Babies enjoy music, and classical music gives a wide choice of calm and lively pieces with no words. Play slow, soft pieces at rest times and bright, bouncy ones at play times. Keep the volume low and the sessions short. There is no good evidence that classical music makes a baby smarter, and it does not need to. It is a pleasant thing to share.
What the research says
Many parents have heard of the Mozart effect. It comes from a 1993 study in the journal Nature. A small group of college students did a little better on one kind of puzzle for about ten to fifteen minutes after listening to a Mozart sonata. The study did not test babies.
Later researchers pooled the results of many studies and found little or no lasting effect on intelligence. The studies are laid out in does classical music make kids smarter?
So there is no need to play Mozart for the sake of a baby’s brain. Play music because you both like it.
When to play what
Feeding and winding down. Slow pieces with a steady, gentle pulse.
Play time and tummy time. Bright, clear pieces with a bounce.
In the car. Calm pieces for a fussy baby, lively ones for a happy one.
Bedtime. The same two or three slow pieces each night, as part of the routine.
Ten calm pieces
- Lullaby, by Brahms
- “The Swan,” by Saint-Saëns
- “Aquarium,” by Saint-Saëns
- “Clair de lune,” by Debussy
- “Air” from Orchestral Suite No. 3, by Bach
- Canon in D, by Pachelbel
- “Berceuse” from the Dolly Suite, by Fauré
- “Morning Mood,” by Grieg
- Piano Concerto No. 21, slow movement, by Mozart
- “Evening Prayer” from Hansel and Gretel, by Humperdinck
More are listed in calm classical music for kids at bedtime.
Ten lively pieces
- “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” by Tchaikovsky
- Variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” by Mozart
- “Spring” from The Four Seasons, first part, by Vivaldi
- Eine kleine Nachtmusik, first movement, by Mozart
- Radetzky March, by Johann Strauss I
- “March” from The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky
- “Hornpipe” from Water Music, by Handel
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, first movement, by Bach
- “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks,” by Mussorgsky
- “Surprise” Symphony, second movement, by Haydn
How loud and how long
Keep it soft. Play music at about the level of quiet talking. If you have to raise your voice over it, turn it down.
Keep speakers at a distance. Do not put a speaker in the crib or next to a baby’s head, and do not use headphones on a baby.
Keep it short. Ten or fifteen minutes at a time is plenty. Babies need quiet too. Music that plays all day becomes noise.
Watch your baby. A baby who turns toward the sound, kicks, or goes still and wide-eyed is listening. A baby who turns away, fusses, or arches is done.
Your voice comes first
Recorded music is a fine thing. Your own singing gives a baby something a recording cannot. A baby knows your voice and watches your face.
Sing anything. Sing in tune or out of tune. Hum the tune of the Brahms Lullaby while you rock. Sing “Twinkle, Twinkle” and then play Mozart’s variations on it.
Things to do together
Rock and sway. Hold your baby and sway to a slow piece. Bounce a little to a quick one.
Dance. Hold your baby against your chest and waltz around the room to “Waltz of the Flowers.”
Tap the beat. Pat the beat on your baby’s back or feet.
Shake. Give an older baby a rattle during a march.
Peek-a-boo with the Surprise. Play Haydn’s quiet tune and pop out from behind your hands on the loud chord.
Before birth
A baby’s hearing begins to work in the last months before birth. Some parents play music or sing during those months. There is no proof that it makes a child musical. It can be a calm habit for a parent.
As your baby grows
Around the first birthday, children start to move to music on their own. Classical music for toddlers has eight short pieces and ways to play them. Group classes for babies and parents are covered in early childhood music classes compared.
For what suits each stage, read classical music for kids by age. To find pieces by mood, use the piece picker. For the first steps with older children, read how to introduce kids to classical music.
More from this guide
This article is part of How to introduce kids to classical music.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.