Silence - it's a powerful word, isn't it? What does Silence mean to you? Perhaps it is a
moment of reflection, thought or calm, before continuing with routine activities? Maybe
silence is about the space you are in, where no sounds; talking or music impedes the
stillness? Silence could even be the pause before response. Silence can be spontaneous or
manufactured. Silence can creep up on us all when we least expect it. It is that moment
when the last child has left the classroom, the locking up of a silent school, the moment
before stepping out of your home, the moment before your baby wakes, before your children
utter sounds. The moment after the curtains are drawn, and the evening settles in. How
does silence feel to you? Are you still? Do you give in to silence? Do you allow silence to
calm your thoughts, action and people around? Or is it something you try to avoid?
Silence is an extraordinary tool for communication. For me, as a musical medium, Silence
engages multiple sounds in my head. When there is no sound my mind is on fire with
multiple, rhythmical patterns, hums - words flitting in and out and thoughts tumbling over the
last. My personal experience of Silence is always busy, invasive, active, reactionary and
often emotionally demanding. For many others Silence is a different experience, Speaking
from professional experience there is one thing I can confirm; Silence plays a critical part in
our understanding of music and communication. If Silence is the master of musical thought,
musical thought is the mistress of vocal utterance.
In the context of working with young children and babies, Silence is a useful ally in
discovering characteristics and their preferences. Observing a group in a rare moment of
silence can often reveal information previously undiscovered. Consider how children
communicate when they are non-verbal. They move! In early childhood, children are
proprioceptively alert and responsive to others, their environment and resources. Through
tactile experiences young children explore, reflect, consider, engage, interact and respond.
Proprioceptive activity is influenced by the space, resources and others around. This
extraordinary time of deeply personal exploration occurs long before spoken language
emerges and comes with intrinsic rhythmical nuances. These manifest into sound-play,
gesture and emotional connection with the said thing, environment or person.
Silence is a young child's story...
Using Silence as a primary source in musical play can manipulate the space, resources and
people. Functional skills such as breath with a little tension and release thrown in provides
enormous scope for spontaneous vocalising, particularly when emotional expressivity lends
a hand. This video captures a moment where everyone is silent. A child with profound
language delay responds immediately.
Bubbles POP!
Enabling musical moments can be as much about offering a musical idea then being silent
for a moment. The withdrawal of sound is akin to a bouncing ball - it bounces and a child
catches (the sound)
Donkey donkey! video link
The meaning of sounds
Have you wondered what your baby's sounds mean? Maybe they are busy babbling to the
movement of their fingers, maybe they "da daa" to the swish of curtain fabric or their little
brow puckers to the "zippy zoom" of a fly. Perhaps they are creating "Ooooh waaahhhh
eeeee" sounds to the sunlight flickering through shadows. Maybe your toddler is lying on the
floor with eyes closely watching a train being moved back and forth to chooooooo..." All
examples share a combination of exploration, curiosity, intent and imaginative play.
Collaboratively they each support emotional regulation, fine and gross motor development,
and ultimately sound to speech ability.
Sound play
Movement compels sound. Sound is the natural precursor to spoken word. Think of sound
play as a visit to the gym (only far more fun). Active bodies have flexible muscles,
sharpened, ready to support the body in motion. Approximately 38 muscles are required for
speech acquisition. Like little bodies speech muscles need exercise too! When offered in
imaginative ways sound play in imaginative play becomes a crucial part of many things - of
shared play, illuminating characters in a story, moving an activity along and exploration.
Through gesture our children have a voice. It is up to us to recognise and enable our
children's unique means of communicating and to give them the space to verbalise when
they are ready.
An interesting research article in Hanover 1 demonstrates that movement and music both
share a similar emotional structure and is well worth a read. Other research documents are
available on our website
To conclude is my personal mantra Silence is the master of musical thought. Give children
their voice.
1 Sievers, B, Polansky, L, Casey, M and Wheatley available on the internet: Music and Movement
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