Why this simple little tune is so enduring and how it promotes strong musicality in small children.
Such a simple melody, and one we hope you all have in your centre or home repertoire for good reason!
Why is this song SO effective at promoting strong musicality and understanding of the scale?
This song is built around note number 5 – what we call a dominant note or the calling note. It is one of the most important notes in children’s musical development as it is the one that sounds like it needs to be resolved – the song can’t finish on note 5, it needs to find its way back to note 1.
A strong sense of this is evident in children as young as a few weeks old.
We see babies who enter high engagement and arousal just by us holding that 5th note and relaxing when it resolves. It’s very powerful and a key part of developing musicality.
The rhythm lends itself perfectly to finding this note in the song and plays in a teasing way around the notes 5 and 3, which doesn’t sound “resolved.”
Interestingly, this little melody is also part of natural childhood calls – it is a melody heard all over the world when children call to others, perhaps harnessing that power of the 5th note as a means of saying “listen to me!”
The melody comes very naturally to small children, which means the “Rain Rain Go Away” song promotes a stronger sense of the scale and awareness of the relationship between the first 5 notes.
One to make sure you sing at home or in your early childhood centre regularly!