In today’s society it is hard to survive without the knowledge of literacy. We depend on Literacy in our everyday life. In the article “Learning Literacy Through Music” Tabert states that literacy is being able to read and write but also states that it is also the ability to communicate. While literacy is an important part of the classroom setting, music is slowly getting phased out. However music and literacy are connected in multiple ways such as: phoneme awareness, discrimination between similar auditory elements, speech signals, and auditory memory.
Phoneme awareness is how sounds come together to make words. This translates to music by putting notes together to make a melody line. Being able to discriminate between similar auditory elements is similar to discriminating between individual pitches. Music can also increase memory skills by memorizing songs. Reading music is like reading a book; but music is more complicated than reading. When reading music you have to focus on the note on the staff, the duration of the note, and if it is vocal music you have to focus on the words too.
Music can expand vocabulary and understanding of rhymes; these are key components to literacy standards for four year olds. Another component of literacy for a four year old is to speak in front of a group. Music can help build confidence; when students receive solos at a young age they are more confident in presenting themselves in front of peers and audiences.
Here at Therabeat, we focus on encouraging literacy by reading music, focusing on appropriate social interaction, and by hosting a performance bi-annually. We also use music to encourage learning words and their meanings; such as taking a song and turning it into flash cards to place in order and use out of the song context. It is beautiful to see these children blossom into confident stars.
-Dana LaValley, Music Therapy Intern
Tarbert, K. (2012). Learning literacy through music. Oneota Reading Journal, 2012. Retrieved
from https://www.luther.edu/oneota-reading-journal/archive/2012/learning-literacy-through
-music/