As requestd folks, here comes a longish THREAD analysng ths totally fabulous video of a Dad & baby giggling together, originlly produced by The Dad Gang & retweeted by @_SJPeace_ to his many followers. I hope ths analysis shows how rich ths exchange was.
2. As a research scientist & infant psychologist, I see this exchange as a jazz session. The 2 people are creating the song together, in the moment. It is a joint, spontaneous creation. The baby as musician is contributing as actively & creatively as the dad. Yes, EVEN as a baby.
3. In this duo, I've come to think of the Dad as the saxophonist. The Baby is the drummer - with a full drum kit to hand! - who occasionally chucks in some singing. I use this analogy to help illuminate what's happening. If you prefer, you can choose other instruments.
4. All of this is an example of what infant psychs call 'communicative musicality'. Human beings are born musical & communicative, able to create rhythms together. Babies' abilities are easy to overlook, because they happen too fast to see in real time. global.oup.com/academic/produ…
5. The piece we are treated to in ths video of 41 secs has 6 phrases & 1 extended silence (a tease, a musical joke). The phrases hv differing lengths - between 2 & 6 bars. Yet the baby keeps the rhythm and takes his cues from dad! They are co-creating this piece. So...here goes:
6. Phrase 1: Dad's performance takes up only a little bit of space. His arms are close to his body. (That's going to expand in future phrases as the music they are co-creating becomes more adventurous.) His gaze never leaves the baby. 
7. The baby is with him in t rhythm! Whn Dad (on his saxophone) finishes his phrase w/ t exciting 'stop!', the baby responds (at .02) in perfect time w/ his snare drum finish - a quiet 'boom!', using his left hand. (You hv to listen hard for this 1st 'boom', but not future ones!)
8. The baby then sings out (at .04) his line: 'Heh'. He knows Dad is listening. He can see that in Dad's attentive gaze. The physical space between them is tight and close. So: The baby has taken 2 cues already, only 4 seconds in!
9. And then?? Dad teases! Like all good jazz artists, he doesn't just do t expected. Instead, he offers (at .05) a musical joke, a surprise, an adventure into t unknown! All he does is lift his finger. He's playng w/ t beat - & throwing down a challenge to t baby's musical skill!
10. But that baby? He's a skilled musician! That's what all human babies are! So...quick as a flash (at .06), he's in there - also LIFTING HIS FINGERS, copying Daddy. (Yes, folks, look closely or you miss it!) We're watching the mirror neurons in his brain hard at work.
11. Daddy's still waitng on t baby to keep t beat, to sing out his line. (Which means Daddy has missed that finger raise!) So Daddy cues by slightly liftng his chin &opening his mouth, signallng to t baby that he has t stage. (Is Daddy doing that consciously? Nope! Spontaneous!)
12. And the baby reads Daddy's signal - even though this is the first time ever that he has sung this song with Daddy! At .07, he sings out 'Heh'. Rhythmic, on beat. They are co-creating this piece. That's how jazz musicians work.
13. Now they are ready to try Phrase 2. They've had such a good time with the previous one that they are ready for something more complicated. Daddy makes Phrase 2 bigger, drawing on different arm movements. This jazz piece is buildng! The 2 musicians are challenging themselves!
14. And that baby? He's right in there! He's ready w/ his snare drum finish! Ths time he executes it loudly 'BOOM', using his 2 legs. Think about this folks: Both legs, coordinatd, ON TEMPO. His legs don't just fall. He lifts them togethr, AFTER Daddy finishes his saxophone riff.
15. Don't miss t emotional intensity of t finish. Daddy is in close physical proximity. He has created a space for the baby. He's respectfully & attentively waiting. And the baby knows it. His eyes are on Daddy's eyes. These 2 are in sync...intimacy between a daddy & his babe.
16. But, interestngly, t baby misses his cue. He misses his usual 'Heh'. Maybe Daddy's earlier joke threw his rhythm? Maybe lifting both feet is effortful? But no worries, because his overall performance is pretty stunning. Of the 11 cues in ths piece, the baby will only miss 2.
17. Okay, ready for Phrase 3?? Daddy's making it more complicated, more exciting! His arms are bigger! There's more hip action! And this phrase is going to be t longest so far! 5 bars - as compared to 4bars & 2bars, in previous phrases. (Does the baby know that? Nope! Its jazz.)
18. The baby loves it. He laughs. For the first time. Daddy hears that. His face lights up. (Note: This video has gained 3million adoring fans. But the joy isn't sparked by laughter. The baby only laughs 3 times, for a total of 4 secs. The joy comes from CONNECTION on display.)
19. And then Daddy the saxophonist gives his usual signal: "stop!", meaning "over to you now, drummer!" Is t baby tricked by this complicatd 5-bar phrase? No he is not! Right on cue, he hits that snare drum, loudly!, with his right foot. (Yes, viewers, you have to look closely.)
20. The baby is still laughing (at .19). He hasn't been able to get hold of his earlier delight. And yet...And yet...even amidst all that mirth, even with that extra tricky bar, he can still stay on beat, singing out 'Heh' at .20. (Like I said, babies are BORN as jazz artists.)
