Children’s Music
Children’s music once meant only singing silly songs with and for your children. But children’s music is now a big industry that produces every type of music imaginable, specifically for children. Children’s music has always been an important part of a child’s growth and development. Children’s music helped provide some of the building blocks for a child’s development of spoken language. And children’s music made learning many things easier and more memorable for the child.
Before music recordings, TV, radio, and the movies, children’s music was something that a parent, relative, caregiver, or sibling provided. Children’s music meant parents singing lullabies to their babies. Children’s music meant Grandma singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Old Mac Donald and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for a captivated audience of grandchildren. Children’s music meant all the great and silly songs you learned at summer camp. (Why did the let us sing about Bottles of Beer on the Wall?) Children’s music was simple and innocent. Although, not entirely without calamity. After all, the Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly, did die in the end.
Children’s music meant all of those silly songs you learned somewhere, but who knows where. How many times could you sing, On Top of Spaghetti? or Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts? Our capacity for gross nonsense seemed bottomless. But that was what children’s music meant. That has all changed now. Sure, kids still sing some version of the old songs. Yeah, Mares still eat oats, but they probably learned their children’s music from a CD or a music video or on TV. Oh, I’m sure some parents still sing lullabies to their babies, but many just lay their baby in the crib and turn on the CD player. Children’s music is a professional affair these days.
It is hard for an off key a cappella parent to compete with a professional musician backed up by a full band in some studio produced version of children’s music. Sure children’s music has come a long way and certainly children deserve the best children’s music we can provide for them, but I just can’t help missing the good old days when children’s music wasn’t such an industry and children’s music was a thing that parents and families provided for their children. Children’s music is such a big business now with CD’s and concert performances and all the ancillary products that go along with it. Some of the children’s music is of very high quality, but maybe that isn’t the only point of children’s music…
Oh, I think you’re a bit mistaken in your assessment, thevixi. Children’s music is still what you say it was — parents & caregivers singing silly songs to their children no matter the age. As a children’s sing-along entertainer, former teacher, early childhood expert as well as a recording artist who has sparkle-ized nearly 16,000 children and families through my music and messages of kindness and caring, I can tell you that moms, dads, grandparents, and aunts are still singing silly songs to the children in their lives! Whether it’s using the ABCs to help them wash their hands, “Hush Little Baby” to lull a toddler to sleep amidst scary sounds in her bedroom, or squealing “Old MacDonald” on the way to preschool, all those songs still have their place today. The songs I’ve recorded (CDs ‘Kaleidescope’ and soon-to-be-released ‘Sparkle-On!’) and perform are traditional favorites or at least traditional melodies with a twist to the words, while some, yes, are original works. But nothing can replace the involvement of a caregiver’s voice with their child learning the rhythms and words to music that teaches so much.
If you look at how The Wiggles began — a Masters education project (I believe) involving the 4 original members — or Laughing Pizza — the desire of 2 musician parents to fill a void and provide wholesome music with a jazzy beat to their daughter who was too old for ‘baby’ music yet not old enough to be bombarded by The Jonas Brothers — you may agree that these now-worldwide entertainers developed from having a heart for children. How refreshing that money has been made from such worthwhile beginnings! How I wish more businesses began from such genuine and respectable concerns.
I undestand and appreciate your point, however the vast majority of children and families I have had the privilege of meeting in my 35-year teaching career and now in my second life of pursuing the children’s television audience through sparkle-riffic music LOVE interacting with their children and dancing or moving and singing, and really are just looking for different ways to carry out those desires. We children’s entertainers are just helping where we’re needed! It’s really a win-win for all of us!
And 1 more thing…how could I have forgotten? SPARKLE-ON!