The interest on how music affects young children began toward the latter part of the 19th century. Studies were taken up to determine an infant’s musical abilities. It appears that until the middle of the twentieth century, scientists failed to appreciate the capabilities of infants. They presumed that because infants lack speech and spend so much time eating and sleeping that not much cognition was going on inside an infant’s head. That view was largely displaced with the fact that infants have considerable musical abilities. For example, infants can perceive and distinctly remember not only the contour, but also the pattern of rising and falling pitches in a piece of music. They can also recognize a melody as the same when it is played at a very differen

Arguably, another way that music is able to help all ages is through therapy. Music therapy is used to help heal a variety of problems both behavioral and neurological. The whole disciplined process involves the fact that music is able to change the brain in terms of its function. A proficient study was done with a stroke victim who lost his ability to talk. The process that was used was very lengthily; it took a long time to get the result they were looking for, that is, to regain the ability to speak. The way that the doctors achieved this was through Melodic Intonation Therapy. Melodic Intonation Therapy involves “speaking in a type of musical manner, characterized by strong melodic (two notes, high and low) and temporal (two durations long and short) components.” (Viadero, pp. 25) Through this persevering method the man who lost his ability to speak successfully regained the lost ability. It is true, Melodic therapy has helped people young and old, namely, doing things that researchers and doctors of old times wouldn’t have dreamed of. If they did find out the affects of music and rehabilitation, they would probably be rolling over in their graves!

t tempo. Infant perception and cognition have been found to be similar to the ways in which adult listeners process music.

“Children take to music naturally. Musical sounds are among the first stimulus that an infant responds to, and toddlers instinctively weave music into their games, their interaction with other children and adults, and employ it as, an inner companion to the exploration of the world around them.” (Suzuki, pp. 6)

Regarding the first question, the ear starts to develop only a few weeks after conception. At this stage, the auditory part of the brain does not function at all, that is, before the 26th week, the beginning of the last trimester of pregnancy. (Starr, pp. 831) Addressing the second question, sound does reach the in utero fetus, although it is greatly distorted, by and large, because of the liquid and tissue that surrounds the fetus. The type of music that is less likely to be distorted is classical music, namely, as indicated by Starr is Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. (Starr, pp. 839)

In particular, the responses to music before birth? They consist mainly of body movements and rapid changes of heart rate. “Most sounds cause a short lasting heart rate, as a part of a “ ‘ what is it?’” response. Very loud sounds produce an increase in heart rate, often with a startle response.” (Lecanuet, pp.81) Not only do sounds produce responses and changes in heart rate, but there is also evidence of prenatal learning.. In one study, the abdomen of a pregnant woman received a gentle vibratory stimulus that in itself did not produce fetal response. The vibratory stimulus was then followed by a loud noise that provoked movement. Next, after repeating the vibratory stimulus followed by the loud noise, the loud noise was no longer used. The researchers ascertained the reliable response they were looking for. The fetus responded to the vibratory stimulus alone, thus having anticipated receiving the loud sound. This type of association showed researchers that a fetus has the marked ability to acquire information and remember events. (Spelt, pp.

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