ONCE upon a time, mothers used to sing to their babies — nursery rhymes and lullabies — and when they went off to school, every day began with a hymn at morning assembly and class singing was part of every school curriculum.

The arrival of television put paid to much of the music interaction at home, and singing long ago ceased to be part of the curriculum.

Increasingly, though, educators and scientists became all too aware that exposure to music in the early years of life, and even in the womb, not only helped a child’s musicality, but also helped develop the brain for higher forms of thinking.

It’s not a new idea: the Greek philosopher Plato who died in 347 B.C., apparently observed that: “Music is a more potent instrument than any other for education”.

When the concept of Kindermusik (meaning ‘children’s music’ and developed in Germany over 30 years ago) was introduced to Bermuda just under a decade ago, classes were offered to babies of around 18 months: now, many parents are enrolling them in Kindermusik programmes well before their first birthday.

At the Bermuda School of Music, which now holds classes for hundreds of children, there is a waiting list of parents who are eager to plunge their offspring into the world of music.

As Liz Boden of the Nurses’ Practice firmly believes that the most important stage of learning and wiring the brain, as it were, for future learning, is the first year, followed by the next four.

“Each part of the brain”, she advises, “needs to be stimulated slowly: music, language, security, co-ordination and concentration. NEVER”, she adds, “should the TV be on if the baby is in the room. Scientific research shows that TV as background noise, lights and movement actually delay brain development”.

Instead, she advises parents to play classical music, preferably of the calmer kind, such as Mozart: “It’s very important to sing to your baby, and at one month, put the nursery mobile up and encourage your baby to learn to listen to music alone.”

Researchers at the University of California studied pre-schoolers, divided into one group who took piano lessons and sang every day in choirs, and one group who did neither.

After eight months, the three-year-olds exposed to music scored 80 per cent higher than their non-musical classmates in spatial intelligence — the basis of complex mathematical and engineering skills. So, even if your child is unlikely to develop into another Mozart, music seemingly helps develop overall brainpower. It’s worth remembering, of course, that Mozart, who was writing symponies at the age of eight and his first opera at 12, had a remarkable teacher in his musician father.

In a special edition of Newsweek magazine entitled “Your Child’s Brain”, it was reported that in spite of the mass of evidence on the efficacy of music, this subject is all too often the first to be cut in school curricula.

Still regarded as little more than a “frill”, there is an average of only one music teacher for every 500 children in American schools.

Kindermusik classes are fun, for both baby and parent as parents are very definitely expected to get involved in the proceedings.

For young babies, half an hour is considered long enough, although the time seems to rush by as parents (and quite a few grandparents) sit in a circle singing simple songs, whispering, shouting, clapping, dancing, running, jumping, marching, clashing cymbals, sticks, xylophones and banging of drums.

Music teachers also recognise that the Kindermusik approach helps babies and children to learn how to function as part of a group by counting out beats together, or singing in unison as an entirely natural process.