Audiation is defined as the experience of hearing music in our minds even when there is no external music present. It is our Music intelligence at work. In class we often teach the parents to test their child's audiation skills by singing a familiar song but leaving parts out. Occasionally we will hear a child sing out the missing part. This game is usually more successful at home where the child is more relaxed and confortable. Read on for Jessie's experience this week in her class.
by Jessie Ansley
I read all of the materials provided to us the night we got them. It was filled with great information. I then proceeded to play the CD we received everyday since last Wednesday. We listen to it in the car, we listen to it on walks, we listen to it at home and have dance parties in our living room. I already have my faves......number 4 and number 9. We have also spent two 30 minute blocks at library story times where my little guy sat in my lap or nicely on the floor and was focused and engaged so I was certain this was going to bea fantastic week at music class.
My son, however, seemed to have other plans. He loves to take advantage of the large space and the mirror wall that our music class takes place in. He would be very focused during times when the musical instruments were used, but he was all over the place for the rest of the class!! He would walk around the room and then look at himself in the mirror from about 3 centimeters away (apparently my son thinks he is very handsome based on how often he checks himself out while we are at music class!)
I did exactly as Miss Alicia instructed......I constantly modeled the teacher (however, I carefully kept a VERY close on eye on my son). Although he did not rejoin the group as much as I would have liked, he did seem to participate, clap and dance on his own terms in other parts of the room. Miss Alicia assures me that for his age (almost 16 months), that he is doing great. As a mom, I want him to be happy,but I also want him to learn to follow instructions. I am trying my best to trust the process and hope that in the upcoming weeks, his attention becomes more focused and he is able to join the group for longer periods of time.
This week’s new term was “audiation.” Basically, this fancy word means being able to leave out lyrics of a song, but still hear them in your head. It’s a way of “thinking” the music. I must be excellent at audiation because no matter how many times Miss Alicia told us what to leave out, I would still sing it out loud!! Ha-ha! (Not on purpose, of course, but it was hard to leave out words when you are so used to singing them). What I love about this is that it is teaching our children higher level thinking skills, but in a fun way and at a very young age. It’s a key part of music literacy.
I am excited about next week, but also hoping my son will follow my lead and participate with the group more often.