AIRS 3rd Annual Meeting: 2013

Title: Musical, Textual, and Gestural Content in Children's Vocalizations
Authors: Karen Howard (University of Washington, Seattle), Patricia Campbell (University of
Washington, Seattle)

Abstract

This paper considers the literature that may inform our understanding of children's informal
engagement with music. It draws on research directly concerned with the musical, textual, and
gestural content in children's vocalizations and also from the wider psychological, sociological,
and educational literature concerned with musical characteristics (including pitch and melody,
rhythm and meter, form, singing games, songs by and for children, musical utterances, and
movement and gesture); gender; age; media/popular music; transmission/acquisition; and
ethnicity and culture. Finally, implications for music educators are discussed which may serve
to guide future research in the field.