sounding lives in and through music

Abstract

There is growing interest in the study of young children's `everyday' lives. Music engagement is central to young children's experience of the `everyday' yet few studies have investigated the ways young children and their families engage with and use music in their daily lives. The purpose of this article is twofold: it interrogates the ways in which a young child, and his family draw on musical engagement and use in their daily life; and it provides a storied account as a means to demonstrate the uses of narrative inquiry to early childhood research. Findings identify: the parenting education role of early music programs; the function of joint music-making in the regulation of children's behaviour and emotional states; the contribution of joint and individual music-making to children's language development; the role of individual music-making in children's self-making; and the function of joint music-making in fostering family unity.