Friday, September 19, 2008

Music Education

Confession:

I've watched David Archuleta's music video for his song "Crush" about ten times in the last 24 hours.



It's a catchy song, he has an AMAZING voice and I have a serious Mommy-crush on David. (By mommy crush, I mean I *do* want to kiss him, but not the same way all the teeny-boppers do. I want to kiss his cute forehead and pinch his cheeks and give him a hug and feed him. I hope my teenage boys are that adorable.)

But, music around our house has gotten weak lately. We listen to a lot of David Archuleta and Blake Lewis (Scud's favorite) and Kelly Clarkson. It's all good, but I'm feeling a bit anemic.

So, I've undertaken a course of music education for my family. I want my children to know (and want to remind myself) that there are generations worth of REALLY good music to draw from. So, we're listening to everything from Mozart and Puccinni, Bach and Handel to Bob Marley, Don Williams, James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and the Beatles. Oh and a bit of Bobby McFerrin and REM and Edith Piaf and Olatunji sprinkled in. (If you'd like a sample of our current listenings, go waaaaaaaay down to the bottom and turn on the music player.)

So, how about you? What are your favorite "classics" throughout the ages? Any genres, any time period is game. What music do you think I should absolutely be exposing my children to?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Heather! I am so glad I found your blog! :)

As for music, I just love Chopin. The Waltzes, Preludes, Nocturnes...anything Chopin, really. After picking a Chopin piece each year for years, finally one year my piano teacher told me I could NOT pick any Chopin that year. Ha! Also Rachmaninoff - love the 3rd piano concerto (I believe it's the 3rd...). And one of my all time favorite classical pieces is the Grieg piano concerto.

Aside from classical, make sure you throw in a little U2 to the mix. :)

cmnacnud said...

I'd suggest musicals. Singing in the Rain, Les Miserables, Starlight Express, Wicked. I'd also recommend some good soundtracks like Forret Gump, Star Wars, Harry Potter. Anything by John Williams is probably a good start.

The Yarn Queen said...

That is a great video and I'm just hopeing he well remain the wonderful young man he is through all his success, because we need some strong role models for our up and coming boys.

Emily said...

the only ones of my must-haves i haven't seen mentioned here are brahms, beethoven, and frank sinatra. not to be missed!

diana said...

Sounds like you're doing a great job with variety. I'd make sure to include the Beach Boys. Everyone needs to know the words to California Girls!

DiscoverLearnPlay said...

Great stuff - don't forget some of the international music like those great sounds form Brazil, Indonesia and New Zealand! And when the kiddos are ready to learn an instrument, get the started with software form MusickEd.com!! Cheers.

Heather said...

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I had especially not even thought of the Beach Boys or Frank Sinatra. Or Brahms or Chopin -- I've not listened much to either of those.

Good stuff!