Why focus on early musical development?

The ‘PROMISE’ research demonstrated that many of those working with children with SLD and PMLD regard music as an essential ingredient in their lives, both as a worthy focus of attention and source of pleasure in its own right, as well as a means of promoting wider learning and development. However, the musical development of children with severe or profound learning difficulties is largely uncharted territory. Currently, prior to the commencement of the current Sounds of Intent project, we did not even know if there is a consistent pattern of musical development within the group, and, if so, whether this is similar to that typically found in the first year or so of children’s lives, or if there are significant differences. Yet without this basic information, how can we be sure that teaching and learning programmes are as effective as they should be? Without a firm grasp of what the developmental phases might be, how can we be sure at any given point what the appropriate next step is (let alone help a child to take it)?

Some argue that it is inadvisable – if not impossible – to attempt to study and conceptualise the early stages of musical development in a discrete way since engagement with music is almost invariably embedded within broader (non-musical) contexts, occurring as part of other activity. Even in the domain of hearing, music often arrives mixed up with everyday sounds and is frequently encountered as a composite form of communication inextricably linked to words. Clearly, such interdependence is fundamental and must be taken into account. However, since music has the capacity to emerge from the ‘buzzing, blooming’ confusion of early perception as a distinct entity in sound, it should be possible to track its development and emergence through the process of maturation and there is now a considerable body of evidence for musical development in the ‘normal’ population. This evidence should in turn enable those working with children with SLD or PMLD both to offer more effective support in engaging with music as an activity in its own right, as well as better enabling them to use music as a scaffold to structure other learning and development.