Music and Mothers

The musical genre most often associated with women and children is lullaby singing or cradle song. Mothers have been singing to their children all over the world for centuries, and there is perhaps no image more maternal than a baby swaddled in a mother's arms as she quietly sings her to sleep. Existing research on lullaby singing most often locates this musical genre within the domestic sphere of women, favors a thematic reading of the song text, a cultural positioning of its use and function, highlights the effects of singing for infant-mother bonding, and/or presents findings on the health benefits of singing for the development of the baby.

Recent research by E. Mackinlay (2009, 2008), Mackinlay and F. Baker (2005), and Baker and Mackinlay (2006), however, ...