Entertainment For Lively Minds
Sneaking songs onto your kid's iPod
As the eldest in my family I received my musical education at the feet of my friends' elder siblings (Andy Quinn's brother - Roxy Music, Chris Kelly's brother - Man and Genesis....you know how it goes.) The dilemma I'm facing as a parent is that my 10 year old son is an only child, as are the overwhelming majority of his peers. How to gently prod him in the direction of "good" music? I'm not ashamed to admit I sneak songs onto his iPod playlists when I charge it for him. So far I've heard him singing Outlaw Pete at the top of his voice and he whistles a mean Hoppipolla. (My greatest victory came when I heard him crooning "weird scenes inside the goldmine" in the back of the car coming home from school recently but, alas, I can take no credit for that. God bless you Homer Simpson! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Gutter,_Hello_Fadder)
I'd welcome any thoughts on how to wrestle the boy away from the clutches of Cowell.......
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play it
play it in the car
play it in the kitchen
play it in the lounge
play it instead of watching TV
but play it out loud
but not too loud
they 've actually still got full hearing
they will decide what they like
and are more likely to
than if told they should like it
If you want to steer them towards the HJH...
Help on Dvd - job done with both my boys.Once they get into them the Bootleg Beatles are a great night out too.
Speaking as a non-Beatles fanatic...
...I can honestly say that you'd struggle to beat the HJH for expanding kids' musical horizons.
My little ones are 4 and 2, and are currently just LOVING "Revolver". I used "Yellow Submarine" as the hook, but now my elder girl is mad for "Eleanor Rigby", "She Said She Said" and "And Your Bird Can Sing". They're both crazy for "Good Day Sunshine", "I'm Only Sleeping" and the aforementioned messing-about-in-u-boats ditty.
We're going to be hammering this record for a while. I'm nobody's idea of a huge Beatles fan, but if they ground my girls in really great music and give them a taste for more, I'll sing their praises until my dying day.
Good, funny article here
About parents from different musical eras bickering over what their offspring should hear.
http://news.therecord.com/arts/article/758832
Highlight:
"Can you please stop playing those horrific suicidal dirges for our kids!” I’ll beg my wife as Depeche Mode moans about the end of all hope.
“I don’t want them to grow up to be existential basket cases.”
considering both their musical tastes
it's a pity they ever bred
As with much in parenting
...forcing the issue is less likely to work than simply and visibly enjoying something.
My two, 8 summers each, simply take what they like from their parents' ever-playing favourites. We always listen to music in the house, in the car and in the garden, and if they like a choon they now just ask "can you put it on our playlist, dad?"
So when they were recently asked who their favourite bands were, there wasn't a Cowell-bell among them – and even an inevitable infatuation with High School Musical lasted less than a fortnight. No, they replied with They Might Be Giants (Here Comes Science being a favourite teacher), Crosby Stills and Nash, the HJH and, I'm rather pleased to say, Howl Griff.