A word of explanation...

Or perhaps a point of view...

My thought is that if any activity contains one of the musical elements, it can be claimed as being a somewhat musical activity - especially with young children.

So what are the elements?

1. Pitch - the high-ness or low-ness of the sound, or the number of vibrations in the soundwaves if you want to be technical. Melodies and harmonies come out of this.

2. Dynamics - the loudness, softness, or anything-in-between-ness of the volume of the sound.

3. Timbre - the "color" of the sound, as in the difference between the sound of a voice and a piano, or a violin, or flute, or drum.

4. Rhythm - the beat or pulse of the sound, which also includes the meter (the way the beats are organized) and the tempo (whether the beat is fast or slow).

5. Form - the way the melodies are organized into a whole composition.

6. Texture - the number of different melodies, sounds, etc. going on at one time.

Enough theory, right?