“Ok Google, can you play ‘Happy Birthday To You’?’” S asked. When it ended she asked for it again, and then again, and again – I ended up putting it on repeat for her until we couldn’t bear to hear it another time, and yet still, she wanted more.
It was nobody’s birthday, not even close.
It felt like a prescient symbol for nine months of pandemic living, where the days blur into each other in a haze of ever-increasing monotony. It becomes hard to differentiate between memories past and present, so we might as well be listening to the same song over and over.
She’s similarly obsessed with the same books, day after day. There’s clearly comfort in the familiarity and safety that comes from knowing what will come next, but more than that, hearing the same sounds over and over is an important part of how children learn.
One study found that when young children were presented with new words in three different books, they were less likely to learn them compared to if they were in the same book, even though the children heard the words the same number of times.
These results are fairly intuitive – repeat something familiar and it sticks better – but music represents something even more interesting. Like language, music is rhythmical. It actually helps improve language, as well as a whole host of related skills, precisely because of how it enhances the way our brain processes sound.
A few years ago, back when travel was allowed, I was talking to Neuroscientist Nina Kraus about noise and music. Fittingly we were in a very noisy café in Texas. She told me that among three-year-olds, her team showed they could predict whether they would have difficulties with language based on how good they were at following a beat. The children who were better at tapping along also showed brain waves synchronising to these rhythms.
Music helps young brains to follow rhythm, helping to differentiate meaning from noise. Kraus has done several studies that show that music lessons can increase a child’s chance of academic success.
And as for repetitive songs, knowing what comes next is riveting for children. Adults do the same with the songs they love, just maybe not as many times. Our infants are still building brain connections and familiar songs help them to do so.
This afternoon, I will try and embrace the dulcet tones of Mary Had a Little Lamb, Wind the Bobbin Up and Sleeping Bunnies… and every now and again I’ll try and sneak a song in that we love too.
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