Phred Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Those of you without young children may not be able to relate to this, and can ignore if you like. I have two young children (2 years, and 5 months old) and kids shows and videos are always on TV. Of the common ones are: Dora the explorer, Sesame street, The Wiggles, Barney. One thing that I have noticed is that the song writing on most of these shows is really top notch. Some great chord changes, nice voicings, sometimes the instrumentation is, well, childish... but the writing really stands out. My theory is that the children's music genre is not constrained in the same way that other genres are. You can right a great Jazz chord progression with the words ("If there's a place you want to go, I can get you there I know, I'm the Map. I'm the Map, I'm the Map" - real example from Dora). It is recongized as kids music by the melody (maybe), the words, the instrumentation and the singing voice singing it. Not because of the chord progression or voicings... Some other real examples of stuff that I find good musically (note - not to turn on a listen to, but to notice talent in the writing). Most of the music in Dora - especially the double legnth episodes. Seseme street - Even the lyrics to some of the stuff (Grover singing "I'm Fuzzy and Blue, it's just the way that I grew...") Anyone else have any opinion on this? I'm just saying', everyone that confuses correlation with causation eventually ends up dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linwood Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 There's some good quality stuff on a lot of those shows. I've got a 2 years old grandson that I watch every weekday, so I have tons of dvds, my tivo is maxed, and we watch Dora and SS everyday. Those composers must work hard on it. I had a job a couple years a go where I was asked to arrange a cd of 10 songs for a children's vibe production music library title. The music was all sing-song type stuff and delivered to me on a crappy sounding cassette with all the hiss it could hold. My job was to take this nightmare,arrange it, teach it to a small group of children, and record/mix it. I earned my money those to weeks. Trying to teach children songs they had never heard, and well enough to record it. Man...tough gig. I was watching tv later and on this show they were doing a piece on that Sony robot dog and one of those tracks was playing under it as these children were playing with this dogbot. another claim to fame..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITGITC Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 The best thing about all this is that the kids remember it. Playing music for kids at this age is more beneficial than most realize. They take it and learn so much from it. That positive experience keeps them coming back for more. We need more of this, methinks. Tom "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." - Victor Hugo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krakit Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 My daughter had a steady diet of They Might Be Giants from the day she was born. She loves the ABC's video they put out recently. Right now she only seems to want to watch and rewatch the Little Einsteins show. They introduce classical composers (as well as fine art and archtechture) to toddlers. She's 2 and a half and love Devorak. She's always "meeping"* around the house. *watch the show to know what I mean. Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Jazz music tradition is mainly made of very simple and singable themes, often originally written with a simple arrangement, transformed in complex and challenging harmonic structures that had to retain the simplicity and freshness of the melody...think to "My favourite things", such a fresh and "for kids" melody, even if beautiful from the beginning, what has become in jazz history... Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben One Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 I have a 3-year old so I watch and hear a lot of this stuff as well. The Little Einsteins theme is well done--very nicely thought out, especially since it is up against the classical music featured in each episode. The Sesame Street DVD "What's the Name of that Song?" has some outstanding music on it. While my son has moved on from the Wiggles, they were one of my favorites music-wise. I think that they have really good and catchy arrangements. The Dora Pirate Adventure DVD has excellent children's music. We all enjoy They Might Be Giants' "No!" CD; we're currently stuck on the track Robot Parade. As for other CD-only kids music, I've heard good things about Milkshake. Also, a friend of mine swears by Dan Zanes's music for kids; the Wiggles-style music drives her crazy and I don't have the courage to tell her that I like them! I have been reluctant to make the jump to Zanes, as I worry that it would be like switching from chain-restaurant meals to organic food (no turning back, perhaps!) Ben Eddie Jobson Tribute Projects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kad Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Some of the greatest live jazz you will ever hear is on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Pianist John Costa, who provided the background music for every episode, was simply phenomenal. Kirk Reality is like the sun - you can block it out for a time but it ain't goin' away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKeys Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 My daughter was caught up in Raffi the Canadian childrens entertainer. What fun he had with the kids. I don't know how much of his material he wrote, I think a lot of it was traditional folk songs. They just weren't from folks around these parts of the southern US. Good Stuff. Jimmy Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho NEW BAND CHECK THEM OUT www.steveowensandsummertime.com www.jimmyweaver.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phred Posted October 26, 2005 Author Share Posted October 26, 2005 I am familiar with most of the works mentioned here and have to agree. It was "what's the name of the song" that prompted the post. I'm just saying', everyone that confuses correlation with causation eventually ends up dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrafon Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 "What's the name of the song" - my daughter LOVES that video. I'm glad this post is here because I was always a little embarassed for liking a lot of that stuff. Some of those Sesame Street songs are quite good. Not only written well, but catchy...all the workings of a hit! You have to give them credit. I also have this series of Disney tapes where some guy is singing mostly classic songs (My Grandfather's Clock, Oh When The Saints, You Are My Sunshine, Wheels on the Bus, etc). He does them in a very nice folksy/bluesy style that makes it very palatable for the parents...and my kids LOVE them. The children's musicians are something of an unsung hero, especially given the importance of music to a child's development. They say that music strengthens the bridge between the two hemishperes of the brain. It didn't work for me, but maybe there is hope for my kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phred Posted October 26, 2005 Author Share Posted October 26, 2005 Anyone here do this? Write children's music? Is there a market in your area for children's bands? Were would they play? Would they have to dance like the wiggles, or could they mellower like Raffi I'm just saying', everyone that confuses correlation with causation eventually ends up dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niacin Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 I recently played a gig at a local primary school with a guitarist I play in a band with and a couple of other guys we've jammed with before. The guitarist teaches percussion to kids at the school every week or two, just one class, on a volunteer basis (he has two kids at the school). We did some Meters style funk jam-band stuff on the second last day of the semester. About 20 minutes. Everyone enjoyed it. A slightly older audience than for the Wiggles. Anyway we're keen to look at doing something more serious along these lines. The Meters type funk stuff seemed to lend itself well to entertaining kids. They joined us on the little stage and played various percussion and danced away happily (except for one kid caught close to the drummer who was hitting quite hard, who had a finger in one ear ...) And I have a tape of a live concert of Monty Alexander and he did this rip snorter jazz version of "Candy Man". There's definitely some great melodic writing in music for children. Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daBowsa Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 If you like kid show music, it is a requirement that you check out The Backyardigans . They're on everyday on Nickelodeon or Saturday mornings on CBS. The commercial-free half hour shows basically run like a musical with 4 or 5 themed songs. Each show picks a musical genre - tango, roaring 20's, classical, etc. The music is killer and my 2 year old loves to sing and dance along. On the link I posted above, there are some "music videos" but also some instructional dance videos where they break the steps down and demonstrate over the music track. Some highlights are: Yeti Stomp - Funky/James Brown Riding the Range - Hip Hop A Pirate Says Argh - Reggae Questing, Questing - 70's Disco Highly Recommended! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phred Posted October 26, 2005 Author Share Posted October 26, 2005 I agree with the backyardigans - except I can not stand the theme song. It suffers from what I like to call tempo indecisiveness. The lyrics are sung at 1/2 speed as what I believe they should be sung at. I'm just saying', everyone that confuses correlation with causation eventually ends up dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.