Music Listening Experiences for Newborn and Preschool Children

Notation and Recording of Brief Tunes and Rhythm Chants in Many Tonalities and Meters

by Edwin Gordon

© 2012 GIA Publications, Inc.

Listening in both music and language is fundamental, and newborn and young children engage in active listening as a critical first step in both language and music development.

This two-CD set and book is for adults who want to help a newborn or very young child with this critical first stage of music development. Music Listening Experiences is written and recorded by Edwin E. Gordon—internationally recognized as one of the world's principal thinkers and researchers in music education.

The two enclosed CDs, one tonal and the other rhythm, provide models for parents and caregivers looking to engage very young children with tunes and chants in a wide range of tonalities and meters. These children will begin to build a music vocabulary that can serve them for a lifetime.

This package includes a brief introduction by Dr. Gordon, CDs containing 200 tunes and rhythm chants without words (important for this early stage of music development), as well as complete notation for all of the music.

Dr. Gordon writes that the ability to audiate—to give meaning to music—is essential to all future music achievement. And this ability to audiate starts with building a strong and diverse musical vocabulary. Music Listening Experiences is an important tool for anyone who wants to build this musical vocabulary in our youngest children.

Edwin E. Gordon is known throughout the world as a preeminent researcher, teacher, author, editor, and lecturer in the field of music education. He is currently a research professor in the Thomas Cooper Library at the University of South Carolina. Gordon has written seven standardized tests in music aptitude, as well as more than 14 books on music education, including Learning Sequences in Music. His work has been featured in USA Today, NBC, and dozens of other media outlets.

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