Editing Lullaby (section)

==Characteristics==
Lullabies tend to share exaggerated melodic tendencies, including simple [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] contours, large pitch ranges, and generally higher pitch.<ref name="Doja, Albert 2014 p. 120">Doja, Albert. "Socializing Enchantment: A Socio-Anthropological Approach to Infant-Directed Singing, Music Education and Cultural Socialization" ''International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music'', Vol. 45, No. 1 (June 2014), p. 120.</ref> These clarify and convey heightened emotions, usually of love or affection. When there is [[harmony]], infants almost always prefer [[Consonance and dissonance|consonant]] [[Interval (music)|intervals]] over dissonant intervals. Furthermore, if there is a sequence of dissonant intervals in a song, an infant will usually lose interest and it becomes very difficult to regain its attention.<ref>Trainor, Laurel J., Tsang, Christine D., Cheung, Vivian H.W. "Preference For Sensory Consonance in 2- and 4-month-Old Infants." ''Musical Perception'', Vol. 20, No. 2 (Winter 2002), pp. 187–194.</ref> To reflect this, most lullabies contain primarily consonant intervals. [[Tonality|Tonally]], most lullabies are simple, often merely alternating [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] and [[Dominant (music)|dominant]] harmonies.

In addition to pitch tendencies, lullabies share several structural similarities. The most frequent tendencies are intermittent repetitions and long pauses between sections.<ref name="Mitterschiffthaler, M. T. 2007">Mitterschiffthaler, M. T., Fu, C. H.Y., Dalton, J. A., Andrew, C. M. and Williams, S. C.R. "A functional MRI study of happy and sad affective states induced by classical music" ''Human Brain Mapping'', Vol. 28 No. 11 (November 2007).</ref><ref>O'Neill, Colleen T., Trainor, Laurel J., Trehub, Sandra E. "Infants' Responsiveness to Fathers' Singing" ''Music Perception'', Vol. 18, No. 4 (Summer 2001), p. 410.</ref> This dilutes the rate of material and appeals to infants' slower capacity for processing music.

Rhythmically, there are shared patterns. Lullabies are usually in triple [[Metre (music)|meter]] or 6/8 [[Time signature|time]], giving them a "characteristic swinging or rocking motion."<ref name=perry>{{cite news| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21035103 |last= Perry| first= Nina| title= The universal language of lullabies| work=BBC News|date= 20 January 2013}}</ref> This mimics the movement a baby experiences in the [[Uterus|womb]] as a mother moves. In addition, infants' preference for rhythm shares a strong connection with what they hear when they are bounced, and even their own body movements.<ref>Pouthas, V. " The development of the perception of time and temporal regulation of action in infants and children" ''Musical beginnings: Origins and development of musical competence'', (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp. 115–141.</ref> The [[tempo]]s of lullabies tend to be generally slow, and the utterances are short.<ref name="Doja, Albert 2014 p. 120"/> Again, this aids in the infant's processing of the song.

Lullabies almost never have instrumental accompaniments. Infants have shown a strong preference for unaccompanied lullabies over accompanied lullabies.<ref>Ilari, Beatriz and Sundara, Megha. "Music Listening Preferences in Early Life: Infants' Responses to Accompanied versus Unaccompanied Singing" ''[[Journal of Research in Music Education]]'', Vol. 56, No. 4 (January 2009), p. 356.</ref> Again, this appeals to infants' more limited ability to process information.

Lullabies are often used for their soothing nature, even for non-infants. One study found lullabies to be the most successful type of music or sound for relieving stress and improving the overall psychological health of pregnant women.<ref>Chang, Mei-Yueh; Chen, Chung-Hey; Huang Kuo-Feng, "Effects of music therapy on psychological health of women during pregnancy" ''Journal of Clinical Nursing'', Vol. 17, No. 19 (October 2008), pp. 2580–2587.</ref>

These characteristics tend to be consistent across cultures. It was found that adults of various cultural backgrounds could recognize and identify lullabies without knowing the cultural context of the song.<ref name="Mitterschiffthaler, M. T. 2007"/> Infants have shown a strong preferences for songs with these qualities.<ref name=Trainor96 />{{rp|19}}