Week 17: I Got Rhythm

Babies often bounce or clap to a rhythm when they're less than a year old. But scientists were unsure whether they learn beat perception early in life, or whether they're born with it.

To find out, a team led by István Winkler from the Institute for Psychology in Budapest, Hungary, and Henkjan Honing from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands tested beat perception in newborns using EEG. This can measure their electrical brain responses to sounds, even when the babies are sleeping.

The team played a rock drum rhythm to 14 sleeping babies two or three days old. Sometimes the sequence skipped a sound without disrupting the rhythm, while other omissions made the rhythm stumble.

When a missed note broke the rhythm, the babies had a key brain response indicating that their sensory expectations were contradicted. This suggests newborns can sense a rhythm and know when to expect the next beat. "Beat perception is there right from birth," Winkler concludes.

In the womb, fetuses rock out to the beat of their mother's heart, 40 weeks on the hit parade. And as early as seven months after birth, babies show a preference for rhythm patterns similar to the way they have been bounced on their parents' knees (one, two, three, four).

It has been suggested that rhythm plays a vital role in the development of speech and language. It has also been shown that the development of musical ability leads to greater skills of logic and math. Furthermore, early childhood is the time where preferences begin and children begin to create mental "boxes" for different subjects. Studies have suggested that without development of a "music box" in the brain, children may be less able to develop skills such as keeping the beat, or singing in tune.

This game will help baby develop her budding sense of rhythm and improve her eye hand coordination. It is her first step to sitting on the kitchen floor, happily banging out the beat to Wipe Out, or playing her first piano recital. :)



Clap your hands in a 1-2, 1-2 rhythm. Does Baby listen? Take baby's hands and attempt to clap them together. Exaggerate the sound. Take two spoons and tap them together in the 1-2 rhythm. Do this until Baby appears to listen and watch. Get a container (such as an oatmeal container, or #10 can with a plastic lid). Prop Baby in a sitting position and set the can in an upright position in front of Baby. With your hand, tap on the top of the plastic lid in a pattern or rhythm of 1-2. Repeat several times and encourage Baby to use her hand to tap. Do not expect Baby to make a pattern yet, but if you repeat this often enough Baby will make the rhythm when she is a little older. If you have a piano or keyboard, sit with baby on your lap. Play middle "C" in a 1-2 pattern. Say 1-2 as you play. Encourage Baby to mimic you. Let baby have some free play time with the keys.

This activity develops:
An awareness of sound
An awareness of rhythmical pattern
Listening skills
A sense of touch
An awareness of the origin of sounds
An awareness of cause and effect

Our Virtuoso: