Harmonizing Two Chord Songs on the Guitar

I hope you're having a good week! Here is the second tutorial for learning guitar with kids songs.

If you missed last week's tutorial, find it here.

As always, feel free to ask any questions.




Also, happy Halloween! Here's a fun playlist of kids Halloween music (put together by someone else). I hear Pandora has Halloween Party Radio as well.

How are you celebrating?

I think music will be the extent of our celebration today. We already did a trunk-or-treat earlier this week, and I'm a major Scrooge when it comes to Halloween. I do enjoy dressing my kids up and taking pictures, and I have great memories of Halloween parties at my aunt's as a kid. Still, I could do without the late bedtimes, and the tantrums, and the huge amounts of candy, and the constant begging for more candy, and the attempts to negotiate for more candy.

It did kind of melt my heart when Gummy wanted to share his candy with me, though. The conversation went like this:
Me- "Gummy, did you know that mommies don't get any candy on Halloween? Isn't that sad?"
Gummy- "Oh I know, I will get you a new toy and you will be happy."
Me- "Oh that's very nice Gummy, thank you. Maybe you can just share one candy with me."
Gummy- "OK Mommy. I will share with you."

And then he gave me something chocolate! Chocolate! I never would have handed my chocolate over so willingly.

Now, if I could just get him to share with his brother...

Getting Started on the Guitar With 1 Chord Songs

Last week I posted this list of 15 reasons every mom should play the guitar. I don't know why I thought I wanted to post myself giving guitar tutorials because I have almost no kid-free time and I REALLY don't like watching myself on video. I guess I just want people to see how simple it can be to play and sing a huge number of songs if you already have a musical ear.

Here is the first tutorial in my method for practicing with kids around. It covers the basics of strumming and playing chords, and gives you a couple of kids songs to play with just one chord. You don't have to know the strings on the guitar. You don't have to read music. Here is what you do need:

1) A guitar that is in tune (see this detailed tutorial or download a tuning app)

2) The ability to carry a tune

3) The ability to tell when you are singing in tune with the chords.

If you don't have these abilities now, I plan to post on them in the future.


Let me know if you have any questions.

Children's Music Review: The Ultimate Laurie Berkner Band Collection

Kindie music pioneer, Laurie Berkner, released a new album this week, The Ultimate Laurie Berkner Band Collection. When I listened to it for the first time, I immediately recognized her music from the Pandora toddler channel and the movement activity soundtrack from a play group I attend. She has also been featured regularly on Nick Jr., and if you listen to much kids music, it's very likely you've heard her along the way. This new album includes songs from six of her previous albums plus one new song. I did receive free downloads to write this review, but I wouldn't post it here if I didn't think the music was worth your time.

Laurie's music tops the charts when it comes to creative imagery and movement. I'm amazed at the variety of child-centered ideas that come through her music and the way kids grasp and hold on to them. I would never think to write a song like "The Cookie Bakers of the Night" which tells the story of nocturnal bakers who end up with a gingerbread-man-style mutiny on their hands, but Laurie did, and she presents the story in a way that engages children's ears and invites them to move.

Movement is a major way Laurie invites her listeners to connect. "The Airplane Song" will always be a favorite at my house. My son loves pretending to be an airplane, landing, and then getting up to gallop, jump, spin, and dance like the words to the song suggest. "Walk Along the River", "My Energy", "These Are My Glasses", "Running Down The Hill", and "Shake Your Body Down" all give movement instructions in the music, while others invite more open creative movement. I'd like to see an album of all movement songs from Laurie Berkner.

If I have any complaint about this album, it's that, when it comes to really young kids, many of the tempos fall into the category of too slow for dancing, and too fast for sleeping. This isn't music for the toddler who can only bounce. Kids need to have the coordination of a three or four year old to move successfully in time to a lot of this music.

Though the tempos may not be in the toddler pocket, Laurie's vocals are a pleasant listening experience, and the harmonies are gorgeous. Listen to "Goodnight" and "Mahalo" for examples of this. 

