Lively celtic music for kids

My 8-year-old has expressed interest in Celtic music. In particular, she seems to like the lively variety, with the drums and tinpipes, the jigs and reels. A check on Amazon reveals what looks like a lot of slower, mystical stuff, which is beautiful, but you can't dance to it. I'm just clueless as to where to start. Can anyone out there suggest a good CD or two to get us started? Thanks! Julie T.

Orla and the Gas Men -- Minding Mice At Crossroads (my current favorite -- it's in my car CD player as we speak) The Lonely Stranded Band -- self titled CD, subtitled: Traditional Irish Music and Song from Charlie Piggott, Miriam Collins, and Joe Corcoran The Lahawns -- Live at Winkles (because it's a live album, it's a little different/less child-friendly than others) Sharon Shannon -- self titled CD. She's very popular, and there are probably lots of CDs by her out there, so anyone would probably do. The Chieftans -- Celtic Wedding We also have one by a band called Dervish, that I can't find and I can't remember the name, but it's AWESOME. VERY lively.

We have others, but this is a good start.

FYI, my mom and dad own an Irish pub up in Sonoma -- Murphy's Irish Pub -- and they have live music Thursday through Sunday. Not all of it is Irish, but you can go to their website to view a schedule (I think) at http://www.sterba.com/sonoma/ murphy/ and take your daughter to hear some. It's a restaurant also, so kids are welcome -- it's not a 21 and over crowd at all. I bring my own kids there, which is probably where they learned to love this kind of music. It's not terribly close, but it's probably more family friendly than other live music venues you would find closer to home. Some of the bands I listed above have played at the pub, too!

I'm always happy to spread the good word about celtic music, so I hope you find/ enjoy some of these CDs. Monica

Next, check out www.freightandsalvage.org. This is a Berkeley coffeehouse music venue (no alcohol) that has several bands a month that play Irish/Scottish/Breton/oldtimey etc. They have some Sunday afternoon concerts for kids, but people are welcome to bring kids (usually about 8 years old and up) to concerts at 8 PM. The website lets you listen to sample songs from upcoming groups, and you'll see many wonderful local groups there as well.

In the long run, you'll figure out who you like to listen to by hearing groups perform. I've bought CDs at the Freight, at the Renaissance Faire, at the Scottish Games at Dunsmuir House, etc.

In Berkeley at the Starry Plough on Shattuck (south of Ashby a few blocks) you can take your kids for fish and chips, and you can have a pint in a smokeless atmosphere, while you listen to a free live Irish music session every Sunday night. Many of the same people come back and play Monday when they teach Irish dancing for free-- it's a little late for a school night, though.

Finally, check out the San Francisco Folk Music Club online at www.sffmc.org. For the cost of a year's membership (about $10) they will send you a newsletter that lists all kinds of music things going on in the Bay Area, from contradances to concerts to monthly sing-along parties, to family camping weekends with musicians. The newsletter also has many reviews of CDs with a lot of helpful description.

There are also Scottish or Irish dance class schools for young children in San Francisco, the East Bay, and the Peninsula. For older children, you might want to sign up for recorder lessons-- through the city recreation departments or the schools.

Good for you to encourage an interest in music! peg

Fun music for 2.5 year old

I am looking for recommendations for fun recorded music for my child who is 2.5 years. She has enjoyed Music Together and we also listen to Raffi and the Wiggles, but I would love some new ideas. I know there is great music out there for young children. Thank you! Toddler loves to sing & dance

For live music and performance for kids, the Crowden Music Center in Berkeley offers a concert series, Sundays at 4. These concerts feature a classical chamber-music repertoire by prominent Bay Area musicians, not children's music per se, but the programs are designed to be family-length & family-friendly and children (up to 18) are free. The 2004-05 schedule is posted in the calendar section at http://www.crowdenmusiccenter.org and you can e- mail ''concerts@thecrowdenschool.org'' to get on the list to receive announcements and concert reminders via e-mail.

Crowden also offers ''Music Together'' and ''Music for Children'' (Orff Schulwerk, Kodaly) classes for very young children in addition to individual lessons and a host of beginning/exploratory music classes for ages 6 and up. Fran

Woody Guthrie's songs are great sing-alongs. One CD to check out is Woody's 20 Grow Big Songs. Jose Luis Orozco is local and has a near cult following (with reason). I don't have a recommendation of one CD over the others, maybe someone else has given this more thought. Definitely, watch for the announcement of his annual kids' concert in Berkeley.

