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“Me, me, me, me, little star…”

15 Apr

blog_me-starSTORY FROM A MOM

This weekend I co-led a workshop on how children’s brains are wired to make music and how families can use music to deepen the bonds with their children. After the workshop, a mom pulled me aside to share this story: Her 3-1/2-year-old daughter just recently made up a singing game using “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” in which the daughter sings the first phrase on the syllable “me” (“Me, me, me, me, me, me, meeee”), then points at the mom, commanding her to sing the second phrase on another syllable (say, “La, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaa”), then the turn comes back to the daughter, who chooses a third syllable, and so on to the end of the song. The mom told me that they’ve been singing together as a family since her daughter was born, making up words to songs, inventing up goofy songs about diaper changing and dinner-making and the like. Given all the family music-making, it makes sense that this little girl comes up with her own ways of singing songs and, now that she’s getting older, her own song games. The mom was so happy to learn that she was instinctively doing “the right thing” musically with her daughter (and to hear me use the very grown-up word, “improvisation” to describe her child’s creative music-making–it’s a word that freaks out adults, but children do it all the time!).

TRY THIS AT HOME

Take any song that you know well (“Twinkle, Twinkle,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” “Happy Birthday”), drop the usual words, and put in your own syllables. Maybe you’ll sing “me” and “you,” or “yes” and “no,” or “hi” and “bye,” or just “la-la” or “dee-dee.” Oh sure, you’ll be modeling musical “improvisation,” but you’ll also be joining in your child’s way of learning by simply playing around with the music. One day, like the mom in this story, you’ll find your child taking the lead in her own music game, and you can play along knowing you’ve laid the groundwork for her independent music-making.

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MT, Unplugged

9 Nov

Hurricane Sandy brought many challenges, including loss of power, loss of heat, and loss of sleep. But for some families, it also brought an opportunity to sing Music Together songs without the CD. I call it “MT, Unplugged” (sorry, MTV). Here are two of those stories.

STORY FROM A PIANO-PLAYING MOM

“Every night after dinner, we usually put on our Music Together CD and sing along–it helps fill those two ‘witching hours’ between dinner and bedtime. But with no power, we couldn’t play the CD. Then I realized, ‘I have the sheet music in the book!’ So, we lined candles along the piano (very dangerous!), and I played every song in the Fiddle book over and over again. We sang those songs for two hours every night, and it turned those hard evenings into happy family time.”

STORY FROM A MOM WHO DOESN’T PLAY PIANO!

“We have to play the Music Together CD multiple times every day–it’s the only thing that soothes my son when he’s cranky. When we lost power, I wondered what we were going to do! So then, I just started singing the songs. I’d look at the CD case and do the songs that I remembered (some of them, I couldn’t figure out from the title, so I just skipped those). We sang ‘Ram Sam Sam’ and ‘Sweet Potato’ and ‘Apples and Cherries’ over and over and over. My son loved it!”

The wonderful upshot is that the music means even more to these children now that their parents are singing the songs without the CD. The hurricane left a lot of disaster in its wake, so I’m grateful to have found some bits of silver lining that resulted in joy-filled moments and the rediscovery of home grown music-making. TRY THIS AT HOME: Don’t wait for a power outage–turn off the stereo, iPods, etc. and sing and dance to music on your own, unplugged!

Roo-by, Ruby, Roo (or, A Song About a Dog)

9 Oct

STORY FROM A MOM

Today in class, a mom shared with me that she and her almost-three-year-old son have been singing their own version of the song “Sweet Potato” — about a dog named Ruby. “Roo-by, Ruby, Roo / Sing rooooo-by, ruby, roo-oo,” goes the chorus of the song, and during the verse they sing about what Ruby does. “Soon as Ruby eats all her dinner, all her dinner, all her dinner / Soon as Ruby eats all her dinner, she lies down on her bed.” Sometimes the mom makes up the words, and sometimes her son takes over. “I need to start writing down all the verses he invents,” she said. For now, they’re just having fun singing about Ruby and what she does and what she might be thinking. What a lucky dog.

TRY THIS AT HOME

You don’t have to have a Ruby in your life to make up your own words to this song. The verse on the CD is all about making and eating supper, but you could sing about going to the supermarket or brushing teeth, instead. “Soon as Mama buys eggs and sugar, eggs and sugar, eggs and sugar / Soon as Mama buys eggs and sugar, we can bake our cake!”  Or: “Soon as Molly gets out her toothbrush, out her toothbrush, out her toothbrush / Soon as Molly gets out her toothbrush, she can brush her teeth.” Let me know what you sing about at home!

