Are you in the musical minority?

I was reading an article from the Herald Sun today. It discussed the use of musical DVDs to entertain children rather than CDs or live music making. Being a music teacher, I was intrigued. Dr. Peter de Vries' surveyed 63 parents of preschoolers under age five and found that 65% of parents played music to their children once a week, but only 29% regularly sang to their kids. "Singing with a young child allows for spontaneous vocal play, movement and drama that are not always possible with music CDs and DVDs. Some products with a visual component are non-interactive . . . and detract from musical events. These products can constrain spontaneous musical play . . . and parents need to be aware of their detrimental effects on young children's musical development."

I regularly talk about the value of family music making in my Kindermusik classes and feel that many of the families I teach regularly use music in their daily lives to interact. Therefore, seeing a figure like 29% is a bit disappointing to me. I mean, really, 29%!?! I would like to think that this static has to be incorrect. Are 71% of us really plopping our kids down in front of DVDs but never interacting musically with our kids? Are we actually not singing lullabies to them each night or skipping the old "pots and pans serenade" while you cook a meal? Adding music to your routine can be a great way to relieve stress, for you as well as your children; increase your child's development in every way; and draw your family closer as you learn to appreciate a beautiful world of music together. So let me here from you. Are we really a minority? What are some ways that you have incorporated music into your daily routine? Do you have a favorite family song or activity?

For more ideas on bringing musical fun and development to your house, visit Kindermusik.com to find a class near you and download a free preview coupon.

"Three Pigs and a Wolf"

Here's the latest video from Debbie Cavalier, an animated version of Debbie and Friends' "Three Pigs and a Wolf." Planet Sunday took care of the animation, while the images are by Robert Heath of Barkley Studios.

Debbie and Friends - "Three Pigs and a Wolf"

***Professor Banjo***

Straight out of Portland, Oregon comes the Dean of Five Strings, the Chancellor of Claw Hammer ... that's right, folks, it's Professor Banjo, and he's here to teach you a few things about Old Time music.

Paul Silveria, aka Prof. Banjo, teaches music at Portland's Village Free School by day, and spreads the joys of banjo playing and square dance calling by night. Old Familiar Tunes is his first CD for kids, and, true to the title's word, it's full of ancient songs you swear you've heard in movies, on TV, or floating through the breeze.

Old Familiar Tunes features well-known oldies like "Old Joe Clark," "Arkansas Traveler," "Black Eyed Suzie," and "John Henry," along with long-lost treasures like "I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground," "Polly Put the Kettle On," "Soldier's Joy," and the instrumental "Salt River/Flatfoot in the Ashes." But two of the highlights have to be "Cripple Creek/Square Dance" and "Reuben's Train": the former highlights Silveria's square dance calling skills, while the latter shows off his one-man-band prowess, as he plays banjo, washboard, tambourine, spoons, bike bell, kazoo, and suitcase all at once!

"So, why don't you just listen to an album of banjo tunes by, say, Dock Boggs or Roscoe Holcomb?" Well, the fact that Professor Banjo performs regularly in the Oregon/Washington area gives kids and families a chance to experience this style of Old Time music first hand, and then they have a CD of Old Familiar Tunes to make the connection. Class dismissed!

It's Family Time!

Awesome song and video from Ziggy Marley's upcoming children's album, Family Time.
Ziggy Marley - "Family Time"

Barenaked Ladies Make Music News

Barenaked Ladies' debut kids' CD made the headlines twice this week over at About.com: Snack Time! won the 2009 JUNO Award for Children's Album of the Year, and, on the strength of that win, hit the top of the Children's Music Charts, surpassing Playhouse Disney: Music Playdate.

Speaking Without Words

Later this month, the preschool Kindermusik classes will begin studying a unit called Feel the Music. We will be focusing on the emotions that are conveyed through various songs. Understanding emotion and body language is a new skill for preschool children, and they need plenty of opportunity for exploration in order to fully master the skill. Music listening can be a great outlet for this exploration, since musical expression plays such a fundamental role in invoking emotion.

I found an interesting study released in March on this same topic of music listening and emotional exploration. Thomas Fritz, Stefan Koelsch, and their colleagues wanted to find out whether the emotional aspects of Western music could be appreciated by people who had no prior exposure to it. They traveled to Africa, north of the Mandara mountain ranges and played Western music for the people there. They, then, asked if the listener felt the music portrayed a happy, sad or fearful emotion. "In conclusion," the researchers wrote, "both Mafa and Western listeners showed an ability to recognize the three basic emotional expressions tested in this study from Western music above chance level. This indicates that these emotional expressions conveyed by the Western musical excerpts can be universally recognized, similar to the largely universal recognition of human emotional facial expression and emotional prosody."

New Americana Music for Kids

The sub-genres in Kids' Music are constantly growing and improving, including the Americana field. I've reviewed five of the best examples of new Americana music for kids over at About.com, and I have room to expand the list, so please feel free to send recommendations or make comments.

The Voca People