Pop Goes the Kids' Bop

If you want to turn your kids on to something good musically, check out the following link. It's a good way to get kids interested in classical music and the way an orchestra works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_an...)

Starshine,
You son is undoubtedly a better person for his early exposure to funk. And so is everyone else with such enlightened 'rents!

Happy Holidays!

You can turn your children away from all types of musical genre, but in the end, it's their own internal "musical" ear that steers them toward what they find enjoyable. Nice try, though.

I believe that exposure to *good* music not only has positive intellectual benefits, but positive social ones as well. Furthermore, to have them listening at the youngest age possible is a good thing.

Peter and the Wolf is a great start since it is a narrated introduction to music geared toward kids, and of course music that stirs positive emotions is good. (Not the processed American Idol-like fluff that is a dime, and not the *music* that relies more upon gimmicks and synthesizers than God-given talent)

Never underestimate your kids' ability to learn, even if it appears they aren't picking up what is being taught. The subconcious mind is very underrated.

Thank you for writing about dumbing down music for kids! Let's be friends! I often rail at people who think the environment has to dumbed down just because children have come into the room, Like if I'm watching "House' and the kids come in we must quick change the channel to Tommy the train or some insipid cartoon world... It has been a peeve of mine for quite some time, I do not want to live in a dumbed down child dominated environment, I love kids and they love me, and I think we should challenge them, teach them about real life, and teach them to respect adults and be curious to learn about the real world and not feed them that popular crap! Yes, give them a chance and kids love the Beatles or Tony Bennet. And no Baby talk after 10 months old, don't dumb them down, bring them up!

Amen to micaelm. Kids are MUCH smarter than people think. I was lucky to have adults who treated me as one of them and who didn't talk down to me.

Speaking of The Beatles, KTYD is having its annual Beatles' Christmas all through December 25th. For those who are not in S.B., you can listen live on their website www.ktyd.com

I completely agree with everyone here. Music at a young age can give a child a good sense of who they are even before they can fully appreciate the music that they are listening to. Believe me it has helped me expand my taste in music as I have gotten older. I started out with the popular music when I was younger, and have expanded my taste more and more each year that I get older. I only wish more people my age had been influenced by other music when they were younger.

I would guess that reason that the dribble they call kids music is popular is that many parents are culturally deprived, so they have no concept of the arts. I grew up in a family that revered education with parents who had wide cultural interests. I was raised listening to a wide variety of cultural interests and thirst for knowledge. It has stood me well for many years.

Our culture is so dependent on television and marketing that we have raised a culturally illiterate generation of children who are becoming culturally illiterate adults. Don't believe me? Try sitting in a college classroom with these young people who are used to having everything fed to them and can't create an original thought to save their lives. It took one of my professors almost 4 months to engage a majority of the students in any meaningful discussion. It is sad and frightening as we are becoming a nation of mindless sheep.

Don't think I ever bought a tape or cd of "children's music". We raised our kids listening to the music we had on in the house. They are now adults and have musical taste spanning decades and genres. They play instruments, perform & write music.

PS I must take issue with the Beatles having simple melodies or arrangements. Not true as anyone who has performed their songs can tell you. However I do agree this music is perfect for the kiddies.

I also disagree with Exinmate's assessment of kids today. I know so many of this age and the vast majority are incredibly bright, creative literate, productive.

Amen, Starshine! My youngest sister had the MOST annoying tape (yes - it was the 80s) called "We Sing Silly Songs." I hope someone sued the company for mental distress because they've done a lot of damage to every listener over 3 years old. I think I smashed the tape one day when no one was watching.

Then again, my mom always played KBIG in the car when I was a kid, and for some reason, I know the lyrics to a lot of Anne Murray songs...