Sharing 'your songs' opens musical horizons

My oldest daughter was 3 when I bought the soundtrack from the Annie Broadway show starring Andrea McCardle. Up to that point, Olivia had mostly listened to music from Sesame Street, Disney and a little Mozart.

I wasn't sure how she'd take to Annie, especially not having seen the movie or play. But she loved it. Hard Knock Life was her favorite at first, then she learned all the words to I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here when Annie suddenly has satin sheets, breakfast in bed and an indoor swimming pool. Other songs soon had me explaining to a 3-year-old why people during the Depression were mad at Herbert Hoover and thrilled with Franklin Roosevelt.

For her it was exposure to a whole new kind of music. For me it was truly liberating. No longer were our car rides limited to the musical mentality of a toddler.

Next I started playing the soundtrack from The Music Man. Both my girls liked that too, especially the song about trouble with a capital "T" in River City and the one when the gossiping, judgmental women of River City are made to sound like hens. Of course, show tunes aren't what I normally listen to, but I do like some of them and they have lyrics and a beat my kids can relate to.

Soon after, my husband made a big deal of playing Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl and said it was a song about Charlotte, our youngest daughter who has big, dark brown eyes. Both girls loved it, and they didn't even ask about the reference to making love behind the stadium. Now they listen to plenty of "our songs" and their taste has broadened well beyond show tunes.

"Any music is fun for your kids when you're participating with them talking about what instrument makes this sound or why it's easy to bounce to this beat or what story they are telling," said Maggie DiPietra, development director for WMNF-FM 88.5 public radio station. She has three children ages 23, 14 and 3 who have listened to a variety of "her" music growing up ranging from folk to blues to progressive rock.

When the station recently sponsored a concert of local bands playing 12 hours of Beatles music she was pleased to see how many parents brought their young children to listen. "The Beatles are timeless, and they have such a repertoire with mostly positive messages," DiPietra said.

The Beatles are also a favorite pick for kids by Mar Harmon, founder of the Music With Mar music classes and recordings. "Songs like She loves you (yeah, yeah, yeah) and Yellow Submarine are great for kids," she said. "They're not too heavy. They just go into people loving each other."

It's important for kids to hear their parents' music because it shows them that music can stay a part of their life forever. "They learn that there's not just kid music but as you grow older music is one of the things that also grows and fits your style," Harmon said.

Teaching your kids about your favorite music is also another way to make them feel special because you want to share something you love with them.

"I know that my daughter liked that Mommy had her favorite music and I wanted to share my world with her," Harmon said. "Kids like getting on in Mommy's and Daddy's little secrets."

If you make it interesting and find some reason your kids can relate to a song or artist, kids will like all types of adult music. But be careful, Harmon cautioned, not to make fun of their music. Make sure they know it's okay to listen to all different types of music including kids' songs.

Harmon reeled off a wide variety of other adult songs that children enjoy such as Shout, Purple People Eater, Crocodile Rock, RESPECT and Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder. Most Beach Boys songs go over well with kids, too.

A friend of mine told me he's raising his two young sons on some of his favorite music. The first album he played for each of them was Miles Davis' jazz collection. Lately they've been listening to some Woody Guthrie classics like This Land Is Your Land, Pastures of Plenty and Riding in My Car. An album of duets by Ella Fitzgerald and Louie Armstrong is a crowd pleaser for babies to young kids to adults, he said. Fitzgerald has a sweet elegant sound, and Armstrong's trumpet and laughs add spirit and surprise.

Another friend says her kids love Simon and Garfunkel. Her 6-year-old daughter even Hula-Hooped to Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard in her school talent show.

Country music is also a good option for children because so many songs tell stories. (Not all of them are sad.) Jill Amaya, a reader who e-mailed me, plays Shania Twain's I Feel Like a Woman for the little girls in the neighborhood ages 4 to 7 and they dance around and play dress-up to it over and over. They also like LeAnn Womak's I Hope You Dance. Her 4-year-old son knows the lyrics to these songs but prefers to belt out the lines to any song from the Grease soundtrack.

Another reader, Pamela Arbisi, said her 6-year-old is a big fan of The Eleventh Hour by Mars Lasar. Lasar tells stories through sounds like a shuttle liftoff, horses, bugs in a rain forest, thunder storms and baby coos.

You never know what your child's tastes may be. They don't always reflect our own. Dorothy Schrage, a St. Petersburg reader, told me how her son loved hearing commercials on Cartoon Network for an Anne Murray CD when he was 5. He became hooked on the Anne Murray Christmas CD she ordered him so she e-mailed the singer herself to tell her she was still attracting new fans. Murray sent an autographed picture to her young fan.

There's a company that packages all types of music for children, including songs written just for them and adult music that kids like. Click on musicforlittlepeople.com to check out a variety of collections such as "Cajun For Kids," "Blues For Kids" with B.B. King and Taj Mahal and other dance, rock, international and classical compilations. Its latest release is A Child's Celebration of Soul, which includes Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner, RESPECT by Aretha Franklin and Soul Man by Sam and Dave.

-- You can reach Katherine Snow Smith by e-mail at Oliviachar@aol.com; or write Rookie Mom, St. Petersburg Times, PO Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.

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