View Single Post
  #13  
Old 05-27-2012, 11:05 AM
brahmz118 brahmz118 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 141
Default

I work with kids every day and their musical tastes can vary as much as adults. It's important not to generalize and assume that certain kinds of music are a better fit for kids. If you find that familiar songs elicit a powerful effect, then go with familiar songs. If you find that rhythmic uptempo songs elicit more spontaneous movement, whether they are familiar or not, then try to incorporate some of those as well.

In general, familiar music with ingrained associations will elicit more of a response than unfamiliar music, no matter how fun or engaging the latter might be performed. So if a 4 year-old loves Back in Black and Enter Sandman because he associates them with his Dad playing guitar, then he might not be too excited by Twinkle Twinkle (unless maybe you perform it in a metal style).

The window for the traditional kid repertoire (Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus, BINGO, This Old Man, Mary Had a Little Lamb, If You're Happy and You Know it, Down by the Bay, etc.) used to be about 6 and under, easily. That window is shrinking a bit, so many more 5 and 6-year olds are perceiving those songs as babyish. In the past year I've worked with 6 year-olds who memorized songs like Who Says by Selena Gomez or Firework by Katy Perry.

If you're going to do this long term, then your repertoire will probably need to be updated regularly. I got a lot of mileage out of I Believe I Can Fly when Space Jam came out, but those days are long over. You've Got a Friend in Me from Toy Story continues to be popular, and Here Comes the Sun had a brief surge when Sheryl Crow covered it for Bee Movie. I used to use I'm a Believer from Shrek a lot, but it is now starting to wane.

If you don't have the right repertoire, you can always try to make up some songs on the spot - usually, the sillier the better.
Reply With Quote