Musical Instruments and Props in class

I've been asked several times why we don't use instruments and props more often during Music Together class.  By props, I mean scarves, balls, puppets, etc.  Obviously, the children love these objects; the play-along song and its accompanying box of loud brightly colored instruments is many children's favorite part of class!

What is the purpose of the instruments and props in class?  These things are simply a way of getting a child's attention, of stimulating interest, and suggesting different ways of exploring music...which may in turn inspire musical exploration at home.  The instruments and props, however, are not intrinsic to making music, and are often even distraction.  A person's first and most important instrument is her voice, followed closely by body parts.   If you can't clap a steady beat with your hands, you certainly can't play a steady beat with a drum and a stick.

To use an analogy, when my son Isaac was learning to stand and walk, we had several toys in our home that were exciting, colorful, noisy and designed to inspire and "aid" standing and walking behavior.  Isaac, now 2.5 years old, is a pro at walking (although he still tussles with the stairs from time to time).  Did Isaac love those toys?  Yes, indeed!  Much to the dismay of my abused ears.  Could he have learned to walk without those toys?  Certainly!  Did the inspirational toys speed up his development in that area?  I doubt it, since he was 14 months old before he started walking on his own at all.  In fact, a child's development can sometimes be delayed by an over-reliance on props such as walkers, etc, if they are over-used.

Musical props and "aids" are to musical development as standing-and-walking toys are to standing and walking skills.  They are lots of fun, they're not harmful if they're not over-used, but they don't contribute much to musical development.

But, didn't those standing-and-walking toys motivate and inspire Isaac to stand up and walk?  Yes, perhaps, but the toys were not nearly as influential as the fact that Isaac saw Mom and Dad standing up, walking around, getting their own food (There's the ticket!), and apparently having so much fun!  Now--those of you who have been around for a couple of sessions know where I'm going with this (grin).  A drum or pair of shaker eggs are really cool and fun for your child, and they may inspire him to experiment with music at home.  But those instruments won't be nearly as influential to your child's inclination to engage in musical play (and therefore development) as YOUR actions in music class and especially in daily life between music classes. This is why we emphasize over and over again how important it is for you to sing and dance and have fun at it...and sometimes turn off the CD player when you do it.  Be silly, and make the Music Together songs your own!

(On a side note, for absolutely amazing examples of how music can be made with ONLY a voice and body parts, check out Bobby McFerrin.  If you can make it all the way to the end of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" on his myspace page, you can watch other videos.  I highly recommend his concert solo near the left side of the choices.  You can also hear samples from Bobby McFerrin's album "Spontaneous Inventions" at the itunes store.)