By Dr. Wendy H. Valerio
USC School of Music — Columbia , South Carolina

As an early childhood music educator who directs a Music Play (Valerio, Reynolds, Taggart, Bolton, Gordon, 1998) program for young children and their parents, I often receive questions about children and creativity in music. Parents ask, “Will being in music make my child creative?” I also often hear parents conversing about how creative their children are, or will be, because they are in music during their early years. I have heard parents say, “I just want my child to be more creative than I am. I want her to be able to express herself in music.” When speaking with those parents, much to their initial dismay, I must answer that I do not know if being in early childhood music classes will make their children creative,…