Kid's music suggestions

strider

After coming down from cloud 9 after the birth of my son recently, a harsh reality smacked me in the face. 99% of the music I've heard that's oriented towards children is bad. At the best end of the bad spectrum, you've got snippets of classical pieces that are just not done well, incomplete, and played out. I don't want to think about the hell that would be listening to Barney or some other kid's character singing their repetitive songs...

So, anybody got any suggestions for kid's music that my wife and I may enjoy as well? Classical compositions, lullabies, nocturnes, nothing with a lot of sudden changes in dynamics or cannon shots. Aren't there albums by artists that are respected that are geared for kids? Anything you and your kids enjoyed together?

Thanks in advance,
Ben

reeltrouble1

well, my wife recently bought a cd of Niel Sedaka's tunes sung to kids stuff, ie. Instead of Breaking Up is Hard to do, the title and words are Waking up is hard to do. There are a bunch of tunes, I can take about 1/2 the disc before its just too much for me, but it is cute and will teach counting, months of the year and so on.

RT1

dpowell

If you plan on your son taking music lessons, I highly recommend that you get a copy of the Suzuki Method Book 1 CD. It's real music played at the level of a beginner and they can start processing it at a young age.

agfrost

Not sure if it's perfect for newborns, but my toddler-age and slightly older boys enjoyed Jack Johnson's Curious George soundtrack, as have my wife and I. Good tunes, good message, well-recorded to boot.

They Might Be Giants recorded a disc or two of children's music that has a lot to offer both kids and the adult set with lots of humor and interest.

I'll look around to see if we found any other winners.

Jay

shawn474

Ben,
I've got quite a few that i could burn and send to you.

A few off the top of my head that are geared for a bit older:
Raffi
They Might Be Giants
Barenaked Ladies
Jack Jihnson (Curious George)
Disney collection

Iknow I have a few Gaelic cd's for kids as well that I could burn.

PM me your address and I'll get them out to you as soon as i get some time to burn them.

Take care and congrats,
Shawn

okiepolkie

agfrost wrote: »

Not sure if it's perfect for newborns, but my toddler-age and slightly older boys enjoyed Jack Johnson's Curious George soundtrack, as have my wife and I. Good tunes, good message, well-recorded to boot.

+1 Listened to this today, as a matter of fact.

kuntasensei

If you like a quirky alt-rock feel, check out The Terrible Twos. It's a side project of The Get Up Kids' Matt Pryor, specifically aimed at kids. Good stuff. Check 'em out at http://www.myspace.com/theterribletwosband

Old Man Miller and When I Get To Eleven are so catchy that I listen to them even though I don't have a kid.

George Grand

Disney. Walt Disney. That's all you need. Maybe a Sesame Street's Platinum Hits too. That's it.

George Grand

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

There are a bunch of tunes, I can take about 1/2 the disc before its just too much for me, but it is cute and will teach counting, months of the year and so on. RT1

Listen to the other half and maybe you can send me checks ON TIME for the CORRECT AMOUNT once in awhile.

Thank you for that open door Lord.

BigMac

Funny you should ask as I just ran across a woman and her mother that are almost finished making a lullaby album. They take classics such as twinkle twinkle little star and make it their own. The album is not quite finished yet but here is a sample she released. Very well done imo. Enjoy.

http://www.ourstage.com/play/track/FFLDUQVVJNKW-twinkle-twinkle-little-star

Here is a sample of her work which is just beautiful imo. Enjoy.
http://www.ourstage.com/play/track/OBAQKQNGXSFP-prelude-in-f

cnh

Probably the one of the most important things my father did when I was a child, without knowing it, was to play Andres Segovia selections of Bach, among other things, from a complete set of 78s. The records were on constantly from birth to around 4 years of age. I'm convinced they had an effect. I won't go into it here.

Worth a trial.

cnh

Polkersince85

Get em rockin early: Elvis Sings for Children

eor

I think Claude Bolling's "Suite For Flute and Jazz Piano" is fun for all ages. After the millionth listen you can always enjoy it in your head or whistle it when you're not near a stereo.

Trout Fishing in America has fun stuff that kids and adults can enjoy. I have their "Big Trouble" disc.

Oh, and for educational don't forget schoolhouse rock. They're great nostalgia for adults and some fun tongue twisting for kids. I've got the originals and the tribute disc made by rock bands about a decade ago.

I don't have any kids, I just never grew up.

eor

MillerLiteScott

Baby Genius is what my youngest daughter listens to every night while falling asleep since we brought her home from where baby's are born.

I can burn a copy if you would like Ben.

Scott

phipiper10

Great for kids and you'll sing along too. You can find them all used at Amazon.

Dan Zanes - catch that train and house party time are good ones
Steve Blunt - hang on henry
The Wiggles - these guys have all sorts of videos too you can buy too. (Disney)

reeltrouble1

George Grand wrote: »

Listen to the other half and maybe you can send me checks ON TIME for the CORRECT AMOUNT once in awhile.

Thank you for that open door Lord.

yea, yea, if I did what would have to look forward too, you need a bit of angst to keep ticking.

RT1

George Grand

You don't feel the slightest bit responsible for the first time my heart blew up?

reeltrouble1

nope, that happened from the sin city stuff of your fly guy youth, too many cheesburgers after the last call, along with whatever ink you happened to be dipping your pen into that evening.

certainly not something for this newborn to hear about in a song, well maybe when he's a bit older.........

RT1

shawn474

Dan Zanes is AWESOME. I won't lie............we put that cd in our car to take the kids somewhere. we dropped the kids off at my parents house after awhile for a date night. We went out to eat and to see some friends. When we got home, we realized that the 2 hours we spent in the car, we were singing with the CD without even realizing it was Dan Zanes.

Trout Fishing In America makes me laugh out loud, but then again I am easily amused.

4kings1

Try checking out some from your local library - that way your not having to buy ear bleading music - you can try it first if you like it buy what you want

strider

Wow, aren't I a jerk, starting a thread and not responding to it at all. Thanks for the suggestions and offers of music guys, I appreciate it.

Welcome 4kings1, I like posting in Music and Movies as well.......

I like the Jack Johnson, They Might Be Giants, and gaelic cd ideas Shawn. Disney, too. I'll send you a PM in a bit.

I've heard about Trout Fishing in America from another forum, that is one I'm going to check out further.

Scott- What's Baby Genius like?

So far, on my own, I've found that Ziggy Marley's released an album of kid's music recently. Guests like Paul Simon, Toots Hibbert, and Jack Johnson made it sound like a must get. Jerry Garcia and (IIRC) David Grisman have one called "Not for Kids Only" that I'll pick up some time too.

How 'bout some more classical suggestions? I've got a Time Life collection called Great Men in Music that I've been listening to; each volume highlights a different classical composer. So far, nothing's stuck out as being baby friendly, but I'm trying...