Guest Blogger: Julie Jeanmard

Librarians use music to bolster early literacy skills, but as a librarian I had not really thought about the music knowledge that is imparted to children during storytime. The OLA pre-conference workshop, Basics of Singing for Storytime, helped me realize more concretely that when we introduce music to young children, we also are building their learning about musical components.

How we introduce music in our storytimes will affect what the children learn about music. I learned a few tips on how to introduce musical concepts to children, such as rhyme, beats, and learning to properly use one’s voice.

• When sitting, sit at the edge of the seat and sit straight up without lifting shoulders, this opens the rib cage and allows proper air support.
• Hum the tune prior to starting the song so everyone knows what key and note the song will start in. The workshop facilitator, Laura Aguero, suggests singing “ready here we go” before every song in the song’s key.
• Sing high rather than low. Kids have naturally high voices and low pitches are hard to copy.
• Sing stories to a familiar song tune, such as singing Baby Bear, Baby Bear to “Frere Jacque.”

As a result of attending this pre-conference, I recently incorporated teaching proper breathing techniques while singing and doing yoga during a preschool storytime. I had attended an Imagination Yoga workshop last fall that uses yoga movements to tell stories. I combined the two workshops to write a ‘musical yoga story’ that taught the kids to breathe deeply and stand tall when singing while doing yoga through a spiel about singing animals. 

By incorporating various aspects of music and demonstrating proper vocal techniques, librarians can introduce music to young children during storytimes in an easy and fun manner.