Preschool children, music and the role of the family

Literature on parent participation in early childhood programs (for example, Bamberger, 1991; Blacking, 1973; Howe, Davidson & Sloboda, 1998; Gruhn, 2005; Peretz, 2005) shows that there are specific environmental and cultural effects that have a noticeable influence on children, especially in the areas of language development and musical understanding. It has been suggested that natural musical abilities may be part of the innate cognitive-, language-, social- and emotional capacities of all individuals, but that the cultural attitudes towards music development and the social role of music in the family and community may have a significant impact on the outcomes of musical development throughout childhood. The aim of the present research project was to investigate the potential for collaboration between parents, teachers and music specialists in a dedicated music program. A crucial finding was that despite all academic rhetoric emphasising the importance of parent participation, in actual practice this goal is difficult to attain, even if all participants are enthusiastic about the program. The present paper first reports the general effects of the music program on children¿s musical performance, before describing the efforts that were made to involve parents and the level of participation it generated.