Play Library » music

Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies

Kerri Aldrich — Wed, 23 May 2007 03:43:20 +0000

A good friend recently gave us a copy of one of his family’s favorite kids’ music CDs, Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies by Andrew Peterson and Randall Goodgame.

The songs on this album are fun, some soothing, some not so soothing (but funny as all get out!), and touching. You listen to some and know they were just written in the middle of the night by a sleep deprived parent who was caring for a new baby.

Our kids love listening to the songs, and giggling along with the silly lyrics. And, to be honest, those of us considered grown-ups in the house do as well. And how can you not with lyrics like this:

Bears, bears, they got no cares
Bears don’t drink from a cup
Sharp teeth and claws and furry paws
To catch you and eat you up
No, grizzly bears don’t wear underwear
Socks, or jammies, or gloves
No baby bears, don’t wear diapers
No Pampers, no Huggies, no Luvs

from Bears (Jonah’s Song)

Thanks, friend, for the fun new album! Go here to listen to God Made Me and Bears, two singles from the CD. Let me know if you enjoy them!

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Music and Language

Kerri Aldrich — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 03:55:19 +0000

I’ve recently starting thinking about getting my daughter started in piano lessons, or some other type of music lessons. I took several years of piano as a kid (never dedicated enough to it), and several more years of clarinet. Though I thought I might someday do something with all those years of practicing, the only musical thing I play at all anymore is Bald Man’s iPod!

According to a new study out of Northwestern University, all those years of lessons were not in vain. My sister (a musician herself) pointed me to this article at Northwestern’s website sharing the results of the study.

From the article:

The study, which will appear in the April issue of Nature Neuroscience, is the first to provide concrete evidence that playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brainstem’s sensitivity to speech sounds. This finding has broad implications because it applies to sound encoding skills involved not only in music but also in language.

The findings indicate that experience with music at a young age in effect can “fine-tune” the brain’s auditory system. “Increasing music experience appears to benefit all children — whether musically exceptional or not — in a wide range of learning activities,” says Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory and senior author of the study.

So, the next time your kid is looking for something to play, maybe it’ll be time to start him or her playing an instrument. And with all of those years of lessons refining my auditory abilities, maybe I still have a fighting chance of learning Urdu with Hsien.

Do your children play instruments? How early an age did you start them?

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Greg Page Wiggle’s Solo Music Career

Lei — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:31:53 +0000

You may not have known that Greg Page of The Wiggles also had a solo music career. Brettyfan of YouTube has compiled a mix of his solo songs. You can listen here. My four-year-old seemed to like these songs quite a lot as well. Must be the familiar, melodious voice.

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Carnival of Family Life at Be A Good Dad

Lei — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:58:14 +0000

Mike at Be A Good Dad is hosting this week’s Carnival of Family Life. Might I recommend For The Kids for your listening pleasure while you make the rounds?

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Popular Music for Children

Lei — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:29:03 +0000

Last week at Hamley’s toy store, I came across these personalized music cd’s for kids. It sounds cheesy, but the songs were actually quite catchy and it was fun to hear them singing out my son’s name. In London, the price is practically double what we’d pay in the U.S., so I’ll have to ask my sister to bring them for us in a couple of months. Meanwhile, we’ve been having a good time singing the songs to each other.

Other music popular with kids today as reported by ABC News:

NB: You can buy the personalized children’s music CD’s at 2Blockheads.com.

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