Oh, then there's the old standard Peter, Paul and Mommy (although we listen to their second CD, Peter, Paul and Mommy Too, more often because we like the slightly blood thirsty The Fox and the Chilly Night). There's also a concert video. And then, there is non-kid music which has become popular with our 3 and a half year old (although I don't think he really understands the songs The Sinking of the Reuben James and Deportee) so I recommend continuing to fight for playing time for non-kid music, too. Thanks for a great question! I'm looking forward to the other responses. music junkie

Classical music for 12-year-old

My soon to be 12 year old son loves the Beethoven's 9th Symphony cd he received for Christmas, so much so that he walks around the house wearing headphones and singing (phonetically, of course) the choral portion of Ode to Joy. I know NOTHING about classical music but I would like to encourage his interest by getting him some more cds. Any recommendations? susan

Since he goes around singing the choral part of the Beethoven symphony, one obvious direction to go is more choral music. There's nothing else quite like Beethoven's ''Ode to Joy'' theme, but I'd recommend Mozart's Requiem and Mozart's Mass in C minor, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Schubert's Mass in E flat (No. 6), Brahms's German Requiem, Berlioz's Requiem, Verdi's Requiem, Mahler's Symphony #2, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. If he likes the Mahler then you'll know he's hooked for life.

Another direction to take is more symphonies. Beethoven wrote nine of them, and they are all masterpieces. But the first eight are just instrumental, with no singing. I recommend getting a full set, but if you prefer to branch out slowly then I'd start with #3, #5, and #6. If he likes these then branch out to more Beethoven (the five piano concertos, the violin concerto), Mozart (symphonies 39-41), Haydn (the London symphonies), Schubert (the 9th symphony), Mendelssohn (symphonies 3-4), and Tchaikovsky (symphonies 4-6).

There are vast other worlds of classical music out there, but this might get you started.

Then there's the problem of how actually to buy this music. There are so many recordings of each piece. Which one to get, and from where? There's a wide range in both price and quality, and price and quality don't necessarily correlate. These days, you can't rely on store salespeople for any intelligent guidance through the classical section. I usually point beginners to Naxos (www.naxos.com). It's a great budget label that really takes classical music seriously, and it's almost always a safe bet. Their CDs cost $7 or so and are often in a section by themselves in stores. At least with Naxos you won't make the mistake of paying $18 for a pedestrian performance, which is a lot more common than you might think.

There's much more to say, but it all depends on what triggers your son's interest. I hope he has the same experience I had when I was that age (and with parents who were baffled by it).

Good luck, Christopher

*These are a little more restrained but I loved them as a child*:
Mozart- symphonies #38-41 (incl. ''Prague'', ''Jupiter'')
Mozart- horn concertos 
Bach- Brandenberg Concertos

*If you want to stick to Beethoven*:
''Appassionata'' and ''moonlight'' sonatas (solo piano)
Beethoven symphony #5 (starts with famous, dramatic theme in 
minor key)
Beethoven symphony #6 ''Pastoral''
Beethoven symphony #7
Beethoven ''Kreutzer'' sonata (for piano and violin)
Beethoven symphony #6 ''Pastoral''
Beethoven piano concertos #4 and #5 (''Emperor'')

*Other choral/vocal*:
Handel- Messiah
Bach- Magnificat
Mahler- Songs of a Wayfarer

*Other orchestral/concerto*:
Mussorgsky- Pictures at an Exhibition
Gershwin- Rhapsody in Blue
Rimsky-Korsakov- Scheherazade 

*Other solo piano*:
Chopin- nocturnes
Brahms- intermezzi

Also, would your son enjoy singing in a choir? Many school and community chorus opportunities exist, even for kids with no prior musical training. There are *so* many benefits to that kind of experience, it's really worth your while to investigate and encourage. Lifelong amateur musician

Pop music for a 7-yr-old girl

My daughter is hankering for some more big-girl type pop music. I'm a bit out of touch with what's cool, although we have a good record collection and have mined it on her behalf. What I don't want is to introduce her prematurely to a lot of precociously ''sexy'' themes/self-presentation. I saw the recommedations on the website re The Spice Girls, but does anyone have any other ideas? She seems to be more interested in female singers than male, and wants ''danceable'' music. cautious but open-minded

Cool female vocalists for 7-yr-old girl

Help! I need recommendations for (anti-Britney) music for my seven-year old girl. My tastes run to the 17th century and to blues, salsa, and Celtic--all of which my daughter likes. But she is beginning to understand ''cool'', ''hip'', and hears a bit of music from friends and cousins. I would love to turn her on to good (read: not Britney, Baha Men, etc.--ugh) current female artists (rock,pop) who sing about things other than boys and dogs. Thanks! Linda