21. Don't miss the continuing intimacy. Eyes locked on one another, in tune, attuned, respectful, delighted in each other's company, unafraid to communicate that delight to one another. This Daddy is shaping his boy's emotional capacities, his very masculinity.
22. Pause! I'm needing a cup of tea! I hope I've not overdone this, folks. Is the thread feeling too long?? Is this level of detail useful? Or is it just a window into my own scientific geekiness? Ha ha ha?
23. Okay! Leaving that last tweet in t thread to give even future readers a sense of real-time immedcy, let's see what's happening in Phrase 4 of this jazz piece. Its going to become t longest & most complex in t piece: 6 bars, 5 secs to execute, BIG moves. Will t baby cope? YEP!
24. By t time he reaches Phrase 4 (at .22), Dad's truly 'gieing it laldy' (to bring a Scottish flavour to this analysis). Big vigorous arm movements, new hand moves, alternating feet moves. The baby's totally with him, arms & legs & feet & hands all on the move at once!
25. And Dad is laughing. It's a delayed response (.23) to his baby's earlier laughter (.19), which he cdn't respond to then because it wd have messed up t rhythm of the silence, distracted from the platform he had created for his child. Mutual delight can be extended.
26. Dad isn't stopping w/ the saxophone riff. He's carrying on&on, 6 whole bars! The baby's ready, eager w/ his snare drum response! How will he know when??? Whenever Daddy finally goes 'stop!', of course. Both legs, coordinated, loud, BOOM! Lifted up AFTER Dad finished his turn.
27. And what about t line he sings? Has all that complexity scuppered his cue? Nope. There's t 'Heh', right on time, at .29. Note: This tells us t baby's 2 types of vocalisatns serve 2 different functions. He's not 'just babbling'. 'Heh'=purposive communication. Laughter=delight.
28. Don't miss the continuing intimacy. Sustained, steady, direct, deep. No looking away. No repressing. No shame. Full on mutual gaze. Too many people think fatherhood isn't abt ths kind of emotion. Pish. Here it is, in front of you. Rather: too many fathers are cheated of this.
29. Phrase 5 (at .30). Can you guess what happens? Dad is loving this, playing exploratory jazz with such a skilled partner. He's ready for even more! So he ups the energy, trusts in their connection & for the first time uses moves that break the mutual gaze!
30. Is the baby unsettled by this? Does he feel that the connection is broken? NOPE. Look at his eye gaze. He's following Dad's face. All that movement, all those body parts to choose from. What does he choose? Dad's face. His gaze will be waiting when Dad swings back round.
31. And so, when its his turn again, and Daddy has completed that sax riff, the baby is ready to sing out with his usual 'Heh'.
32. Except...Wait. Where's his snare drum boom? Its missing... Why? I don't know. But ths phrase did hv lots of change. It dropped to 4 bars, Daddy was far away, thr gaze broken for that sec. Maybe it was all too much to juggle? (Its impressive tho. Of 11 cues, he only misses 2.)
33. And so (sadly!) to last phrase in the piece: Phrase 6 (.36). Daddy's still gieing it laldy, with big movements. The baby's still making energetic us of all the parts of his drum kit - arms, legs, breath. He knows when to be silent; he knows when to play! He's got this!
34. They are loving!!! their co-created fun. The baby is squealing w/ delight (.39) & Daddy is free to match the emotion this time. He doesn't have to wait to laugh, since they are in the midst of the riff. Mutual joy.
35. And when Daddy again says 'stop!', signalling after only 4 bars that it's the baby's turn once more, and moving in close so that they are in intimate gaze...what does the baby do??? Folks, we'll never know. Someone turned off the camera at that point!!!! ARGHHH!!!
36. But I guess we'll cope. By now, you'll have got the point of my too-long thread anyway. Thanks for sticking with me.
I wanted to write this thread for 3 reasons. First: I wanted to show how sophisticated baby's communication skills are. Human beings are born connected.
I wanted to write this thread for 3 reasons. First: I wanted to show how sophisticated baby's communication skills are. Human beings are born connected.
37. Second, I wanted to shine a light on the very human origins of music, best seen in improvisational forms like jazz, blues, beatboxing & lots of others. Want a master of that? Try Fela Kuti. You can hear his rhythms in the exchanges of this dad & baby.
38. Third, I wanted to support t efforts of @TheDadGang, who released t extraordinary video at the heart of ths thread. They are working to change the way the world views black fatherhood. Here's their Twitter banner: full of happy faces! I hope my contribution helps, DadGang!
39. I've written a document that tracks this whole analysis. It fits with my mission to share the insights of infant psychological research with the general public. :) If anyone would like a copy, email me and I'll send it to you. I'm on suzanne@suzannezeedyk.com.
40. It seems particularly appropriate to offer ths analysis during #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek2020 . As t campaign @first1001days puts it: "There can be no mental health without infant mental health." What we hv been witnessing is a dad nurturing great mental health for his bairn.
41. Finally, can I say thank you to @_SJPeace_ , whose tweet brought this video into my world. I love your work: highlighting joy & challenging inequality. Please don't stop. You inspire me, Friend.
