A concert for babies: Attentional, affective, and motor responses in an infant audience

Many of our most powerful musical experiences are shared with others, and researchers have increasingly investigated responses to music in group contexts. Though musical performances for infants are growing in popularity, most research on infants' responses to live music has focused on solitary caregiver-infant pairs. Here, we report infants' attentional, affective, and motor responses to live music as audience members. Two groups of caregiver-infant (6-18 months) pairs (50 total) watched a short musical performance with two song styles - lullaby and playsong. Caregivers were instructed to watch passively or interactively. The playsong captured more infant attention and, especially in the interactive condition, elicited more infant smiles. Notably, infant attention was more coordinated with their own caregiver than a random caregiver, and infants with no experience attending group musical events in the past were especially attentive to the performance. Infants were more likely to generate movements when parents remained still. Overall, infants' responses to live musical performance in an audience were influenced by song style, caregiver behavior, and their own musical histories. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q61qnDMW8dU. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Infants' responses to live musical performances are shaped by the music, by their caregivers, and by their own musical histories During a concert for babies, a playsong more effectively elicited infant attention and smiles than a lullaby, especially when caregivers were interactive Infant attention was more coordinated with their own caregiver than with other caregivers watching the same show.