Did you know that babies can identify melodies sung by their mother during pregnancy, up to one month after their birth?
With this in mind, it is never too early to start preparing your baby for the world of music. My number one musical top-tip for all Mums to be is to ‘sing to your bump’. Now I’m not talking about a full-scale musical production here (there’s no need for a rendition of Les Miserables), just a few simple tunes, with limited pitches that you could ‘nail’ over your final months of pregnancy.
Good examples include: The Hokey Cokey (actions optional at this point), Incy Wincey Spider, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Hush Little Baby. All of these songs have a simple melodic line which even the most ‘tone deaf’ of singers (no such thing; I’ll get to that in another blog) can execute to a decent standard. It is important that only the ‘pure’ voice is used, without backing tracks or other musical adaptations. This is so baby can discriminate the sound and begin to develop aural recognition.
The repertoire you choose (playlist) will provide a good foundation for when baby is born. It’s a ‘double whammy’, because not only by singing are you developing your newborns aural discriminatory ability, but you are also in a position to use these songs as signposts for routine and communication during the first few months after birth.
If you'd like some guidance on this, why don't you come and join us for our Newborn course. This is suitable for both pregnant mummies in the last trimester as well as new mummies too. https://www.musicinunison.co.uk/newborn