Nakakabilib! Saab Magalona's Son Vito 'Can Name That Tune In 2 Seconds'

You may know a lot of songs but can you quickly name the title or singer of a song as fast as two seconds? That's easy peasy for 2-year-old Vito Bacarro, the youngest child of Saab Magalona and Jim Bacarro.

In a video uploaded on Saab's social media pages, Vito displayed his prowess in memorizing songs. And mind you, when we said songs, we're not talking nursery rhymes, we're talking songs of bands such as The Beatles, New Order, and even  his parents' indie band Cheats.

In the video, Vito actively names the title or singer while his dad plays the tune of the songs with the guitar in the background. The toddler successfully identified 13 songs and most of which, he guessed two seconds upon hearing the tune! Impressive, right?

Among the songs he correctly identified were, 'Don't Let Me Down,' 'I've Got a Feeling,' and 'Yesterday' by the Beatles, and 'Stop This Train' by John Mayer. Vito is so good and fast at identifying songs that Jim even exclaimed, "I'm running out of songs!" We're definitely no match against this music-savvy kiddo!

Love for music runs in the family

If you're a follower of the Bacarro family, you'll know that music is the love language in their household. In fact, in our SmartParenting.com.ph September cover story, Jim and Saab -- both musicians -- describe music as the “third parent.”

 

 

For them, music is more than their passion, it became their lifeline when their firstborn son, Pancho, faced complications at birth.

When Pancho stayed at the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), Jim recalled how his son showed movement at the sound of his father’s voice singing All My Loving by The Beatles.

From then, music became a constant part of Saab and Jim's parenting.“[Vito] always copies his kuya,” Jim shares. “He sees Pancho being very picky [with music], so si Vito rin naging ganu’n.”

Benefits of music to child's development

Paying it forward, Saab and Jim was inspired to create 'Puddy Rock,' a Youtube channel for kids, featuring music children would enjoy.

Several studies suggest benefits of music to children. In a Smart Parenting article, we looked at a study, which provides strong evidence that enrolling a child in music lessons can give him an edge in subjects like Math and English.

“Learning an instrument provides a full brain workout, stimulating growth and building connections in various regions throughout the brain,” says lead author Artur Jaschke, Ph.D., a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Amsterdam, in an interview with WebMD. “Our study provides some of the strongest evidence yet that the cognitive skills developed during music lessons can influence children’s abilities in completely unrelated subjects, too.”

On the 'Mozart Effect' or the belief that classical music can make babies smarter, a study in 1999 by the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that music had a small effect on spatial reasoning skills, which is most probably an effect of intermittent, small, positive ‘enjoyment arousal’ effect, according to Quartz.

Another study found that 10 minutes of Mozart’s “String Quintet in D Major,” improved the ability to predict paper shapes. Listening to pop music can be even more effective.

Furthermore, music can also help parents in raising their children. Music can help babies become calmer because it slows down their heart, Dr. Ibrahim Baltagi tells in a video for UNICEF Canda. "Classical music, gentle sounds like lullabies, nice melodies that inspire happiness, all are designed to be soothing," he explains.

He adds, "Music ignites all areas of child development and skills for school readiness, particularly in the areas of language acquisition and reading skills.

Read more about how music helps in parenting here.