I’m not sure if the Arts are listed in any particular order other than the order they occurred to the author at the moment of writing, but I do find it interesting that singing comes first. After all, the first mastery most people achieve is over the voice–it’s a natural instrument. Practically everyone has it. Babies vocalize before their motor coordination sets in–it’s instinctual. I suppose one could say that percussion instruments (rattles, banging on pots and pans, etc.) might come before speech, but the coordination to play instruments (the next art on the list) generally takes a little longer.

I grew up with Mom singing lullabies and kids songs to me and Daddy playing the radio when he got ready for work in the mornings. One morning Mom was in the kitchen when she heard the radio come back on after she knew he’d left. She walked into the bedroom to find me–having pulled myself up along the front of the stereo and found the ‘on’ button–bouncing along to the music on my chubby toddler legs, very proud of myself for making the sounds start again.

Even babies sing, in their own way. Though it’s probably the novelty of hearing their own voice, the babbling and cooing comes out in a sing-song way, and we tend to reply in kind. Do you think that’s why a lot of early-childhood characters and shows include singing?

What’s your earliest childhood singing memory?