Parents have a small window where they can influence their 8- to 10-year-old children's music taste, researchers have concluded. The 24-month time frame comes at an age when youngsters are old enough to appreciate poetic lyrics and snappy tunes, but have not yet started to be embarrassed by their mother and father's preferences. Dr. Hauke Egermann, a lecturer in music at the University of York, carried out a literature review into more than a dozen studies looking at parental musical influence. "Children have an openness to new music, and this means parents have an important role to play in developing the musical preferences of their kids," he said.
However, time is of the essence as parental influence is most likely to be effective during the critical time period before age ten. During adolescence, children tend to gravitate away from their parents' choices and are more influenced by their peers. A separate survey of 2,000 British parents by music streaming service Deezer also found that nearly four-fifths of parents agreed that their children were far more receptive to their musical suggestions before the age of ten. In contrast, just 10 percent of parents reported positive reactions from their teenage children when they shared their favorite music. Some 79 percent of fathers said they had tried to influence their children's music, but just 69 percent of mothers. However, mothers were more effective, with 38 percent reporting that their kids loved the tunes they shared, compared to 30 percent of dads who, in some cases, said their children cried or even fell asleep.
Dr. Egermann claims introducing children to a variety of musical styles is the key to fostering good taste in later life. "By playing children a variety of genres before this critical period, research on familiarization suggests they will enjoy lots of different types of music as adults," he added. The benefits of having a wider taste in music include the ability to manage their emotions more effectively, socialize and bond with others more easily, and to have a better understanding of other cultures as well.
Dr. Egermann advises parents not to push their favorite music too hard on their children, but instead play it as background music while a child is playing. They can also help create positive memories about artists and bands by going to concerts and live music events together.