Any child may respond musically one day and not the next, but expect that the level of music skill demonstrated may also be inconsistent. One day you may hear a bit of tuneful singing, and the next day it is nowhere near tuneful. One day your child responds perfectly in rhythm; the next day, rhythm response is not even close to being rhythmic. Getting that little music generator to propel musical response at a consistent level of skill takes time, a lot of musical interaction, and your support.
Your little one’s fledgling musical response can be very personal, and your child may be reluctant to share it. Tonal seems to be most intimate, with rhythm more freely offered. Budding self-consciousness may cause your little one to withhold musical response, or to respond with less skill than previously demonstrated. For example, you may hear spontaneous in-tune singing until your little one is aware that you are listening, at which point it reverts to non-tuneful singing. Do not be surprised if your child sings a bit of something in tune for you, yet not for somebody else, or sings in tune for somebody else and regresses to monotone when you enter the room.
The more you can keep the focus off of your child and the musical response itself, the more you are likely to hear more developed skill and more consistent response. Draw your child into “Playing Music.” A child engaged musically with puppets, trucks, dolls, hammers, etc. becomes lost in play—literally losing himself and the self-consciousness. You will find that even a shy child will allow musicality to triumph over shyness, when lost in “Playing Music.”
