Scientists told at what age you need to shape the musical tastes of a child
If you want your child to listen to performers of a certain musical direction, the formation of his musical tastes builds to do when his son or daughter is 8-10 years old. It is in this gap that children are most susceptible to parental advice.
Such data was published by scientists from the University of York in the UK, who specifically started a large study on this topic.
More than two thousand mothers and fathers took part in the experiment. They had to honestly tell if they were able to influence the musical tastes of their children.
Only one out of ten parents who raise a teenager over 10 years old said that he can influence the addiction of a child to music of a certain style and genre. All the rest stated that time, alas, was lost, and the children formed their own tastes, different from the parent ones, themselves.
Research has shown that the style of music a child is listening to more important for dads than for mothers. 79% of fathers honestly admitted that they tried in every way to influence children in this matter. Moms, who also tried to teach a child to listen to music of a certain style, turned out to be less - only 40%.
After a conversation with their parents and a series of psychological tests, the scientists talked with the children. It turned out that fathers' attempts to teach the child to jazz or grunge, for the most part, did not have the effect, and children more often adopt musical preferences of mothers.
The leader of the group of scientists, Professor Hauke Egermann, noted that the influence of the parents on the formation of the musical taste of the child as a whole is quite large. But one should not think that one can teach a child to love rock or classics in infancy, as one should not assume that a teenager can be “reformed” and targeted from hard rock to popular pop songs. Best of all, children absorb parental preferences and listen to their advice in matters of music at the age of 8 to 10 years. It is at this time that it is worth doing this important matter.
If this is not done, the environment and peers will do everything for their parents, and it is at their prompting that the child will choose the performers in his playlist.
There may be a question and whether it is necessary to instill in the child any musical tastes? Maybe leave everything as it is, let him choose? In response, the scientists explained that the formation of the inner culture of the child as a whole, his outlook and tolerance for other people and styles begins with the formation of musical taste. And whether he will be kind, tolerant, whether he will be able to manage his emotions, depends precisely on how his musical tastes were formed..
The professor advised parents not to lecture children on the benefits of “The Beatles” or Mozart, but instead go to concerts together, more often turn on music during household chores. Forcible imposition of music will only push the child away from her. Everything should be gradual and natural.
