There are lots of articles out there saying listening to Mozart music will make your baby smarter. I too bought Mozart music CD during pregnancy & listened to it everyday. The aim was not to make my baby smarter though, but to expose him to soothing calm music & inculcate love for good music. Whenever I listened to it during pregnancy, I could feel rhythmic baby movements inside & I somehow felt he enjoyed. After delivery, when we first came back to the hospital room, he was crying & as soon as I switched on Mozart music, he calmed down instantly! Looking back now, I realize it was not just the magic of Mozart, it was more of a routine that was set for little A & listening to the same music outside the womb, he felt secured & at ease.
So coming to the point, it isn't just Mozart music. After broadening my parenting horizons through various workshops & books, I realized how Indian classical music can be a boon for babies, for that matter adults too.
Here are 5 reasons you should introduce Indian classical music to babies, be it inside or outside the womb -
1. More Interesting Neural Connections - Indian classical music has a beautiful quality of having a structure within any composition. Any raaga has a set of rules & structure to be followed. Any composition in a raaga adheres to its structure. And the taal has a steady rhythm in it. In deeper spiritual sense, our life has rhythm & sequence in it everywhere. Be it making a cup of tea on a gas stove - every person follows a particular sequence & rhythm to make the same tea but still the taste comes out different, it is because every person's rhythm is different. Indian classical music inculcates a sense of structure & rhythm in one's brain, facilitating such interesting new neural connections. Zero to three is the age where tons of neural connections are being made, why should we miss out on these unique ones which this music can help us with.
2. Stimulates Right Brain - Art & music centers are located in the right brain. In the initial years, the child's right brain is more active by nature's design. It makes all the more sense to give more stimulation to the right brain through many ways, one being good music. There is pop music that's playing on TV & then there is Indian classical music, no second thoughts about making a choice for our little one, right?
3. Calms The Mind - Music therapies are not new to the world. Music calms the mind, provided it is music & not noise ;) Good music does exactly the same thing to the child as it does to an adult. A calmer & happier baby is not unwanted by anyone! And hey you yourself can benefit from the music while it is being played for your little one.
4. Sets Up A Routine - Toddlers love a sense of routine. It makes their otherwise unpredictable life predictable. For example, if you play a certain music every morning, they know what is coming next as an everyday routine & will be mentally ready for that & will be calmer. Many tantrums are because of disruptive routines. At the end of this post, I will share how I use Indian classical music to set a routine for my toddler.
5. Good Things In, Good Things Out - A child's mind is so so absorbent! We can imagine 'garbage in garbage out & good things in good things out'. Indian classical music is not just good, it is one of the best things to go inside those tender developing brains!
And after all these good things, if your baby's IQ gets enhanced, throw a party for this bonus ;)
Now after all that gyaan, this is how I include music in our routine. If you haven't introduced your child to music, do not start today, start right away! Youtube has tons of Indian classical music by maestros, stream them away. Did I tell you, even instrumental music is awesome as are the vocals? Play some instruments like Sitar, Santoor, Jal Tarang etc & introduce that beautiful resonance to your child.
As a part of my routine, I play a set of tracks in the morning everyday, they are a mix of classical compositions, mantra chants & instrumentals in raagas that are relevant to morning hours. Indian classical music describes different preferred times of the day to sing/listen different raagas, it certainly has a science behind it, let's make use of it! Even if you do not know those details, just randomly playing raagas is perfect too. I make sure to start the music when A is still sleeping in the morning. Reason is, brain waves are in delta state while sleeping & it is the most receptive state of the brain. The good effects go directly into the subconscious, which is awesome! So make a habit to play some good music when your baby is asleep (day or night). Then at night, again I play a set of tracks relevant to that time of the day. These tracks go on for about an hour, so they continue playing even after A has slept off.
All this helps me to set a routine in the mind of my toddler. I have seen him getting up in the morning in a better mood when the morning tracks are playing. At night, he knows it is time to sleep when he listens to night tracks. It makes my life easier ;)
Hope this post pushes you to introduce Indian classical music to your baby & in turn to your family, if you haven't till now.
Do share your experiences in the comments below. I would love to listen to your stories & routines how you use music with your child :)