Some cool female musicians and girl bands she might check out are:

Ani Difranco (folksy, rock, good feminist messages.  Has her own 
label, plays all her music, etc.)
Luscious Jackson (kind of indie pop, kind of hip-hop.  All girl 
band)
Bjork (used to be in the Sugarcubes, now a solo artist)
Cibo Mato (all girl band from Japan. pop)
Lisa Loeb (pop.  Lots of adolescent girls like her)
Sleater-Kinney (rock.  all girl band)
In a more folksy, singer songwriter vein...
Shawn Colvin, Michelle Shocked, Suzanne Vega, Lucinda Williams, 
Aimee Mann, Beth Orton

Pink
No Doubt
India Irie (REALLY good message in a song about learning to love yourself)

Nice music for infant

Could folks recommend some good children's music that is not too maddening for Mom to listen to? I have a 7-month old. Also if you have ideas for where I might find your recommendations used or otherwise inexpensively? any ideas much appreciated. thanks -- Anon

More Reviews

We've gotten some wonderful cd's from them. Pete Seeger, David Grisman, and Los Lobos are favorites with all of us. My kids (7 and 2) have recently latched onto Dave Alvin's latest cd (Public Domain) which is not aimed at all at children, in fact is quite dark and serious, but they love many of the songs and will clamor for them in the car. Music appreciation is big in our lives and my husband and I have always played music that we enjoyed, the kids along the way have developed quite eclectic tastes, from folk and bluegrass, classical, and rock.

Good Luck! Natasha

In terms of cost - the public library has tapes and cds you can borrow to try. You'll want your own, though, if she likes it, because when babies like things they like them OVER and OVER. We were given some second-hand tapes of stories (Horton the Elephant and Ali Baba) which were very popular with our kids for a year or so, but didn't last the distance, finally spaghettifying our tape player and causing disappointed howls and screams from the back seat. So new is best, given how much wear they'll get. If you can duplicate old worn out tapes though, that might work well. Cds don't have as much of this problem. fiona

Barnes and Nobles has a good music section for kids as well if you're looking for more juvenile songs like toddler or baby music. James Taylor and several other rock artists have albums out for children which you might enjoy. (I like House on Pooh Corner, very sweet).

Experiemnt witht he radio one day and see what your child responds to and have fun with it. marianne

Here are some names of singers I like who do kid's stuff, or are more "folksy" types of kids singers (many are "regular" singers with kid's albums, so you may want to be sure you're getting kid's songs in specific, if that is what you are looking for--I have some of their "other" albums, which are also nice, but not all are in the vein of kid's music):

My favorite is Priscilla Herdman--her voice is stunning. Her 3 most popular kids albums are Star Dreamer, Day Dreamer, and Moon Dreamer. I have all three, I just love her voice and the songs are lovely.

John McCutcheon is also great, I really love his stuff, including, Mail myself to you, The Best so far (or something)--greatest hits from before 1989--not a kids album per se, but with lots of kids songs on it, intermixed with others and I like that, AutumnSongs (he has the other 3 seasons on other CDs but we don't have these yet), etc.

Peter Alsop has a sort of satirical style (you have to sorta like that), with albums such as WhaD'ya wanna Do (may be for kids a bit older)

Bill Harley is also for kids a bit older, but is a wonderful storyteller as well as singer. I know him personally and think he is a wonderful person as well as performer. Can't remember titles at this moment, but hae has a great number.

Sally Rogers has a lovely voice and some nice "PC" types songs (not annoying, just espousing an eco-consciousness type values). Albums include At Quiet O'clock, Piggyback planet, etc.

I also really like Sarah Pirtle. Her albums can be hard to find, but really lovely in my book--and worth the trouble to find. Some include: The Wind is Telling Secrets, This Pretty Planet, Peace by Peace, etc.

Hap Palmer (We're on our Way), Ella Jenkins (many different ones, has a more "multicultural" sound) Sweet honey in the Rock (all for Freedom (?)) Kenny Rogers (More songs from Pooh Corner) Heather Forrest is a great storyteller and has some nice strong female characters in her tales Pete Seeger (I think that's his name--he's the brother of the more "popular" singer, so I may have mixed-up the names, will check on this) (can't think of titles off hand), Tom Chapin (Moonboat, Family Garden), The Roaches--Scott loves the song Uncle Dave, he misbehaved (have to check on the album title) Rich Charlotte (alligator shoes, (I think that is what it is called))

All of the above are also in this "Folksy" vein. Nancy Griffith doesn't sing kids songs, but has a folksy lithe to her singing that would probably also work for kids.

