Your child develops musically in several dimensions simultaneously. Any one of those dimensions can upstage, outpace, or mask development in another, making your child’s musical response appear less developed than in the past. Your child may ignore rhythm or tonal altogether, while focusing more intently on the other. If your child is tuning into tonal more than previously, your little musician’s rhythm response may seem less developed than a few months ago. Seemingly less interest and accuracy in Rhythm Activities may be countered with new tonal development that may not be apparent, or may become manifest in a more tuneful than usual rendition of “Old Mac Donald” or Happy Birthday.” If your little one is more compelled by rhythm than usual, tuneful singing may temporarily disappear!
The child who confidently dialogued with Rhythm Syllables six months ago may be reaching a new understanding of the relationship between Rhythm Syllables and what he knows in sound, such that the little maestro interacts rhythmically only on “Bah”—as if he doesn’t “need” Rhythm Syllables, or understands “Bah” better. Similarly, the child who readily responded to Resting Tone Activities with Tonal Syllables in an earlier CCS Class may now insist on “Too” as the appropriate response. A child who does not respond as accurately as he might have a few months ago to rhythm or tonal may be simply trying to aurally comprehend how rhythm and tonal fit together.
Surely a regressive music response could result from a temperamental little musician who wants to be in command and doesn’t want to take cues from somebody else’s prompts! Gone are the days when a budding little communicator parroted your language prompts on cue!
Your child’s development of each dimension of music learning is a process, and balancing all dimensions can be as challenging as stacking blocks of unusual sizes and shapes. Your child may ignore blocks of one shape while building only with another, or successfully combine certain shapes as never before. Less developed musical response in a child whose CCS experience is consistent does not mean that the child is regressing musically. It more likely indicates musical growing pains! In time, your little one will learn to balance all of the various musical dimensions, and those temporarily set aside will take their rightful place alongside those that may presently be more compelling.
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