BOY: I have my harmonica.
MAN: And I have my harmonica.
Do you want to play some music
now?
Yeah.
- Okay, go!
(both playing)
Music is extremely important
in a child's life.
WOMAN: I think music is
important
because they can learn
from music.
I mean, just the world we live
in, music is everywhere.
(singing)
Nobody taught this to me,
but I just feel like I have to
sing to him.
WOMAN:
Are you dancing?
He'll come to me and will want
me to turn the music on,
and dance.
WOMAN: It's just fun, like when
a song comes on,
and it's silly, like you just
want to move with it.
(making happy noises)
(singing)
He wakes up in the middle
of the night
and I'll sing to him
and I'll walk around
and just sing to him.
Ooo.
It's just like
my natural rhythm.
I feel that it's very calming
and soothing to him,
it's like our bonding time.
♪ Close your eyes and...♪
We lay in bed we relax,
we calm down,
we sing some songs.
♪ Close your eyes,
now rest your head. ♪
It's easy, it doesn't have
to rhyme,
doesn't have to sound great.
♪ This morning we went to play
in the woods. ♪
What he did that day,
what he saw,
he associates music with his
experiences with the world.
♪ Go to sleep. ♪
It soothes them,
they sleep to music,
and then they start learning
through music.
♪ Two little monkeys
jumping on the bed ♪
Just me and her cousins were
playing around.
We can teach a lot of lessons
with music, you know.
They have the ABC song,
you could sing stuff about
color, transportation...
♪ The wheels on the bus go round
and round ♪
♪ All through the town. ♪
♪ Ring around the rosie ♪
Music definitely teaches
a lot of things.
It teaches her about emotions.
She'll say to me,
"Is this a sad song, mama?"
And I don't think it's the words
she's listening to,
I think it's the actual music.
(singing)
WOMAN: He'll chime in.
H, I...
J, K.
I was very surprised.
The ABCs, I didn't know he knew
many of the letters
until he started singing it one
time on his own.
I know my...
My, my...
WOMAN: We can encourage him
to go in the car,
"Marcelo, do you want to hear
the ABCs?"
Hurry, let's get in the car.
And then he'll get in and say,
"ABCs! ABCs! ABCs"
BOY:
ABCs.
You want to play the ABCs?
How about you sing the ABCs
and I'll play it.
BOY: ♪ A, B, C, D...♪
MAN:
He loves his harmonica.
It's a nearly indestructible
instrument,
that is relatively inexpensive,
and has brought him
such great joy.
The other great thing about
instruments,
you can make your own.
You make them out of old oatmeal
containers,
and just put some rice in them.
Anything can be a drum.
And he makes everything a drum.
What's inside?
(gasps)
It's tea.
GIRL:
♪ Pop the shaker shaker ♪
WOMAN: She just bursts into song
whenever, like doing anything.
♪ I love mine ♪
WOMAN:
And then with Otis...
(rattling)
When they're pre-verbal,
just starts,
like he doesn't even know he's
doing it when music comes on.
His little body just starts
tapping away.
And then it just happens.
(laughing)
It's really sweet, and,
you know, maybe he'll clap.
Yay!
It's just like in his body.
So it's not that he's vocalizing
it, but he's moving to it.
Go Lamarques, go Lamarques.
They had a little band going on.
Lamarques got a drum set,
Aliyah got a mic.
Go, Ro Ro.
And we had a ball.
You know Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star song?
I just jump in with them,
and go to their level.
It's our time to connect.
Makes me feel younger.
I feel younger.
I don't feel like a grandmother.
(laughing)
Boom, boom, boom.
He loves music.
WOMAN:
We almost always have music.
We'll play classical music,
or jazz in the background,
just kind of always going on.
♪ Or if I do...♪
MAN: He really likes it.
A-wiggle wiggle wiggle!
He's very active, so I think
it's a very good outlet for him.
(speaking foreign language)
For Kash to learn our culture is
very important.
(singing)
WOMAN:
I speak Mongolian.
He smiles, so I know that he can
recognize my voice.
I do want him to learn my
culture.
(baby giggles)
MAN: There's a lot of American
cultures
that he will need to learn,
but Asian culture we would like
for our son to learn.
MAN: It's not just the pure
enjoyment and wonderful skill
and creativity that comes from
the musical experience,
but it really helps
in a child's development
of math and science skills.
So we turn on the music,
dance around and sing at the top
of our lungs.
(singing)
(laughs)
What song is that?