Contemporary non-kids music to sing with kids
June 12, 2015 11:32 AM Subscribe
I'm a guitar- and banjo-playing first grade teacher looking for new songs to sing with my wee ones. I have a large bank of classics, but I'm interested in new to new-ish music (last 10 years, say?) that I can sing with a group of 6/7 year olds. Caveat: what I'm looking for is music for adults, or at least not specifically geared towards little kids (ie, I know about Caspar Babypants and love him but not what I'm after).
A few examples: Green Lights by Aloe Blacc; Home by Edward Sharpe (note: this one I had to edit. Please feel free to suggest songs that may have inappropriate content that can be changed!); Best Day of my Life by American Authors.
Any genre, any style, I'm not picky. Picture a group of rambunctious first graders belting out lyrics. Thanks folks!
A few examples: Green Lights by Aloe Blacc; Home by Edward Sharpe (note: this one I had to edit. Please feel free to suggest songs that may have inappropriate content that can be changed!); Best Day of my Life by American Authors.
Any genre, any style, I'm not picky. Picture a group of rambunctious first graders belting out lyrics. Thanks folks!
Best answer: Or pretty much anything by Chicago lofi pop band The Lemons. They have a gimmick at shows where after one verse of "Ice Cream Shop" the audience will yell "Double Scoop!" and they'll sing it again, "Triple Scoop!" etc etc. Kids would love it.
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:44 AM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:44 AM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Mowgli's. My kids can't stop singing their songs, and they are great for adults, too. Super high energy and fun.
posted by Ecgtheow at 11:44 AM on June 12, 2015
posted by Ecgtheow at 11:44 AM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: Michael Franti! Never Too Late is from 2003 but man what a great song to sing with kids! Everyone Deserves Music is an awesome song and album :-)
Plus I'm a huge fan of Wear Clean Draws by the Coup. It's a great great feminist song for little girls :-)
posted by janey47 at 11:47 AM on June 12, 2015
Plus I'm a huge fan of Wear Clean Draws by the Coup. It's a great great feminist song for little girls :-)
posted by janey47 at 11:47 AM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: Do the Eggroll by lofi twee pop girl band Peach Kelli Pop. Lots of fun dance instructions - "Do the hula hoop! Do the hopscotch!"
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:49 AM on June 12, 2015
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:49 AM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: Happy by Pharell Williams - high energy, lots of clap-along sections, clean, upbeat. Great for kids!
posted by current resident at 11:51 AM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by current resident at 11:51 AM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Our local indie radio station has a daily segment called Cool Kids where they play contemoporary(ish) music that kids of listeners' love. You may find their archive useful.
posted by librarianamy at 11:59 AM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by librarianamy at 11:59 AM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: 1 2 3 4 by Feist I think could be great.
The Sesame Street version might be the adaptation you want. But also you could easily write your own lyrics. The OG lyrics are nice, too, but feature adult themes (losing love).
posted by wemayfreeze at 12:08 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Sesame Street version might be the adaptation you want. But also you could easily write your own lyrics. The OG lyrics are nice, too, but feature adult themes (losing love).
posted by wemayfreeze at 12:08 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I love Jonathan Coulton for this - Skullcrusher Mountain, Code Monkey, That Spells DNA and Chiron Beta Prime are favorites
posted by Mchelly at 12:40 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by Mchelly at 12:40 PM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: Well, you would have to do some create editing, but a group of 6/7 year old singing a slightly customized version of Kanye's Hey Mama would be absolutely unforgettable.
posted by she's not there at 1:20 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by she's not there at 1:20 PM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: I hate to make a ludicrous suggestion, but you could totes mine the track lists of recent Kidz Bop CDs to see what top 40 tracks record execs think might be fun for kids to sing. (I will use this as an excuse to link to the excellent video for Since U Been Gone.)
posted by Going To Maine at 4:05 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by Going To Maine at 4:05 PM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell have some good folksy songs kids love.
posted by tamitang at 4:41 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by tamitang at 4:41 PM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: Dan Mangan has a beautiful song called Robots (chorus: "Robots need love too / they want to be loved by you") that is kinda built for call-and-response. And could be a useful teaching moment! Even robots need love.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:31 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:31 PM on June 12, 2015
Best answer: Jason Mraz - I'm Yours (kinda wordy, and you may not want a bunch of songs about romantic love)
Donavon Frankenreiter - It Don't Matter (really fun little chorus that they can sing)
Also, some unsolicited advice from an elementary school music teacher - be aware of the range that the kids will be singing in. Generally, first grade kids have a usable range of about B below the staff to D in the staff. When I'm playing pop tunes with kids (which is totally great, by the way, and I'm so glad you're doing this), I find that F and G usually are good keys to put them in. If it's a male pop singer with a high voice, kids will often want to match him at his pitch (put on "Happy" and see where the kids sing the line "because I'm happy" - it's super low for them and they won't automatically bump it up the octave).
Also, I don't know your gender or your singing range but as a male teacher with a tenor/baritone voice I am often putting songs in keys that feel a little high for me (and then the kids are an octave above), but it ultimately works out best for them.
Have fun!
posted by rossination at 11:03 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Donavon Frankenreiter - It Don't Matter (really fun little chorus that they can sing)
Also, some unsolicited advice from an elementary school music teacher - be aware of the range that the kids will be singing in. Generally, first grade kids have a usable range of about B below the staff to D in the staff. When I'm playing pop tunes with kids (which is totally great, by the way, and I'm so glad you're doing this), I find that F and G usually are good keys to put them in. If it's a male pop singer with a high voice, kids will often want to match him at his pitch (put on "Happy" and see where the kids sing the line "because I'm happy" - it's super low for them and they won't automatically bump it up the octave).
Also, I don't know your gender or your singing range but as a male teacher with a tenor/baritone voice I am often putting songs in keys that feel a little high for me (and then the kids are an octave above), but it ultimately works out best for them.
Have fun!
posted by rossination at 11:03 AM on June 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: First of all, honestly, based on my impression of you through your songs posted through the years, I wish that my kids could be in your classroom!
This isn't exactly what you're asking, but I've found that even the most strident and unpredictable music can work with kids if you make up a story to go along with it. Like this deerhoof tune. When my son hears it now, he immediately recounts that "The spies are being chased through the jungle" and when the brass fanfare comes in he says "Now they arrived at the castle..."
posted by umbú at 9:58 PM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
This isn't exactly what you're asking, but I've found that even the most strident and unpredictable music can work with kids if you make up a story to go along with it. Like this deerhoof tune. When my son hears it now, he immediately recounts that "The spies are being chased through the jungle" and when the brass fanfare comes in he says "Now they arrived at the castle..."
posted by umbú at 9:58 PM on June 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
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It's a garage punk band out of Portland who usually sings about partying and thirty racks and yayo, but this one song is about your mom forgetting to pack your lunch. It's totally clean and includes the line "can I poke another hole in your Capri Sun?"
posted by Juliet Banana at 11:41 AM on June 12, 2015