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The Washing Machine Dance

30 Jul

STORY FROM A MOM

What happens when a Music Together two-year-old helps out with the laundry? Here’s one family’s story (“S” is the daughter, “J” is the dad):

S. went to the basement to help Daddy with the laundry. J. told me she was bopping rhythmically and S. said, “I’m dancing to the music.” “What music?” he asked. “The washing machine,” she said.

One of my goals in teaching Music Together is that families get a lot of opportunity to make music without official musical instruments–we tap our laps, we stomp our feet, we snap, we clap, we buzz, we zoom, and, of course, we sing. Making music without stuff (including recorded music most of the time) means that we leave room for the music that emerges–the music we make ourselves and the “music” that always surrounds us (like my neighbor’s air conditioner’s note that I find myself humming from time to time). I hope that this is what happened with S.’s Washing Machine Dance. Maybe her ears are used to finding the beats and tones that bubble up around her, so hearing the washing machine’s rhythm and hum as music came naturally.

Next time you’ve got laundry to do, why not bring your children along and find the music in your machine? I’ve got a load washing right now, myself. Maybe it’s time to do a little dance.

DIY Music Together

5 Jul

STORY FROM A DAD

He never comes to class and I’ve never met him, but when a certain dad wanted to craft the perfect 1st birthday party for his daughter, he put together a do-it-yourself Music Together experience that (ahem) rocked. He created a set list, printed up a program and lyric sheets, and stocked their living room with shakers, drums and scarves. Then he and his wife led all the other party-goers’ parents in their DIY Music Together class.  The grownups sang “Hello” and “Goodbye,” of course, and in between they shook eggs, danced with scarves, sang quietly, and belted to the rafters. I love what this communicates to the birthday girl (and all her music-making friends)–that music isn’t just something we do once a week in class but something we do on our own, in our home, with our friends and family, in our own way.

TRY THIS AT HOME

You don’t have to wait for a birthday party or other special occasion. If you’ve never done your own mini-Music Together class at home, why not give it a try? (In addition to your regular routine of music-making at home, of course.) You don’t have to print up programs and lyric sheets–just start with “Hello,” end with “Goodbye,” and toss in a few other songs in between. And, if you can get family and friends to join you, even better. If you’re anything like me, the items on my DIY to-do list are pretty overwhelming (paint the bathroom, fix the porch light). Why not go the music DIY route, instead? It’ll be much more fun!

 

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“She screaming! … She quiet.”

2 Jul

STORY FROM A MOM

Here’s a video of the group Alabama Shakes performing their song, “Hold On,” on the David Letterman Show. A mom sent me the link after her two-year-old daughter responded to it in an interesting way. “She likes to talk about the dynamics,” the mom wrote. Her daughter notices the contrasts in volume and energy throughout the song and adds her two-year-old commentary: “She screaming!,” or, “She quiet.” This is why it’s so much fun to play with contrasts in dynamics (loud/soft), tempo (fast/slow), pitch (high/low), and so on–children are searching for those sharp contrasts to help them learn more efficiently. Was this little Alabama Shakes fan more tuned into the dynamics because of our play in class? Who knows. All that really matters is that she’s noticing, learning, and talking about it…and her mom is listening.

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Two Minutes of Baby Singing

30 Apr

STORY FROM A MOM

In the first week of my Babies class, I pointed out how much the babies were singing (cooing and ahh-ing on pitches all over the place), and I showed the grown-ups how to reinforce this singing by echoing the babies’ sounds back to them. One mom went home that night and listened for the baby-singing she might hear at home. Every time her 7-month-old baby cooed or toned, the mom sang those sounds right back to her. Most of the time, the baby just looked at the mom when she sang back, but at one point, this coo-and-echo game expanded into two full minutes of “musical conversation.” It went something like this:

Baby: “Aahhhh”     Mom: “Aahhhh”  (on baby’s pitch)
Baby: “Ooohhh”     Mom: “Ooohhh”  (on baby’s pitch)
Baby: “Yayaya”      Mom: “Yayaya”  (on baby’s pitch)

Well…you get the picture. We reinforce early “words” (language sounds) all the time, and this reinforcement has a profound impact on language development. We do this intuitively because we just know it works. By reinforcing early singing, this mom is supporting her baby’s music development in the same way that she supports language development, and it’s such a gift to her baby.

