Parakeet Watch Out! by Robert The Guitar Guy

Rare is the child who doesn't

respond to it. Maybe the appeal derives from hearing

Mother's steady heartbeat in the womb. The heart is not

the only bodily function that has a beat. The breath has

one. Walking has one. Even talking. Research indicates

that synchronizing movement to a beat improves attention,

concentration, motor skills, planning and executing

actions, as well as controlling aggression, and improving

academic performance.

Also, by encouraging children to move to a beat,

you give them a vehicle for expression. Moving to a beat

is cathartic. In fact, some children are so pent up with

emotion, energy, conflict, that once they begin to express

it through rhythmic movement, they can easily go out of

control. It was clear to me that there was emotional

benefit in moving to a beat - these emotions and energies

need to be expressed, but there had to be some self-

regulation mechanism to the movement songs.

So, I set out to make up movement songs that

contained a built-in calming element. One of the first

ones I wrote was GO TO SLEEP (MOVING TO THE BEAT ALBUM).

GO TO SLEEP is basically a jumping song. I start the

children lying on the carpet. "Go to sleep. Put on your

pajamas. Get under the covers. Good night." Then comes

the jumping. Driving beat. "I'm gonna jump with my toes,

jump with my feet, jump with my nose, jump with my knees,

jump with my bones, jump with my feet, jump with my heart,

beat, beat, beat." After each eight bars of jumping, back

to the carpet and "Go to sleep, etc." I found it was

useful to introduce the resting place (in this case lying

on the carpet) first so that returning to it felt natural

to the children.

I soon realized that the appeal of this song was

not only a result of rhythmic movement and the built-in

time-out. There were other elements that I'd intuitively

included: daily-life connection, humor, exaggerated

contrast, and power struggle.

In writing music & movement songs for pre-school

and kindergarten children, I felt drawn to exploring chase

games. Various songs based on this principle began to

emerge. The songs resonated with the children and also

satisfied my own creative impulses.

Here are three examples:

ANTS & SPIDER (PARAKEET WATCH OUT! ALBUM) first requires

the children (ants) to hide from the spider. As with GO TO

SLEEP, I immediately introduce the resting place to ease a

return to it later. Then, with a rockabilly beat, I play

and sing THE ANTS GO MARCHING.

Once the children have marched from the hiding

place to me, I introduce myself as the spider and sing the

chorus: "I am the spider, empty inside 'er. Now you are

caught in my web! Hide if you can! Hide if you can! But

I'm going to get you instead!"

I modify the mood and intensity with which I

deliver this to match the age and temperament of a given

group of children. I make it clear that we are playing.

Regardless, the peril is palpable enough to engender

delighted screams from the children making their way to the

hiding area. Once they are hiding, the marching music

begins again, and the ants go marching again toward me.

In PARAKEET WATCH OUT! (PARAKEET WATCH OUT! ALBUM)

the children are coyotes chanting "Parakeet, watch out!" to

a funk beat as they step closer and closer to me, the

parakeet. Once they are close enough, I ask them questions.

Me: Are you coyotes?

Them: Yes.

Me: Are you hungry?

Them: Yes.

Me: Do you like to eat parakeets like me?

Them: Yes!

I sing: Get back! Get back! Get back! Get back!

Once they are far enough back, the process begins

again with chants of "Parakeet, watch out!" I ask the

children whether they would accept edible substitutes.

Peanut butter and jelly, French fries, etc. The answer is

usually "No!" which engenders "Get back, etc." This game

is slightly more challenging than ANTS AND SPIDER because

the children sing.

ANTS AND SPIDER uses the following elements:

rhythmic movement; confrontation; flight; exaggerated

contrast; trickiness; built-in time-out. PARAKEET WATCH

OUT! adds the element of singing or chanting. I AM A DOG

(PARAKEET WATCH OUT! ALBUM) builds on this by adding the

element of improvisation.

In I AM A DOG, I stand at one end of a room, the

children at the other end. I start playing funk-based

rhythms singing "I am a dog, I wag my tail." I wag my tail

and invite the children to do the same.

They approach me, singing and wagging. When they

reach me, I sing/play, "Let me put a leash on you! Let me

put a leash on you!" The children retreat to their end of

the room, and then sing "No, No, No! No, No, No!

There is rhythm and pitch to their singing part and

the children learn it spontaneously. The improvisation

comes in as I ask the children, "What else do dogs do?"

And so we go on to "scratch my flees, chew my bone, woof-

woof-woof" or anything the children invent.

My albums, MOVING TO THE BEAT and PARAKEET WATCH OUT!, are my way of reaching out to children who don't go to the dozen pre-schools at which I regularly perform and can't come see my shows in the New York metropolitan area. I've invited talented musicians to help bring the fun to you!

In my shows, I alternate between sitting and standing, high energy and tranquility, music and comedy, singing and moving, well-tested original material and old favorites. I've introduced the same mixture into these albums.

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