Music’s impact on our emotions is well documented: Albert Einstein said it was what brought him the most joy in life.

But research has now shown that when used properly, it can also help the social and cognitive development of society’s youngest and most vulnerable children.

Musical brainfood

Soundabout, a British charity, monitored children’s musical development and its relationship to wider development, including language, behaviour and the ability to listen and concentrate.

The charity found young children with developmental delay – more likely among infants from socially deprived areas – can benefit from a simple, low cost musical early intervention designed to empower parents and early years practitioners.

The impact was even more pronounced for children with greater developmental delay because of complex developmental needs, such as severe and multiple learning difficulties.

“Music makes the whole brain work,” said Professor Adam Ockelford, director of the Applied Music Research Group at the University of Roehampton, and author of the research. The project was the first to systematically map musical development and relate it to other areas of growth.

Along with being fun and culturally important, music plays a crucial role in young children’s development, he said.

“Before children talk they actually make musical sounds, they babble,” said Ockelford. Adults naturally babble back, which uses the musical part of their brains, and engages children. He added: “So early on we make relationships and feel emotion through sound.”

Saucepans and bells

The research framework, Sounds of Intent in the Early Years, monitored children’s musical development through reactive, proactive and interactive behaviours. This was compared to other areas of development, using ratings from the British government’s Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

“We found the more they engaged with music, the bigger the impact on their wider development,” said Ockelford.

The three-year intervention took place in 10-week sessions in children’s centres across the UK and lasted up to 40 minutes, with 216 children spread across small groups with their parents or carers.

Sessions began with group "microsongs", designed to assist language development and “promote a sense of social activity”, said Ockelford. Instead of traditional children’s songs, which typically use obscure language — think of "twinkle twinkle little star", the micro songs use simple everyday phrases such as "clap your hands/all join in".

“For children who have delayed language and problems with words, very often the musical part of their brain is still perfectly functioning,” added Ockelford. The research indicated that linking basic words to simple melodies moderately helped speech development, particularly for children with complex needs.

After the welcoming songs, the group would then break up for one on one sessions with instruments — which can be as basic as saucepans, bells, or even crinkly paper — with their parents or carers, before reassembling.

“Different parts of the session might have a different focus,” said Ockelford. “Some might look specifically at language, choice making, listening to other people, or turn taking.”

Sessions could also be tailored to suit the cultural heritage of groups, for instance by incorporating a traditional Urdu lullaby.

As no special training is needed, and all the necessary resources are freely available online, the sessions can be easily replicated with sufficient motivation from parents or early years practitioners. “It needs local champions” said Ockelford.

Bringing families together

Bringing groups together for sessions in rural areas where transport infrastructure was lacking was often the most significant challenge the project faced, Ockelford said.

Work is also ongoing to create a translation service for the resources, which are currently in English.

After the intervention, both groups of children saw reductions in the delay of their musical development. The effect was greater for the children with complex needs, and more pronounced than than would be expected in older children with similar conditions. The research suggested this was because of increased neuroplasticity at younger ages, but the small sample size highlighted the need for further research.

But the researchers found the developmental benefits went beyond musical. For children with complex needs, the delay in their capacity to develop relationships was reduced by 2.5 months. The research also found children’s ability to listen and focus during the intervention improved a month faster than predicted by their age related expectations if the intervention had not occurred. The effect was double for children with complex needs.

Making music in groups also helped to give children “a stronger sense of personal identity,” Ockelford said. Musical activities also encourage empathy and communication, because “they get a sense of what other people are feeling and doing,” he added. “Behaviour is linked to all of those things and music helps develop those areas.”

There was also anecdotal evidence the intervention helped bonding and healthy relationships between infants and their parents, who were often young themselves. “A sense of fun and belonging was really apparent,” said Ockelford. The intervention was designed so parents and carers could continue it themselves after the 10 weeks, which often happened where children’s centers remained open.

While all infants can benefit from musical interventions, the benefits “are more pronounced for children with developmental delay because they’ve got more catching up to do,” said Ockelford.

While music is often seen in western cultures as an elite activity, particularly for very young children, it is something that has been a feature of “every culture, as far as we know, forever,” said Ockelford. This evidence suggests it can no longer be seen as purely recreational.