My Kids and Music

One of the more pressing issues when looking to the years ahead with my daughters is: A. will they be big music fans, and B. if so, what will they be into? The massive implications of these matters are so obvious that I hardly need to spell them out for you here.

So far, I think my eight month old has more of a natural affinity for music than my 4 year old. She seems to get excited when I put on a variety of tunes in the house. Hard to tell, though, since she's still so young.

I've got a better idea with my 4 year old. She of course loves the music of the classic Disney films that she watches. She especially enjoys the 'Lady and the Tramp' soundtrack, which makes sense. That was a favorite film of hers for a long time. But I am more interested in her response to real music. Mozart worked well when she was younger to get her to sleep.

Honestly, she has been fairly indifferent to most of my music. It is on a lot in the house, and I don't see much response to it. There have been two recent exceptions, though. The other day I was listening to some Peter Murphy (singer for goth originators, Bauhaus. Although, we were listening to his more pop oriented solo work). She said "Daddy, this is scary music. Turn it off." I guess that makes sense, Murphy being the man who wrote "Bela Lugosi's Dead." On the other end of the spectrum, she absolutely lights up and starts dancing around the kitchen whenever I put on some Roxy Music (see post below). It is like a light switch. Her favorite non-Disney song seems to be Roxy's "Both Ends Burning." I put that song on and she gets up on a chair in the kitchen and dances like crazy. She will then jump down and run around the room. It seems to have the same effect of her eating two pounds of sugar. So far, that has been the only song to get that reaction. But almost any Roxy Music (even some of the artrock earlier period) will at least get her head bobbing.