Summer Music for Your Children

This is a guest post from musician and music teacher Mark Biesterfeld, owner of Petite Musician in Wheat Ridge, Colorado (www.petitemusician.com).

I recently had the opportunity to listen to some children’s cds that are relatively new on the market.  Each has its own spin on songs for children and, while some of the songs don’t quite hit the mark, many of them do!

Jeremy Plays Guitar (http://jeremyplaysguitar.com) :  The songs on this cd are playful, goofy and fun!  The songs are themed around kids with mostly rock and roll/pop style songs about sharing, house rules, whining etc.  While not the most inventive musically, the kids will enjoy songs that address the things that they encounter in everyday life.  The one musical standout is “Keep My Cool” with special guest vocalist Madeleine Peyroux and is the musical highlight of the cd.

Swimming in Noodles: (www.jimcosgrove.com)  This cd shows more of a Zydeco style to go along with the rock and roll flavor.  Musically this cd is interesting but the lyrics are generally pretty dull and uninspired.

Wake Up Clarinet:  (www.oranetkin.com) This cd is by far the most inventive of the cds that I listened to with a fresh take on how to get kids interested in music.  The cd is filled with new sounds that your child will love to explore with changing rhythms and tonalities.  In general, the cd is Jazz based and classical music based and tries to grab the interest of children by challenging their imagination.  It may be a bit too much for some tastes but I found it to be a refreshing take on music for kids! Edie Falco, Harvey Keitel and Naomi Watts are fans.

Jungle Gym: (www.justinroberts.org) This cd is an all around good musical offering for children with decent lyrics and fun rock and roll inspired music.  While I found the vocalist on the cd slightly grating the cd offers some fun and varied songs that the whole family can enjoy.

Sunny Day (http://www.bostonchildrensmusic.com/sunny-day/):  This cd was very easy to listen to with fun, toe tappin’ songs and heartfelt lyrics that paint childhood with the warm memories of being a child.  Primarily folk song based this cd has the best shot at touching the heart of adults who recall the joy of being a child. 

Photo courtesy of Oran Etkin