As a whole, The Ultimate Laurie Berkner Band Collection has a refreshing and authentic commitment to imaginative music that occasionally manifests itself in a little over-the-top weirdness. But hey, this is kids music: it offers no apologies to parents, nor should it. 

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Check out Laurie Berkner's Youtube channel here. They currently have a subscription campaign going, so if you enjoy her music, consider subscribing to her channel.

To download tracks or purchase the CD, visit Laurie's album page and select a vendor from the box on the right.

One more fun thing I'd like to add is that Laurie provides the chords to her music on her site, so if you listen to the recordings and follow the guitar tutorials I'll start posting next week, you could play some of this music for your kids.

Giveaway Winners!

image by Kevin Dooley CC BY- 2.0

Someone won a major award! Fortunately, it's not a leg lamp. (I can't believe it's almost that time of year again.)

The giveaway winners are...

...drumroll...

...breakout into crazy drum solo...

...back to drum roll...

... comment #1 Jocelyn, and comment #9 (not including my replies) Kristen. Jocelyn and Kristen, please email your mailing address to me at motherhoodandmusic@gmail.com.

And, no pressure, but if you decided to take a short video of your little people moving to this music and posted it to Instagram with #motherhoodandmusic, I might just really love that.

Thanks to everyone who entered and showed their support!

If you didn't win, you can still listen to John Henry's music here and purchase downloads here.

15 Reasons Every Mom Should Play the Guitar

Image courtesy of Jomphong /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. You've found it tough to keep up with old hobbies.

2. You need a new hobby that requires little concentration and minimal time investment.

3. With three chords and a little singing, you can play hundreds of songs.

4. Even though you're really just playing the same three chords over and over, you feel like you're developing a real talent.

5. Remember those three chords? Now you can use them to write your own songs.

6. Your kids think you're playing for them, but really it's for you.

7. It can change your mood.

8. It can change your kids' moods. Pick up a guitar, play your toddler's favorite song, and just wait for him to start dancing and stop whining.

9. Guitars can be packed in a car, taken to the park, or hung out of reach on the wall.  Unlike the ukelele (another decent choice), it's too big to be adopted as a toddler's own instrument and can't be carried off without attracting attention.

10. Playing and singing kids songs is a great activity for play school and play dates.

11. Hearing you practice is a great example for your kids.

12. It brings the family together.

13. It keeps your brain going.

14. It gives you a creative outlet.

15. It's a great emotional release.  It makes you feel young, free, and even a little rebellious. Which, let's be honest, we all need.

Coming soon: Beginning Guitar Method for Moms by video tutorial. You've got two weeks to dig that guitar out of that closet at your parents' place.

Also, last day to enter the CD giveaway.

Music and Miscarriage

About a month ago I wrote a post on the value of music to children's cognitive development.

But there is so much more to music than what it can do for developing brains.

No matter who we are, life will bring us challenges that stretch or even break us. I share one of my own here. Music helped me through my grief. It helped me process my questions and gave me something to turn my mind to when it was consumed with anxious and negative thought. As a mother, I want to give my children as many tools as possible for enduring hard times, and music is one of the best I have found.

*A quick disclaimer so it won't distract you grammar Nazi types from the real message of the song: It uses the word "clinged". I now know this is not an actual word and the word is "clung". I didn't want to rerecord it because this is the video that I recorded soon after the actual event about 1.5 years ago. Also, I have a real prejudice against the "uh" vowel, so I'm holding out hope that "clinged" is added to the dictionary in the near future. :) The updated lyrics are at the end of the post.

The baby had a heart beat. 

It was slow. 

My own heart rose and sank. 

"Your dates must be off," the doctor said, but I knew there was no way. "Well, if you're right, and if I'm using the machine correctly, there's a good chance you'll miscarry. We should know in a few days." I looked at the doctor. He didn't seem very doctorly. A stressed button on his shirt had come undone, and I could see his hairy belly. Maybe he really didn't know how to use the machine.

I had dreamed of this baby. She was a little girl. We named her Elenora. I'd wanted her since my oldest was six months old. My actual dreams were strange, though. Everywhere we went we forgot her. She couldn't cry out to us. My pregnancy terminated. I would never admit to believing my dreams were premonitions, but what if my body really was telling me something. 

