Semester Playlists
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Each Semester has a 30-40 songs playlist that blends the best (and least cheesy) versions of classic kids’ songs, including Ramblin Dan's recordings, plus some contemporary tracks to keep it fun for all.
Whether you're currently enrolled in classes or not, use this semester playlist as a diverse and thought-out soundtrack to help your child develop musically and have a great time doing it!
Fall Playlist (September - December)
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FYI - The Youtube Playlist is comprised of videos of Ramblin' Dan performing the songs in a similar way as to how we do them in class. Parents and family members who can't attend class can use it to have their own private Ramblin' Dan class at home with their little ones.​
Why using these playlist matters A LOT!​
Using our playlist to “practice” at home will prepare your children to express themselves in class and build social confidence.
Simply being familiar with the music will also help your child relax and feel comfortable and safe in a very basic but crucial way. When our nervous system is stable, and we feel secure, it exponentially improves our brain's ability to soak up new info, participate, and be social. We go from "Survive" to "thrive!"
Every human is born musical.
Helping your child unlock their musicality isn’t rocket science—it’s about repetition. Simply play the same songs over and over again. While some songs are easier for developing brains to process, the key is consistency with a small set of tunes.
If you play five songs every day or two for a month at a time, your child will become musical—and they’ll never lose it (promise). When your child wants to hear the same song 10 times in a row, do it! They are asking you to help them learn!
Think of music like grooves cut into wood: the more often a child hears a song, the deeper the groove is cut into their brain and body. Over time, the groove becomes so deep it is actually harder to be out of tune or rhythm than to stay in it! Each new song creates a new groove, and every groove makes the next one easier.
After learning just 5 songs, a child’s ability to pick up new music skyrockets.
And don’t worry if they’re not singing along yet. Their brain is still processing the music no matter what. When they do sing, it will come out in tune—babies never sing out of tune! They usually won’t sing melodies until around 15 months, but they can match pitch and hold tones much earlier.
Language plays a role, too. For babies, take the words out often and sing the same melodies with “ah’s, ba’s, da’s, la’s.” If your baby babbles a tune, echo it back—they’ll light up seeing you celebrate their music-making.
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How else can playing music at home help?
Not every child will choose to participate much in class. Children can be nervous in public settings, and there is SO much for a child to process in classes, so sometimes they are just too busy taking everything in to also put something out.
In these instances, they often will express what they have learned at home rather than in class. This is because home is their ultimate comfort zone. Playing these playlists at home gives them a safe space to practice and perform all the behaviors they are observing in their class from our teachers, other kids and adults.
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How we Construct our Playlists
Our goal is to mix songs your child already knows well and songs that will expose them to new styles of music. In addition, most of the songs are chosen because we feel they are particularly developmentally appropriate for children. For instance, "We Will Rock You" has a "can't miss" repetitive rhythm that can single handedly give your child an understanding of rhythm. It's also very simple with only drums and vocals, so it's easy for children to digest.
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A song like "Don't Worry Be Happy" has a chorus that only uses the sound "ooooooo." By taking out language in that moment, you're child can simply focus on the melody and rhythm, so it's easy for preverbal kids to try to sing along.
A song like "Barbana Ann" is incredibly easy for your child to sing along to because of the repetitive "Ba, Ba, Ba" in the song. Every song in our curriculum has a purpose.
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We look forward to sharing these songs with you in class!
Thanks!
Dan