What music should children be exposed to?

[Wellthen]

'Music of the week' is something I've done for a while - we discuss the piece throughout the week with children adding facts about the piece or the artist as the week goes on. I try to play it every day so they get to know it quite well. Some they love, some they hate which makes for great conversation. With this year drawing to an end I'd like to look again at the tracks I use.

What pieces of music really stick with you/strike you as 'important'? Obviously the definition of this is different for different people.

Probably needless to say but I try to have something from most musical styles and overtly sexual or offensive is not appropriate!

I know very little about music, especially classical but my daughters (4 and 5) like traditional Irish music, uilleann pipes etc and they love Vanessa Mae and the sound of the electric violin if that helps at all.

How about Peter and the Wolf? Carnival of the Animals?

My DD loves them, she is nearly 6 and has both pieces with books since she is 4.

The Nutcracker or the Magic Flute are lovely pieces and easy to listen to.

You could try things like The Beatles if you want a bit more modern with lyrics.

Abba?

Irish ones are also great, think like Riverdance or similar

I loved using Vangelis with my class. No lyrics to worry about!

Diamonds on the souls of her shoes. All the children I've ever known enjoy that song - the words, the sounds they don't understand and the instruments.

My DCs rather enjoy the wordplay and craziness of Madness and Chas n Dave and Ian Dury (Hit Me...not the rude ones). Anything from Oliver. If you want a genre I'd call it London vernacular!

Or how about protest songs: I'm a Rambler, If you miss me at the back of the bus, We Shall Overcome, A Change Is Gonna Come.

Soles . Wish we had an edit facility.

The Piano Guys.

Check out their videos on you tube (esp Cello Wars).

m.youtube.com/watch?v=BgAlQuqzl8o&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DBgAlQuqzl8o

The complete works of Morrissey. Nothing else really matters.

As wide variety as possible

Rhapsody in Blue. Something folky, perhaps Scarborough Fair.

Thanks guys. Keep em coming.

DD likes songs from musicals - Oliver, Sound of Music, Mary Poppins etc

Also likes things like Dolly Parton, Aqua, Celine Dion, Shakira, Abba, Kylie and so on - something with a bit of a melody and catchy chorus.

I would say that a wide range is best. I am so glad that my prep school introduced us to some of the classics - Holst's Planets for example, or Sibelius. Also some of the British composers that one doesn't hear as often as Mozart, Beethoven such as Purcell.

Music from different periods in history - medieval, baroque etc

Music featuring different instruments - a percussion piece, a piece written for strings, something for brass and so on. Peter and the Wolf is excellent for this.

Music from different countries.

I teach music during PPA time at my school. Over the past year in lessons music we have listened to across the school (so not everyone has listened to everything) has included:

Dukas: Sorcerers Apprentice
Ravel: Ma Mere L'Oye
Smetena: Vltava
Music from China and India
Balinese Gamelean
Kecak monkey chant
Mozart; Magic Flute (Bits of!)
Eleanor Alberga: Dances with Shadows
Holst: Planets
Shostakovich; Symphony 7 (Mvt 1 from about 6 mins in)
Ives: Putnam's Camp
Jacob Handl:Pueri Concinite

U2: Pride
Lennon: Imagine
Simon and Garfunkle: Bridge Over Troubled WAter
extracts of film music including HArry Potter and Gremlins

There is a lot more but that is what I can think of off the top of my head.

How old are the children? For example could they cope with Sunday Bloody Sunday or If you tolerate this (then your children will be next)?

Or what about playing two versions of the same time or song to compare. The second movement of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez is perfect for this as originally composed for guitar but made famous on Brassed Off played on a flugelhorn.

Things like Joseph the musical? My two adore that, sing it all the time.

All my children enjoy reggae. I've played them lots of varied stuff and this always seems to grab their attention. Toots and the Maytals is a good starting point.
Also English folk music - thinking of Fairport Convention - as it's often a story being sung it helps you to get 'lost' in the music.

Wide variety as possible.

Many movies have great soundtracks-Star Wars, Harry Potter, Piratesof theCarribean...

My children prefer happy music to sad so Ride of the Valkyrie rather than Funeral March and have listened to all sorts- Elvis, Beegees, Take That, Metallica, Michael Jackson... For awesome rock songs check out the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock soundtrack.

The popular classics and opera.
You can discuss the power of the music, how it is often chosen to sell particular goods.
You could take a piece you are pretty sure hasn't been used in advertising and ask them what they think it could be used for.

You'll never walk alone

Redemption song
Space odditity
Eleanor rigby
World in motion

I remember singing some South African songs in choir that I still (sort of) remember - Si Ya Hamba/Marching in the Light of God and Vula Botha. Might be a good listen and discussion starter.

Thanks guys, these are great.

Gah pressed send too soon.
Thanks guys these are great. Currently listening to Matilda soundtrack so on a search for appropriate Tim Minchin!

This sounds ace. Please tell us how you do this. I'm not aware of anything similar at the school DS is about to start at. Is this a common way of teaching? What have you successfully done before? With what age?

Get the flags out and have a mini proms with Elgar

savoirfaire its really just a little thing. I chose a track for that week. I play it at a convinient point in the day, usually first thing.

On the first day they just listen and discuss, pick out any instruments they hear, say what they think of it. I tell them who it is by and who the artist is. On the second day they listen again, discuss anything new the felt on the second listen and share any facts they have learnt (some of them love to google the track at home and compete with the most random or interesting fact!) We add these each day to a piece of paper which is pretty full by the end of the week.

By the Friday I aim for them to all be able to tell me what it is, who its by, who is performing and any links to films or culture or something. The aim is just to expose them to different types of music and broaden their general knowledge. They naturally develop music vocabulary and its good for reasoning and discussion as well. The whole thing only takes about 10 mins of my day.