicate the success that can be achieved with such an early immersion in a musically influenced environment . Music can also have a therapeutic function for parents and children, which is particularly evident in music therapy .

Early musical education as a school subject

The MFE is one of the subjects grouped under elementary musical education. These include: early musical education, basic training and adult education and, more recently, senior education, e.g. B. through courses at adult education centers.

Early musical education in practice

In numerous music schools , music associations or kindergartens, the children meet once a week for a lesson lasting between 30 and 75 minutes for fun and games. Songs are sung, instruments looked at and tried out, dance movements performed, (classical) music heard or experienced and much more. The courses are usually informal and playful.

Many children enjoy creating very loud music or noise . Since many noise instruments are also suitable as rhythm instruments , they can often be found in early musical education. Typical here are e.g. As loud maracas , whistles , recorders heads and vuvuzelas . Due to the noise protection regulations in the courses, these instruments are used almost exclusively as toy instruments at home.

Main aspects and goals of the MFE

  1. To sing
    Development of a workable song repertoire, composed of well-known older and newer children's songs with the aim of singing the generations and different children (groups) together; Development and care of the child's voice, singing experience of the world (positive basic attitude both to music and to life)
  2. Dance and movement
    Preservation of the child's joy in movement (to music), whole-body experience of music or musical processes, learning basic dance patterns (e.g. circle dances, dance stories, etc. but also: dance steps and movements), space for dance improvisations and rhythmic elements
  3. Instrument science
    Information about the sound, appearance, and functionality of the various instruments that can be learned (sometimes with a time lag) after early education (violin / viola, cello, double bass, recorders, flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, trumpet, Horn, trombone, accordion, guitar, piano, harp etc.)
    Only through information can a child really find his or her favorite instrument. Pictures and CDs are a poor substitute for contact with the instrument that is actually being played.
  4. Listen to music
    Focus on classical music with the aim of enjoyable music reception for operas, classical concerts and ballet.
    Younger children have great enthusiasm for classical music. If personal preferences in elementary school age tend to develop in the musical pop area due to a lack of contact with classical music, it becomes very difficult to introduce the youngsters to the classical music tradition.
  5. Elementary instrumental play
    Nothing beats doing yourself. It is common to use Orff instruments , glockenspiels (also melodica) are now traditionally used for specific tone sequences and keyboard instruments are also used in corresponding teaching programs (fine motor skills training combined with ear training.) Less common: recorders and other instruments
  6. Elementary ear training
    After the beginnings of really elementary ear training and perception training (recognizing noises, differentiating high and low tones, etc.), the (initially absolute) solmization according to Zoltán Kodály should follow the recommendation of the VdM curriculum , which rarely takes place in practice, as this method is a relatively higher one Degree of abstraction inherent. Modern methods work e.g. B. with humanized solmization syllables (e.g. Re = Rena, Mi = Mira, Fa = Fabian etc.) and relate the hand signs to properties of these characters. Suitable illustrations and compositions are helpful.
    Important: The ability to develop hereditary perfect pitch decreases significantly with increasing age of the children. The (frequent, domestic) use of fixed and later named pitches (from glockenspiel, piano, CD, etc.) in preschool age is of great importance for the development of perfect pitch. A responsible MFE should not force this development, but above all should not prevent it.
  7. Elementary music theory
    After starting with graphical notation (assuming a child-friendly method), you can start with the regular notation. In newer methods, notes z. B. shown about the entry of the solmization characters into a music house. Rhythmic differences between quarter, half and whole notes can be made through the transformation of childlike movement sequences via symbol images into notes.
    Elementary music theory should be combined with elementary instrumental playing and, if possible, with elementary aural training (as a basis for later sight-reading ) and should not be just “painting”.
  8. improvisation
    No music without fantasy! Preservation of the child's imagination and expansion of the musical and creative imagination. Sound stories, theater experiments, instrumental improvisations, etc. are essential, but should never be used as a solution to embarrassment.

Side aspects of the MFE

Secondary aspects are parts of the lesson that run through the entire lesson almost vertically and can be assigned to almost all main aspects.

  1. Dealing with other cultures (music, language, tradition, dancing, singing, etc.)
  2. Social maturation processes, communication, integration
  3. Rhythmic training (feeling for rhythmic processes in language, instrumental play, movement, etc.)
  4. Improvisation (although the main aspect of the lesson, improvisation as a basic idea should also pervade all main aspects. The deviation from the (all too) familiar gives the lesson freshness and authenticity.)

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ EG Schellenberg: Music lessons enhance IQ. In: Psychol Sci . tape 15 , no. 8 , August 2004, p. 511-514 , doi : 10.1111 / j.0956-7976.2004.00711.x , PMID 15270994 .
  2. ^ S. Moreno, E. Bialystok, R. Barac, EG Schellenberg, NJ Cepeda, T. Chau: Short-term music training enhances verbal intelligence and executive function . In: Psychol Sci . tape 22 , no. 11 , November 2011, p. 1425-1433 , doi : 10.1177 / 0956797611416999 , PMID 21969312 , PMC 3449320 (free full text).