Readers who work in the field of early childhood music education are aware of the wide range of professional figures who operate in this context. In a book which blends practice with theory, academic knowledge with operative knowledge, Susan Young successfully addresses general early childhood practitioners as well as musical professionals who offer early childhood music. The book is divided into two parts: the first deals with the educational contexts, the second with children's musical experiences. It begins by painting the scenario of a child's musical day and outlines the pedagogical values proposed: ‘education should involve active, constructive and creative learning’; the child should ‘develop his/her musical skills, understanding and interests’; and the educator should undertake ‘planning, management and a collaborative role with the other members of teams’.
In the first chapter, the book's working method is outlined: it begins with the observation of 3–5-year-olds’ musical experiences, then passes through psycho-pedagogical reflection, before returning to the procedures which can be practiced along these principles. Why do music? The way in which musical education is undertaken depends on how the concept of musical ability is understood and the answers to this question vary depending on the professional figures operating in the sector: for members of an orchestra, doing music coincides with ‘formal musical learning’; for specialists of music in early childhood, the objective of musical practice is to develop the musicality of the children in the broadest sense; for the general early childhood practitioners music is above all synonymous with singing and other activities such as improvisation appear puzzling. The author strongly underlines the value of making music as a ‘play-centred practice’: this idea is still poorly understood and inadequately adopted in schools. Studies carried out on children's spontaneous and self-initiated activities show that children are very motivated to make music and that the processes involved are not based on passive absorption but see the children as active subjects. The lack of research on music in early childhood is also highlighted. Who does the music? Here, the difficult question of training educators and professional musicians who work with children is tackled. The author underlines the importance of not reducing their formation to a mere question of practice training, but rather to consider it as part of their educational and professional formation.
Chapter 2 deals with pedagogy. The author starts from the two main approaches present in the history of music education: the adult-led model (direct transmission) and the play-centred model whereby children are given opportunities to discover and explore through free play (discovering for themselves). Instead, the author supports the Vygotskian approach and the constructionist model of learning and, furthermore, she proposes that musical interaction itself, rather than the linguistic interaction which Vygotsky proposed, becomes the learning method. In a pedagogical context such as that which is outlined, the educators should hold the following pedagogical abilities: eliciting and prompting (preparing and organising contexts, spaces and materials), listening and watching (observation as an integral part of the didactic practice), interacting and structuring (imitating, assisting, prompting new actions, introducing new ideas), assisting and instructing (providing progressively structured activities), thinking in and on practice (reflective practice, micro-pedagogy).
Chapter 3 is dedicated to musical childhoods and begins by considering the need for educators to know more about the musical experience of children in the family and how this can interact with music in a school context. Some suggestions are put forward, above all the notion that children's musical cultures should not be treated tokenistically. How can the music present within the family musical experience be selected and used at school? In this selection, the aim of the educator should be to obtain music which is not widespread, procure audiovisual and multimedia material and plan exchanges with musicians who operate in the various ethnic communities. Another aspect concerning musical childhoods which is highlighted is that of musical technologies and the profound impact that these have on the life of children, both in a social and family life context. Some advice is given here as well: collect information on the musics, children and technologies through interviews with the children and their parents; be up to date with the innovative technologies that stimulate new and creative musical processes in children; use technologies to make music, record, playback, search, listen, select.
Chapter 4 is dedicated to musical neighbourhoods, and the connections between schools and surrounding agencies and organisations. Some practical advice is also offered here: starting locally, beyond the school and family; bringing artists and musicians into the school, involving the families and their music as well, without ‘simplifying’ it for children. The planning advice offered here reveals the level of pedagogical professionalism required of educators operating in the field of early childhood. The emphasis is not on carrying out projects which are brought into the school by outside agencies, but rather on organising projects with a more defined aim, studying the spontaneous musical activities of the children for example, or experimenting with various pedagogical approaches, analysing interactions between music and technology, exploring the connection between music, dance and mime; collaborating with new partners who are different from the family, other educators or musicians.
The second part of the book deals with musical practice, concerning listening, the voice, musical instruments, and dance. The activities suggested are based on the pedagogical idea of the musical experience shared between adult and child, which is discussed in the first part of the book. In Chapter 5, the various listening activities which can be developed in a didactic environment are outlined in detail from a pedagogical listening perspective: attentive and focused listening, listening to recorded music, listening and singing, moving to the music, music for listening. Chapter 6 is dedicated to the voice, above all to the activity of singing. An important aspect of this chapter is that, together with the songs that the children already known, individual and group singing activities which the children explore and invent on a daily level are also emphasised. In Chapter 7, ‘Playing instruments’, both exploration and musical invention are underlined. These activities only appear to be random, whereas in reality, they are governed by a coherent and musical thinking, based on turn-taking, imitation, variation and elaboration of musical ideas. The book gives advice as to what type of ‘real’ instruments, ‘scrapstore’ instruments, settings, activities, spaces and models of playing can be employed by the children and teachers, alone, with someone else, or in groups. The practical suggestions are rich, useful and attractive, and concern dance as well. Some arguments are not explored here, for example the children listening to their own productions, the use of the ‘unsung’ voice, and the new technology, as such digital instruments and musical software. However, these issues are widely discussed in the first part of the book.
The book stands out in particular because, although it is written for teachers and educators, it does not function as a ‘recipe’ book for didactic activity, rather as an excellent guide which successfully combines didactic practices with a scientific educational approach, based on the most recent research carried out in the field of early childhood music education. Susan Young rightly warns her readers that this is a slow-book rather than a fast-book: a book during which the reader should stop and reflect on how to prepare and act didactically. Emphasis is placed not on the teacher or the child, but on the ‘musical interaction’ between them, considered within a complex socio-cultural, multicultural and technologically context. The potential of the didactic and educational richness available is highlighted, in a clear and communicative style, and with selected references suitable for focused research. This is a book which addresses teachers and practitioners, as well as researchers and experts who work with them.
