Do songs help children learn and remember?

Where the evidence is encouraging

• Remembering the words. Good, Russo and Sullivan (Psychology of Music, 2014) taught 38 Spanish-speaking children in Ecuador an English passage over two weeks, either sung or spoken as a poem. The song group pronounced, recalled and translated it better. After six months without practice, both groups translated equally well.
• Adults learning phrases. Ludke, Ferreira and Overy (Memory and Cognition, 2014) had 60 adults learn Hungarian phrases by speaking, rhythmic speaking or singing. Singing led to better verbatim recall.
• Calm and attention. Corbeil, Trehub and Peretz (Infancy, 2015) found infants of 6 to 9 months stayed calm about twice as long while listening to a song as to speech.
• Songs carry social meaning. Mehr, Song and Spelke (Psychological Science, 2016) found 5-month-olds treated a melody a parent had sung at home as a social signal; the same melody from a toy did not have that effect.

What the research does not show

• No general brain boost. Mehr and colleagues (PLOS ONE, 2013) ran two randomized trials of brief preschool music classes and found children did no better than comparison children on spatial, number or vocabulary tests.
• No overall effect on school skills. Sala and Gobet's 2020 meta-analysis (Memory and Cognition) pooled 54 studies with about 7,000 participants and found that, once study quality is accounted for, the effect of music training on children's cognitive and academic skills is about zero.
• Verbatim is not understanding. Singing helps keep the exact words. It does not mean a child knows what they mean; a child can sing the alphabet without knowing letter sounds.
• Small studies. Several of the encouraging studies tested between 30 and 60 people, often in one setting.

How to use songs so they help

1. One job per song. A counting song counts; a handwashing song walks through the steps.
2. Repeat it for days. Recall in the studies came from practice, and the language advantage faded without it.
3. Add the real thing. Count real blocks, point to real colors, wash real hands while you sing.
4. Add actions. Teachers often pair songs with movement to signal transitions, as NAEYC's guidance suggests.
5. Sing it yourself, even if a recording taught the tune. The social part seems to matter to babies.
6. Then fade the song. Ask the question without the tune and see what stayed.

Where a custom learning song fits

A made-to-order song lets you choose the exact words to practice: the five things to pack for nursery, a phrase in Spanish, the class's own counting rhyme. Still Morning can make a learning song with or without a child's name; see the counting song, the alphabet song maker or Spanish songs for kids. It will not make your child smarter, and we do not claim it will. It is a tune that carries the words you want to practice.