Discuss with the board the traditional and cultural music in your home community.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Lauren Klimek]

I guess I’ll talk about our night-time routine with my 5 month old. We started reading her goodnight moon when she was 2 months old as it is “sing song” in nature and then I follow it up with nursing her to sleep while singing, “you are my sunshine,” “i’ve a dear little dolly,” and “rock a bye baby.” If she hasn’t settled by then I may also sing, “you can close your eyes” or “harvest moon.” I always slow down the rhythms of the songs to match a lullaby rhythm. The song, “I’ve a dear little dolly” was a song my grandmother used to sing to me when I was a little girl and she passed away last year before she had a chance to meet my daughter so it’s important for me to teach my daughter all of the songs she sang and taught me when I was growing up. “Harvest Moon” is our wedding song so the meaning behind it is apparent. I use “you can close your eyes” for it’s literal statement! ha ha, but it’s another beautiful song. You are my sunshine and rock a bye baby are your typical children’s songs that we all grew up with and are simple and repetitive in melody for a child to pick up on and remember. Music is important and meaningful to my husband and I and our daughter was actually named after one of our favorite songs, “Caroline” by the Old Crow Medicine Show. It’s interesting to watch my daughter when she hears music that we listened to while I was pregnant because sometimes it is the only music that will soothe her! I also just notice myself always singing to her, even if it’s, “you have stinky diaper, stinky stinky, pooh! ha ha (to the melody of itsy bitsy spider)

[Dina Breaux]

The music we listen to at home has evolved as my children have grown older. As babies, I sang a lot of lullabies (both traditional and improvised) and fingerplays. When they were very young, we sang along to a lot of Raffi, Barney, the Dinosaur and The Beatles! My husband and I introduced them to Zydeco and Mariachi music, which is our cultural heritage, respectively. As they grew, they enjoyed listening to classic rock and the popular music of the day (ie. The Jonas Brothers and the High School Musical soundtracks). Now that they are all young adults, they have introduced me to indie and alternative music, which I love! Many of these songs would work well for lyric analysis with adults, possibly alcohol/drug rehab and veteran groups, and I hope one day to have the opportunity to share them.

[Gina Greeson]

My husband is a band director so we love to listen to all types of band and orchestral literature. Are favorites are Chopin, Mahler, and Shostakovich. We met in drum and bugle corps so drum corps is very important to us as well. We first introduced music to our son RJ by singing a lullaby before bed. Sometimes, if RJ was fussy during the night we would put the second movement of Dvorak on softly and rock him. We love The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Duke Elllington, and John Coltrane and also celtic music. As a child, I was introduced to many different composers and genres. As a child, I really enjoyed klezmer music. I sing to RJ every day. I took the music together training so I sing a lot of music together songs with my son. I sing to him when it is time to get dressed, eat, and take a bath. We can’t wait to introduce more music as he gets older.

[Joanna Calahan]

I grew up in a military family, and was exposed to a variety of genres and styles from the various regions of the country we lived in throughout my childhood. Being a military kid I’ve always enjoyed Patriotic songs, and will often share the stories behind songs like the “Star Spangled Banner” with my clients, and constantly ask my parents for various chants they sang with their troops during training (both my parents are retired officers). I spent a lot of my childhood in Georgia and Texas and have a fond appreciation for folk, old country and bluegrass pieces. I often go to the old string shop to finger pick with community members when I go home to visit my folks in Texas. My dad and uncle will often go with me. We spend hours chatting, sharing songs, and creating memories. I think it is important to share those experiences with them, and to also share in the music making with others. Plus it gives me a chance to learn songs and stories and enhance my finger picking skills. I did my internship with a hospice near the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley. My of my clients preferred hymns, folk, and Patriotic songs, so it was neat to share songs such as “Down in the Valley” and “Shenandoah” with those clients, and to reminisce over the “days of yore.”

Where I live and work now kind of mixes between traditional folk or country songs and pop music. It just kind of depends on who my clients are each day. Some days I go from singing “Veggie Tales” and Disney to singing John Denver all in the matter of hours!

[Kristina Rio]

Thank you for sharing your very meaningful personal use of music in your home. How about out in the community where you work or live? Is it different than your personal use of music?

[Megan Calabro]

Hi, all. This is a rather than interesting question… I’ve always done a good deal of singing with my children, and some of the music in our home included Raffi, Disney, School House Rock (because Conjunction Junction is too much fun not to share lol), Wee Sing, and lots of lullabies. They were also introduced to Christian music, sacred choral music, and chant, as I was (and still am) very involved in our church. My children have also developed a liking for country, which was really sparked by my husband’s involvement with our local fire departments (yes, plural), and local first aid squad.

With regards to my community, that’s really a tough one… I would say that country is pretty popular, but that’s because the people in our community who I know are also involved with the firehouse. Several of the families in my children’s school are more into the “pop” scene, but I’ve tried to steer clear of things simply because of lyrical content. I don’t know if anyone else has had that experience at all…? Moving to yet another community circle of mine, I also have a group of people at church that I sing with on a regular basis, so I would say the community I’m part of also has a great appreciation for a Capella choral music. I guess, at the end of the day, I can say that there is a pretty wide variety of musical preferences, which is definitely pretty interesting to consider when doing music with families with young children.

[Anonymous]

As you all can see, music plays a very important role in your homes. Knowing what music is important to the families and clients you work with and the music in the community where you provide services will be important factor to consider in your work.

[Lauren Klimek]

I’m just strolling through the forums and see Kristin had asked about the community and I have to say the local towns in my community are pretty organized when it comes to offering cultural events, like outdoor concerts, caroling, and family shows. I personally used to sing at an opera night once a month and there was always a huge turn out. I haven’t really seen any world music events or anything like that but they do have some variety of different things for everyone to attend.

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