I went home and furiously searched the internet. If the chart I found was correct, there was a 79% chance of miscarriage. I asked my husband to pray with me. We asked that whatever was to happen would happen quickly. I felt that God was aware of my situation.  I also felt like this pregnancy was not going to last.

The next day it all began. I was bleeding. I went in to see the doctor. They sent me to an imaging specialist. There was still a heart beat. It matched the measurements. The specialist congratulated me with enthusiasm, but I knew he was wrong.

It was Easter weekend and my bleeding picked up. I missed conducting the choir for Easter services. I also missed my son's first Easter egg hunt. The process was drawn out. It took about a week. I stayed home, grateful to the friends who watched my toddler while my body worked and I grieved. I thought how unfair it is that miscarriage leaves you with only the worst memories of pregnancy and nothing to show for it. I felt the loneliness of womanhood as I realized that no major faith provided real answers as to the state of this child's soul. I didn't even know if it had a soul.

Knowing the frequency with which women experience pregnancy loss didn't take away the grief, but it did give me confidence that I would recover. Because so many women have experienced this, and those who haven't, fear it, I was blessed with friends who understood and who brought meals, watched my son, and listened. From this experience I began to understand real friendship and sisterhood. It is in the spirit of that sisterhood that I share this song.

I didn't have a yard for burial or anything tangible to memorialize the tiny being that lived in me for eight weeks, but when I wrote this song, that is when I felt healing. This is how I will always remember this child and the dear friends whose kindness lifted me up.

Lyrics

I never held you in my arms at all

You tiny fingers didn’t cling to mine

I never kissed your precious cheeks

Months of hoping ended with just eight weeks

I never soothed your newborn cries

I never watched you wonder at the world

I never saw that first sweet smile

We never slept next to each other

You never met your older brother

And sometimes I question, why?

And will we ever meet again?

Will it be in this life or in the next?

Did I give you all you needed

Or was it just not time?

And who will I be to you then?

Will you call me mother or just a friend?
Do you belong to me forever

Or were you never really mine?

I never stayed up nights to care for you

I never worried when you were sick

I never gave what mothers give

For my child who didn’t live to live

You’ll never know how you were loved

So if we ever meet again

Will it be in this life or in the next?

Did I give you all you needed

Or was it just not time?

And who will I be to you then?

Will you call me mother or just a friend?

Do you belong to me forever

Or were you never really mine?

And if we ever meet again

Will it be in this life or in the next?

Do you belong to me forever
Or were you never really mine?

Fall Festival Fun

Autumn is here!

Fall is my favorite season in Virginia by far. I love the cooler temperatures and fall colors... and apples and pumpkins and sweaters. I love fairs and harvest themes and not worrying so much about sunscreen on my fair-skinned boy. One thing I've been looking forward to this fall is going back to the Cox Farms Fall Festival. We had so much fun there last year. Seriously. It was one of my top three favorite days spent with my family.

Top three. It's that good.

Maybe it just hits a sweet spot for almost two-year-old boys, but Gummy was happy the entire time, and we LOVED watching him see all the animals he'd been reading about.

Before I show you around, I just want to remind you about this music giveaway. It's open for one more week. If you spend any time with preschoolers or early elementary schoolers, it's some fun music to have on hand.

Now back to the farm.

 The festival includes live music, food, free apples and apple cider, a pumpkin to take home, animals, tractor rides, super slides all over the place, bubble machines, play areas for littles, and this:

It's like a sandbox, but with corn kernels.

 Tickets range from $14-$17 per person depending on the weekend, and go as low as $9 on weekdays. The farm is located near Centreville, VA.

 How d'ya drive this thing?

 It was like Gummy made it his goal to touch as many animals as possible.

We milked this. It was an experience we needed.

Then we went to a musical, yes a MUSICAL, about milking cows.

And one of the best parts. Hay fights.

 Sheer joy.

It's a slide!

 Weeeeeeeee!