We have music going at our house almost all day long. I have worked on finding things that are appealing to all of us and have some sort of musical integrity. Ask anyone who has borrowed my ipod, and they will tell you my taste is quite eclectic. But, I do like try to find the good stuff in every genre.Pete adores A Child's Introduction to the Orchestra. Each instrument has a funny little song, and has helped Pete pick out instruments in other songs. It's a little hokey, I'll warn you now, but a cool way to get the kiddos interested in real live instruments. You can find a free download to this here. (this site has a wide variety of great old lps for kids that are available for free download--yay! Some may be somewhat dated in their cultural sensitivities, but others are totally awesome. Songs Children Sing in France is another favorite.)
We are really in the middle of musicals here: Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Singin' in the Rain, and Peter Pan. We have "Snacktime" and "Food Party" on repeat from BNL and the Curious George soundtrack by Jack Johnson remains very popular. As far as our classical hits, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf continues to get a listen every other day. Barberini's Barber of Seville is great, and anything by Aaron Copland is also well received. Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra is fantastic. Although not quite as overt in identifying each instrument, this piece gives each instrument a moment to showcase its sound, along with it's family. Pete has gotten the hang of the different groups: woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, cool! I love it! Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals is more great program music for kids, giving Pete different animals to think about. We've heard snippets of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and Pete was particularly interested in Baba Yaga.
So, tell me, friends, what great children's music have you found out there? I'd love to expand our repertoire!
5 comments:
Thanks for all these ideas! Around here we really, really like Schubert's Lieder, sung by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Pete Seeger's Songs for Little Pickers has gotten popular, with folk songs like Froggy went a courtin ("Ogga Cackin!") and Groundhog, oh groundhog, what makes you smell s'bad? and sometimes Can you catch the moon album by Lisa Loeb.
BABA YAGA'S the BEST! Go Hewlett!
This is an informative and inspiring post. Especially because Kate is currently obsessed with the Diego Live soundtrack we got at the library. sigh.
you are awesome. I'll be in SLC next week - Thur, Fri and Sat. Are you free Saturday? will be in touch
-S
Wow, impressive. Noelle likes the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, because it has "horsey songs" which means a drum. Both girls love the big band songs on the League of Their Own soundtrack, by The Manhatten Transfer. Noelle also really likes Bob Marley and Feist. Oh, I really like when singers change up their lyrics for a Sesame Street song. Feist's 1234 is pretty good. You can find it on youtube. I guess we need to get a little more classical. I can't wait to check out the orchestra one. Oh, one more thing Noelle loves is the CDs of Peter Rabbit and other stories, read by Jim Weiss. It is pretty good, but be prepared for the repetition of every story. I had never even heard of Jeremy Fisher and Mr Tod, but Noelle talks of them endlessly. Squirrel Nutkin is especially funny to hear a 3 year old repeat.
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