burl ives

Which Music Is Most Popular in Our House?

March 2, 2012

SuperBoy loves music. Don’t all little tikes? He dances along, twirls, shrugs his shoulders, twists his wrists, and bobs his head from side to side. Sometimes there is jumping up and down involved. He only listens to two kids of music, though: classical or a limited selection of children/folk tunes. Why so limited? Why not open up his horizons to encompass the normal range of what’s out there? Well, for a few reasons. Most pop culture music has bad beats & bad lyrics. Classical music affects neurological development in a positive way (read more on my posts here and here). Heavy metal is bad for everyone’s ear drums. Folk & children’s tunes are generally benign enough lyrics-wise, and can be tolerated for protracted periods of time (by moi). What to we actually listen to, most of the time, aside from a small collection of random kid’s CDs? 1) Classical Minnesota Public Radio. MPR, baby! It’s commercial-free (unless you count the inane member drives), plays a huge variety, and never gets dull. When it burgeons into modern or what sounds like the scary violins in a thriller movie, we turn to our CD collection of opera, piano concertos, and orchestral suites. We had him listen to classical music exclusively until he was about 10-12 months, when those neurons were really REALLY forming. See below for reference to lecture on The Profound Effects of Music on Life. SuperBoy really loves Maria Callas. We have this old CD of her performing about 12 arias. He…

How to Choose Music for Your Child

May 7, 2011

A close friend who passed away last fall inspired me with her passion for music, particularly in the lives of her children. She believed in the power of music to transform the soul, mind, and body. If the proof is in the pudding, she and her husband definitely had the right theory as their ten adult children (and 25 grandchildren) are fantastic human beings. Whole Parenting philosophy incorporates classical music as it ennobles a child’s soul, has positive effects on a child’s neurological development, and disciplines a child’s body by practice and mastery of instruments. 1) Inform yourself. For starters, check out Nurtured by Love: The Classical Approach to Talent Education, Shinichi Suzuki. Listen to The Profound Effects of Music on Life, Dr. Andrew Pudewah. 2) Listen to great music. Turn on Minnesota Public Radio, 99.5 FM. Tune in to the local concert calendars for classical music. Take your little ones early and often to performances. Our favorite children’s albums are Cake for Dinner Children’s Album and Burl Ives Sings a Little White Duck. Cake for Dinner in particular is SuperBoy’s favorite. He also gives it to all his little friends as birthday gifts. Hopefully they will tour in the Twin Cities soon–see this link at the Kennedy Center for their performance there. 3) Pick a song for your infant. The close friend who passed away shared that she had selected a particular classical music piece for each of her children while pregnant. She would play that piece over and over again from pregnancy through childhood for that child. We selected Pablo…