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Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has historically held both entertainment and educational functions. Children's music is often designed to provide an entertaining means of teaching children about their
culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
, other cultures, good behavior, facts and skills. Many are
folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
s, but there is a whole genre of educational music that has become increasingly popular.


History


Early published music

Class singing became compulsory in England with the passing of the Education Act (1870). By the early 1900s, demand for choral works for educational use had resulted in more than 50 school operettas in the catalogue of Novello, England's leading publisher of educational music. These were mostly modelled on the tuneful, humorous and morally safe operettas of
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
.
Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 â€“ 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
's ''Indra'' (1903) is an example, and other composers of reputation - such as Frederic Cowen, Arthur Somervell,
Walford Davies Sir Henry Walford Davies (6 September 1869 – 11 March 1941) was an English composer, organist, and educator who held the title Master of the King's Music from 1934 until 1941. He served with the Royal Air Force during the First World War, du ...
and Percy Fletcher - also contributed to the genre. The growth of the popular music publishing industry, associated with New York's
Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to the creation of a number of songs aimed at children. These included 'Ten little fingers and ten little toes' by Ira Shuster and Edward G. Nelson and ' School Days' (1907) by Gus Edwards and Will Cobb. Perhaps the best remembered now is " Teddy Bears' Picnic", with lyrics by
Jimmy Kennedy James Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) was a British songwriter. He was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr (composer), ...
in 1932 and the tune by British composer John William Bratton was from 1907.


Early recordings for children

Recordings for children were intertwined with recorded music for as long as it has existed as a medium. The first words ever recorded (in 1860 by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville) was the first verse of the French folk/children's song "
Au Clair de la Lune "" (, ) is a French Folk music, folk song of the 18th century. Its composer and lyricist are unknown. Its simple melody () is commonly taught to beginners learning an instrument. Lyrics The song appears as early as 1820 i''Les Voitures Verse� ...
". In 1888, the first recorded discs (called "plates") offered for sale included
Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...
nursery rhymes. The earliest record catalogues of several seminal figures in the recording industry such as Edison, Berliner, and Victor all contained separate children's sections. Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s record companies continued to produce albums for children. Such companies as
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
,
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
,
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
, and
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
(among others) published albums based on popular cartoons or nursery rhymes. Recordings based on
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
films and cartoons were released at that time by RCA Victor and Capitol Records, and beginning in the late 1950s by Disneyland Records and Buena Vista Records. Often the albums were read-alongs that contained booklets that children could follow along with. Many of the biggest names in theater, radio, and motion pictures were featured on these albums, such as:
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 â€“ October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
, Harold Peary ("The Great Gildersleeve"),
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 â€“ October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
,
Jeanette MacDonald Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American soprano and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', ''Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow (1934 film) ...
,
Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...
,
Fanny Brice Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedian, Illustrated Songs, illustrated song model, singer, and actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. Sh ...
, William Boyd ("Hopalong Cassidy"),
Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...
,
Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; ; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred ...
, and
Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, page 95. As ...
. The role of Disney in children's cinema from the 1930s meant that it gained a unique place in the production of children's music. The first popular Disney song was 'Minnie's Yoo Hoo' (1930) the theme song from a
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
cartoon.D. A. Jasen, ''Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song'' (Taylor & Francis, 2003), p. 111-13. After the production of their first feature-length animation ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'' in 1937, with its highly successful score by
Frank Churchill Frank Edwin Churchill (October 20, 1901 – May 14, 1942) was an American film composer and songwriter. He wrote most of the music for films produced by Walt Disney, such as ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', '' Dumbo'', ''Bambi'', '' The Ad ...
and Larry Morey, which included the songs " Whistle While You Work", " Some Day My Prince Will Come" and " Heigh-Ho", the mould for a combination of animation, fairy tale and distinctive songs was set that would carry through to the 1970s with songs from films such as ''
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
'' (1940) and ''
Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical comedy-drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson, produced by Walt Disney, and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pi ...
'' (1946).


