23.7. 1993 Vitoria-Gasteiz / Spain - World Federation of Music Therapy

make contact with people. From birth to death the
individual screams, gasps, rattles and calls in order to
let others know where he is and what he is doing. (p.39)
Through a process of imitation and reciprocity,
language is slowly acquired. Before the child is able to
comprehend the actual content of a spoken message,
he is sensitive to the music of the verbal communication
which enables him to grasp the emotional tone. For
example, an impatient tone is recognized as such prior
to the child's capacity to understand the content of the
verbal message, itself. The child, the "Music Child",
hums, chants and whines his way to improved verbal
communication. At a certain point, however, society, in
the form of parental figures, intervenes. The four, five
and six year old child is reminded regularly by his
parents to no longer whine or singsong, but to speak
like a big boy/girl. The child's spontaneous musicspeech
is no longer allowed free rein, and the child's
530
speech patterns resemble more and more closely those
of the adults who surround him.
What a pity, we may add, for as we well remember,
whereas Sonia was able to sing her feelings and
thoughts, her mother was not afforded as easy an
expressive outlet. In our society, children spontaneously
engage in creative processes which are akin to those of
the recognized artist. As Aaron Copland (1952) says
about composition: the need to create is linked to selfexpression;
...the basic need to make evident one's deepest feelings
about life. The reason for the compulsion to renewed
creativity, it seems to me, is that each added work
brings with it an element of self-discovery. I must create
in order to know myself and since selfknowledge is a
never ending search, each new work is only a part-