The tonal or rhythm “prep,” sets the tonality or meter, helping you and your child to process the song or chant in the appropriate tonality or meter.  The tonal prep also sets the key, and the rhythm prep also sets the tempo.  The silence following each prep aids further in processing the song or chant.  Using the tonal or rhythm prep is a bit like formatting a disk, so the computer can “understand” the information that is to come.   

Without the prep, the song or chant requires much greater skill of the listener, having to organize “random sounds,” into a tonality or meter and into a key or tempo.  Try playing one of the drum chants in an unusual meter in the middle of the recording and see what it takes for you to understand the organization of beats.  You may realize that the beats do not fit neatly into the more familiar Duple or Triple meters, yet still not “get it”—that is, understand the meter.  That is the initial state of young children with all tonalities and meters. 

The tonal and rhythm prep “sets up the wiring” in the musical brain so the listener can better comprehend the songs and chants.   Further, as you play the recordings repeatedly, the prep helps to keep you and your child on track—in the tonality or meter, and in the same key or tempo.  The consistent use of the prep will serve your child now and as we move to more advanced levels of music learning, including music reading.