I have heard great things about the PutaMayo (spelling?) collection--they emphasize differing styles of music on their various CDs, and they have a kid's CD now as well. Don't have any, but have heard they are great.

Along similar lines, we have really liked the Classical kids story collection--stories overlaid on appropriately included classical excerpts from specific composers. You have to be into listening to stories, they aren't just music, but our daughter has loved these CDs since she was a newborn. We got them as birth gifts, which is good because we never would have bought them for her because I thought they were too trendy in that way I tend to dislike. I have been proved wrong. Anyway, that should certianly get you started! Good Luck. As for places to find them, Half.com has lots of stuff like that relatively cheap. ZAlphaWolf

However, the hands-down favorite at our house (and in our car!) these days is the soundtrack from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Great for singing, jumping around, and generally getting silly. Jennifer

Rosie Hippos catalogue has wonderous wooden toys books and a great selection of Real music for children (sweet honey and the rock, buckwheat zydeco, pete seeger, jimmy buffet etc etc). Their phone number is 1-800-385-2620.

Jane Timberlake is a local songwriter who has four wonderful tapes: "Al the Alligator", "9 Green Fingers and 47 Toes", "Carpet of Dreams", and "Our Songs". Although their greatest appeal is with the over 3 set, my 27 month old son, Max (who is her grandson) loves them. They are silly, intelligent, and kindhearted songs many of which were inspired by living in the Berkeley/Oakland area. She use to be a head teacher at Step One Preschool, but now brings the joy of music to children by way of her "Singing Circles". Her singing circles are for groups of children ages 1 through 8. I'm not sure what stores carry her tapes, but you can call her at (510) 654-0322 if your interested in them, or if you want more info about "Singing Circles".

Someone wrote in recently, either to the UCB Parents or Virtual Village, asking about good music for kids. We are currently enjoying a CD called "The Earth is Our Home" by Robbie Dunbar, a local dad, a talented musician and a heck of a nice guy. (He is also the man everyone keeps recommending as a great piano teacher for kids). Robbie's music is like, well, Robbie: kid-friendly, humorous, kind, fun to be around (and it had better be, since we end up listening to it over and over and over again).

I just found out that Robbie will be performing at Gaia Bookstore this Saturday at 3:00. I think he'll be performing some of his own music, which blends folk, rock, and lullabies, as well as holiday music. Gaia is at 1400 Shattuck at Rose in Berkeley. I just called Gaia to confirm it, and they mentioned you can hear a sample of Robbie's music at www.mindfullmusic.com

Other music which is high on kid pleasure, low on saccharin content, and hold up to being played over and over: Greg Brown's CD "Bathtub Blues", anything by Burl Ives or Pete Seegar, Peter and the Wolf (version narrated by Sting or the one with Patrick Stewart), Smithsonian Folkway's children's music collection, Schoolhouse Rock, Capitol sings Kids Songs for Grownups, Prairie Lullaby (Joe Weed, Norton Buffalo, Bryan Bowers), Rhino Records' Cowboy Album, Little Richards' "Shake it All About" album. Two great sources for are Hear Music on 4th Street and Down Home Music on San Pablo. From: Leslie

For music, Gary Lapow has several tapes and CDs out that kids of all ages and even adults love. They are cute and many songs promote social awareness. Gary is local and performs throughout the Bay Area.

Concerning toddler CD's... There are loads of good ones out there. Our daughter (and we) particularly liked "Not for Kids Only" by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, and "On the Sunny Side" by Maria Muldaur and friends. Happy listening!

My personal favorite cds for kids are (actually, I think they're personal favorites for me as well): "Not for Kids Only" by Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, and Beausoleil's "Le Hoogie Boogie - Louisiana French Music for Children" I take one song on Beausoleil's cd, slow it way down, and sing it in English for the best lullabye ever. It's guaranteed. I forget the name of the tune, but you can change "Oh my pretty ladies" to "Oh my little baby" and if you have the cd you'll know what I'm talking about.

In response to the request for good local CD's of songs and music enjoyed by toddlers and babies. I especially recommend Sharon, Lois, and Bram (Canadian). They are a fabulous trio with great harmonies. We still sing them as a family and my kids are 8 & 13. Also Raffi (Canadian also) is good but his voice may be difficult to listen to for extended periods of time.