• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Kids Guitar Corner

Give Your Kids a Lifelong Love of Music

  • About
  • Testimonials
  • Online Courses
  • Private Lessons
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Free Stuff

February 9, 2018 By Donna Leave a Comment

An Easy Way to Expose Your Child to a Variety of Music

When asked what song he would like to learn, Jacob said, “Taxman” by the Beatles.  He was a little guy at the time (about 8) and just starting out on  guitar. How did Jacob know that song?  It’s not one of the common Beatles tunes one would hear on the radio.  Turns out that Jacob’s dad is a Beatles fan!  Marco wanted to learn “Patience” by Guns and Roses – his mom is a big fan.   Brenna wanted to play, “Greensleeves”  – it’s her gramma’s favorite song.

Parents often ask me how they can expose their young children to a variety of music.  They inquire about classes or workshops.  But, in reality, parents are the first and best teachers.  Your kids are always watching, learning, and absorbing everything you say and do.

There is an easy way to expose your child to great music:  Create a playlist for the car and home sound system.  And, these days, it’s easy to ask “Alexa” or “Google” to play a tune.

Here are three steps to help you line up great tunes on a playlist:

1. Use the Sesame Street format:

  • Years ago, I attended a concert by a 10-string classical guitarist, Perf de Castro. Before playing “Adagio” from Vivaldi’s Concerto in D, he spoke of how he first heard the piece as a child and it inspired him to one day play the piece.  It was on Sesame Street – played to a feature video of flowers blooming in time lapse
  • Sesame Street does a wonderful job of exposing children to a variety of topics through short segments. These meet the need of a child’s shorter attention span.
  • When creating your playlist, mix it up with a variety of genres and keep the segments short. For example, rather than choose the entire Mozart piano concerto, pick out one of the movements.  Place that between a song by James Taylor and Nat King Cole.  Then line up a bit of Chet Atkins, followed by Elvis, a prelude from a Bach Suite,  a Beatles tune, etc.

2. Here is an over-view of many different types of music:

  • Period Music –   Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern
  • Sacred
  • Broadway
  • Jazz
  • Country
  • Blues
  • Classic Rock
  • Folk
  • Pop
  • World Music

3.  And here is a list of tunes to help you get started. Pick out a few you know and a few you’ve never heard.  Start with about 10 tunes. Add in your favorites, and let me know those so I can add to my list:

Adagio for Strings – Barber

Air On a G String – Bach

Annie –  The Broadway Show by Charnin/Strouse

Appalachian Spring – Copeland

Asturias (on guitar) – Albeniz

Blue Moon of Kentucky – Monroe

Bolero – Ravel

Brandenberg Concertos (1-6) – Bach

Canon in D – Pachelbel

Carmina Burana – Orff

Carnival of the Animals – Saint-Saëns

Cello Suite #1 Prelude – Bach  (also can be heard on guitar)

Clare de Lune – Debussy

Conceirto de Aranjuez – Rodrigo  (2nd movement is the most famous)

Come Fly with Me – Sinatra

Fantasia – Disney Film
Fiddler on the Roof (Musical) – Stein

Foggy Mountain Breakdown – Scruggs

Four Seasons – Vivaldi  (“Spring” is the most popular one)

God Bless the Child – Billie Holliday

Grand Canyon Suite – Grofé

Greensleeves – Anonymous

Hard Day’s Night – Beatles

Hound Dog – Elvis Presley

I’m So Lonesome I could Cry – Williams

In the Mood – Glen Miller Orchestra

Mother Goose – Prokofiev

Music of Eastern Europe – Various Composers (American Folklife Center)

Music of Southeast Asia – Various Composers (American Folklife Center)

Music of the Middle East – Various Composers (American Folklife Center)

Night on Bald Mountain – Mussorgsky

Nutcracker Suite – Tchaikovsky

The Entertainer – Joplin

Piano Concerto #23 in A Major – Mozart

People – Barbara Streisand

Peter and the Wolf – Prokofiev

Recuerdos De La Alhambra – Francisco Tarrega

Rhapsody in Blue – Gershwin

Rite of Spring – Ravel

Piano Concerto #23 in A Major – Mozart

Route 66 – Nat King Cole

Summertime – Ella Fitzgerald

Take Five – David Brubeck

Take Me Home Country Roads – John Denver

This Land Is Your Land– Guthrie

Water Music – Handel

West Side Story – Bernstein/Sondheim

What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

 

Donna Zitzelberger is passionate about giving kids a lifelong love of music and has been doing just that for 16 years. She teaches guitar and ukulele both in private lessons and online courses at www.kidsguitarcorner.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Teaching What I Learned from Yo Yo Ma & Pepe Romero
Next Post: Construction of a Growth Mindset »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Email Newsletter

Join the mailing list and receive a free check list to help your child succeed in Music Lessons.

No spamming; no sharing your e-mail; unsubscribe anytime.

If you don't receive your checklist, , check your g-mail promotions box or boxes other than the inbox.

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Kids Guitar Corner (Showcase Pro) on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in