Listen for your baby’s (or toddler’s, or older child’s) singing. (You might think it’s just talking, but I bet it’s also singing!) Whatever sounds you hear, echo them back–both the syllable and the pitch. The more you echo, the more they’ll sing again, and again, and again. You might even end up with your own two minutes of singing.

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Shakers on a Plane

27 Mar

STORY FROM A MOM

One of my Music Together families just came back from a trip to Eastern Europe, where they visited family in their homeland. They were worried about their one-year-old daughter feeling out of place in a foreign country with a foreign language, so they brought a treasure trove of things from home to keep her grounded in the familiar. Included in this “home bag” were the Music Together CDs and songbook, egg shakers, baby maracas, and a little drum. The mom shared with me that they kept the long airplane trip manageable by singing and wiggling to Music Together songs in their seats (and shaking those shakers!). I can only imagine the looks and (hopefully) smiles they got from their airplane neighbors.

Once in Europe, the family held their own mini-Music Together classes throughout the trip, including extended family members. The mom said that the music helped the little girl feel more settled, and she developed a closer bond more quickly with the previously-unfamiliar family members because they shared in making HER music.

What an inspired idea this family had! The de-stressing nature of music made it a perfect choice to bring along on the journey, especially since the little girl’s Music Together routine is so joy inducing for her and for her parents. Anyone else contemplating a long trip this Spring or Summer? Might I suggest taking along some shakers for your plane, too? The folks across the aisle would likely much rather hear a family sing than a child scream, and everyone will be a little less stressed on the trip.

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Baby Sings Skin Care Jingle! (And Mom Notices…)

16 Feb

STORY FROM A MOM (in her own words)

“I was watching TV this morning and my baby was in the room. A commercial for some European skin care product came on, and they have this cute little song that’s all in ‘la-la’ ‘words’. Well, he just started singing along. Like, literally singing along. For once I can say that I knew he was singing the same notes! I think the little song only has a couple of notes, but mostly stays in one or two, and he was totally singing the major two and even saying ‘la’ as his little musical sound. It was so shocking that it actually got my attention. Something about the melody pleased him, and I think he really liked that I noticed and went back to play along with him, as if I understood his side of the ‘conversation’. It was very sweet and cool, and without you teaching us that in MT, I don’t think I’d have noticed and had that moment…I love that you teach us so much about the way our kids play with music and are learning it like its own language at such a young age. Just like when he said, ‘Momma,’ the first time and I latched onto that and reinforced it, I know now to do the same with his musical language.”

Wow. Thank you, Momma.

(Hey…I found the commercial. Those “la-la”s are pretty catchy! This is not a product endorsement, by any means, but in case you’re interested in hearing the jingle, here it is…)

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Guess What Dad Noticed?

11 Feb

STORY FROM A DAD (as told by a mom)

A couple of weeks ago, a dad (who isn’t able to come to Music Together class) was spending some one-on-one time with his daughter (who IS able to come to class!). When he and his two-year-old got back home, he told the mom that he noticed their daughter doing something new–she was tapping along to music on the radio and going back and forth between a little beat  and a big beat. She was experimenting with something we do a lot of in class–playing with the little/micro beats and the big/macro beats. This family just started coming to Music Together, and I’m so excited that their little girl has started fooling around with different beats on her own. EVEN MORE exciting is that her dad noticed what she was doing!! They’ve started playing with those levels of beat at home, too, which is fantastic reinforcement of what the little girl is learning right now (and also models having fun with music as a family).

TRY THIS AT HOME

It’s easy to play with levels of beat at home. Sing a song you like–on your own, or along with a CD or the radio–and just tap a beat along to the music, with your hands, with your feet, or even a with a pencil on a table. After a little bit, think “double-time” and tap a smaller beat. Then try doing that smaller beat with two hands (or pencils!) instead of one. Then, for a real pop of contrast, switch to a really big beat, tapping only at the beginning of each phrase in the music (don’t stress about it, just feel where the next “sentence” of the music starts). Honestly, it doesn’t matter at all if you’re getting the beat “right.” Just trying to get it is the important thing for your child to see. More than anything, have fun! Your child will probably start tapping along with you, too, which is great payback for your efforts.

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