Long before our son was born he was listening to some great music. While in the womb our son was treated to audiophile headphones piping classic recordings (along with some recently released music) on vinyl records. My wife constantly spend time dancing with him to the latest pop music. He responded favorably to certain television theme songs and certainly seemed like he enjoyed and had found the beat. Music, it seems, has been a part of his life from the beginning.
After he was born he’s still respond with recognition to certain songs. There is a pop music CD we still use in the car when he gets upset because he instantly is calmed with some type of pleasant memory when he hears it. Beyond this our son also seems to really enjoy musical instruments. He eagerly approaches our piano at any moment of opportunity for a chance to hit specific keys and enjoy the sounds they make. When he becomes really excited by his ability to create sound it turns to cacophony as his hands happily pound as many keys as he can at once.
I’ve been playing guitar for over a decade now (a sure signpost of my ever-increasing age) and he gladly, several times throughout each day, approaches one of my guitars and strums it as much as his little fingers are able. Even more surprising is that if I play the guitar he’ll stop cold in his tracks (he’ll even drop food, toys, electrical cords) and turn to listen to whatever I happen to be playing. Eventually he’ll crawl over to me and try to get involved by pounding out a beat on the body of the guitar or by muting the stings (this is, sadly, opposite of the effect he wishes, but I’m certain he’ll figure it out soon). Our son is musical. While we’re certainly not going to force anything onto him… we’re hoping he’ll naturally be inclined towards music. If not as a profession then at least as a hobby.