Rachel knows a lot about classical music already (big suprise, huh?). She recognizes the faces and says the names of the following classical composers: Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Debussy, McDowell, and Rachmaninoff. She recognizes Baroque music, and knows that Bach and Handel are both from this period. She can recognize music specifically by Bach and Mozart sometimes even if she's never heard it before.
She is very particular about music. The other day, I sang a song she knows, except I sang the harmony instead of the melody, and she got very upset. At first I had no idea what the problem was. Then I sang the melody instead, and she blurted out "that's bettoh (better)!". She still has not sung yet, but I suppose that will come soon. Do kids start singing around 3 y/o usually? I know I started singing when I was probably 2 1/2, but I suppose everyone's different. Rachel also gets up on the piano with me and presses single notes at a time, saying "what's dat?" whereupon I say "that's A (or B, or E-flat, etc.)" and she repeats what I say with delight. This goes on for a while sometimes...
Rachel has her favorite music. Her all-time favorite is what she calls "acappella" - a CD of the Haven of Rest A Cappella hymns from 1991. I'm actually rather pleased she likes it. It's one of my favorites, too. I even bought the sheet music and I frequently sing along with the bass part. She also loves to listen to Chris Tomlin, See the Morning, which is really good stuff, too. She also used to specifically ask to listen to Bach piano music, and she generally enjoys all of Bach's works that I play. She has such good taste!
It has become a ritual of hers, when I sit down to play the piano, to request songs, specifically from Walt Disney's Jungle Book movie. "Want the bear song!" (I then proceed to play "The Bear Necessities"). "Wanna sing the gorilla song!" (I switch to playing "I Want To Be Like You-Hoo" - the song "King Louie" of the apes sings to Mowglie). "Wanna sing the elephant song!" (I play the March of the Elephants). "Wanna sing the girl song!" (I play the last song of the movie, sung by the girl Mowglie meets in the Man-village). She dances and claps pretty wildly with a huge grin on her face whenever I play any of these songs. What a cutie!
What else does Rachel know? Her shapes, colors, letters (she says the words to the ABC song), numbers (she counts up to 30), about 10% of the U.S. states (she has a states puzzle), a few books of the Bible, days of the week, months of the year, and probably a lot of other things I'm forgetting. She also plays hard. We go on walks around the neighborhood several times a week after dinner. There is a path away from the streets that she likes to run on. And I mean run. She runs the WHOLE WAY with a few breaks to pick up some rocks, etc. I think it's probably close to a mile if you count going both ways. Maybe she'll be a long-distance runner when she grows up?
Here are some pictures for your enjoyment of my multi-talented Rachel:
5 comments:
Rachel can recognize composers' styles at two years?? Man, definitely daddy's girl. Does she have perfect pitch? One of my friends here tells me it's learnable before age four or five.
I'd also like to point out that long before she could say the alphabet (in alphabetical order), she could recognize all 26 capital letters--in no particular order. She learned this from magnetic letters that she put on the fridge. Now she'll point out letters that she sees in books or on package labels.
I think she's just a tactile learner. She knows the composers because of her statuettes, her letters from the magnets, and she's learning her states from the puzzle map. :) But of course I still think she's a smart cookie.
We have some Haven Quartet CDs that we enjoy, but I haven't heard that one. Will have to try it.
Speaking of kids and music, what are the best pieces by Bach to start with kids? We're going to include some music in Samuel's kindergarten curriculum, and I think this calls for buying a few CDs, as my Bach recordings are mostly orchestral and organ. I know you'll say Gould, which is great, but any specific recommendations would be appreciated. You can email me if your response gets too long.
hmm... not sure about perfect pitch (daddy doesn't have it). How does one teach this? I bet I could find it by googling...
As far as recommendations:
The Bach Solo Cello Suites are great. Rachel listened to these almost exclusively during her first week of life. I recommend the original Yo-Yo Ma Recording.
Here's a little foretaste of this wonderfully rich, soothing music.
I think the Bach French Suites are a nice mix of very enjoyable Bach keyboard music - this is the CD Rachel asked for repeatedly when she was in her Bach-piano-only phase a few months ago. Here's the Gould recording, the only one I know.
I'd also recommend this CD of Scarlatti Sonatas. These are light, delightfully beautiful pieces, still Baroque, but very distinctive and different from Bach.
I agree, Rachel is an exceptional 2 year old - must take after her Mom and Dad! :) I love the pictures - too cute. I sure enjoyed my week playing with Rachel.
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