Growth during the 20th century

The mid-20th-century arrival of the baby boomers provided a growing market for children's music as a separate genre.
Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 â€“ October 3, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, and composer widely considered to be one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, A ...
,
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 â€“ January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
and Ella Jenkins were among a cadre of politically progressive and socially conscious performers who aimed albums to this group. During this time, such novelty recordings as "
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on C ...
" (a
Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...
jingle that became a book and later a Christmas special in 1964) and the fictional music group,
The Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...
, were among the most commercially successful music ventures of the time ("The Chipmunk Song" was a No. 1 hit single in 1958). TV personality Bob Keeshan (''
Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...
'') recorded several children's albums, as did
Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody awards, Peabody-winning American Ventriloquism, ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, a ...
. In the 1960s, as the baby boomers matured and became more politically aware, they embraced both the substance and politics of folk ("the people's") music. Peter, Paul, and Mary, The Limeliters, and
Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
were acclaimed folk artists who wrote albums for children. In 1969, the
Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—includin ...
in the U.S. launched ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
''. The quality of ''Sesame Street''s children's music, much of it created by noted composers Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss, has dominated the children's music landscape to this day - the show has won 11
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
. At the same time jazz and pop styles began finding their way into school operas and musicals. Herbert Chappell's children's cantata ''The Daniel Jazz'' (1963) was an early example. Spurred on by its success, Novello commissioned a series of "pop cantatas" along the same lines by Michael Hurd (''Jonah-Man Jazz,'' 1966),
Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...
('' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', 1968) and Joseph Horovitz ('' Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo'', 1970). Chappell himself followed up with a series of his own, including ''The Christmas Jazz'', ''The Goliath Jazz'', ''The Noah Jazz'' and ''The Jericho Jazz''. Children's music gained an even wider audience in the 1970s when musical features such as ''
Schoolhouse Rock! ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, music videos) which aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network AB ...
'' and The Letter People were featured on network and public television, respectively. These represented an effort to make music that taught specific lessons about different subjects (math, history, and English) to youngsters through the high-quality, award-winning music. The classic PBS children's show '' Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' had music heavily featured as well. In the late 1970s, Canadian artist
Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...
, coincided with the rise of children's music as a distinct
music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
genre. Musical duo Greg & Steve have focused on the positive reaction children have to music. And former Limeliter Red Grammer has performed his children's music in every state as well as 22 other countries. Disney also re-entered the market for animated musical features, beginning with ''
The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...
'' (1989) from which the song " Under the Sea" won an
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
for best song. This was followed by successful features including ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'' (1991, with Peabo Bryson) ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
'' (1992, with Regina Belle), and ''
The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...
'' (1994), the last of which had music by British singer
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
and
Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus C ...
, and ''
Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...
'' (1995, with Judy Kuhn), all of which were awarded best song at the Oscars.


Recent history

In the United States, children's music continues to be a force in the commercial
music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
. At one point in early 2006, the top three albums on the Billboard charts were all children's music:
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
's ''
High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...
'' soundtrack, the '' Kidz Bop'' series, and the ''
Curious George Curious George is a fictional monkey who is the title character of a series of popular children's picture books written and illustrated by Margret and H. A. Rey. Various media, including films and TV shows, have been based upon the original ...
'' film soundtrack. Most albums targeted nationally to children are soundtracks for motion pictures or symbiotic marketing projects involving mass-marketed acts such as
The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...
or
VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, Christian Computer animated, CGI-animated series and multimedia franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series stars Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumb ...
(Christian). The 21st century has also seen an increase in the number of independent children's music artists, with acts like The Dirty Sock Funtime Band, Dan Zanes, Parachute Express, Cathy Bollinger, Laurie Berkner and Lah-Lah getting wide exposure on cable TV channels targeted to children. Trout Fishing in America has achieved much acclaim continuing the tradition of merging sophisticated folk music with family-friendly lyrics. Father Goose Music known as The King Of The Dance Party gives a mixture of Ska, Reggae, calypso and Hip-Hop while Secret Agent 23 Skidoo infuses hip-hop with family-friendly messages and imaginative stories and is known as "The King of Kid-Hop". Also recently, traditionally rock-oriented acts like
They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...
have released albums marketed directly to children, such as '' No!'' and '' Here Come the ABCs''.
Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...
simply remade his " Cheeseburger in Paradise" song into children's music with cleaned up lyrics ("Root Beer" instead of "Draft Beer"). His songs were already kid friendly with catchy lyrics and simple melodies punctuated with penny whistles and ship bell sound effects. Conversely, Koo Koo Kanga Roo, a children-oriented comedy
synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...
duo, made a successful crossover from performing children's events into touring with adult rock and punk bands such as Reel Big Fish and
Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primaril ...
. In Canada, artists such as The Kerplunks and The Oot n' Oots have paved modern pathways to the genre following in the footsteps of Raffi, Fred Penner and Sharon, Lois & Bram. Sanitized versions of earthy songs like Harry McClintock's " The Big Rock Candy Mountains" have regularly been adapted for younger audiences. The 2008 version by Gil McLachlan re-tells the story as a child's dream, the last stanza being: In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you're going on a holiday Your birthday comes around once a week and it's Christmas every day You never have to clean your room or put your toys away There's a little white horse you can ride of course You can jump so high you can touch the sky In the Big Rock Candy Mountains. Many children's stores and sometimes music outlets sell covers of pop songs, performed by adults for children, especially Christmas songs. These were especially popular during the early 2000s. The use of children's music, to educate, as well as entertain, continued to grow, as evidenced in February 2009, when Bobby Susser's young children's series surpassed five million CD sales. In September 2016, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label acquired the Bobby Susser series, to further the exposure of children's music that teaches as well as entertains, throughout the world. As more children are using smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs, kids' songs have entered the on-demand streaming content era. On YouTube, some children's songs have surpassed 1 billion views, easily becoming some of the most viewed YouTube videos of all time.


See also

*
Children's songs A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...
*
Bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...


References


Further reading

* Jarnow, Jill. ''All Ears: how to Choose and Use Recorded Music for Children''. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. * Smith, Barbara, and Charles Smith. ''The Non-Musician's Guide to Children's Music'', in series, ''I.C.L. Concept Book '. Glendale, Calif.: International Center for Learning, 1977. {{Folk music