The other day my teenage son was offering his ukelele to play-- well, actually he was insisting that I play it, even though I am much more familiar with playing guitar. "but I won't know what chords to play," I said, and he told me "It's easy!" So I did try out playing on his very beautiful concert size ukelele. As soon as I was holding it, I had a flash-back to many years ago, when I used to play a soprano ukelele, at 10 years old. I think the phrase "My dog has fleas" (sung when tuning a ukelele's four strings) is ingrained in my memory, as that is what I immediately thought of when I started strumming. It's a fun and easy way to remember what the strings are supposed to sound like, for tuning.
And when I remembered that tuning phrase, it also brought to mind a fairly new link in my memory-- and that is Caspar BabyPants' song by the name of "My Flea Has Dogs." This was the first song I heard of his, and it was so delightful that I had to stick around on his YouTube videos page and watch several more.
You would think that a performer who uses the name "Caspar BabyPants" would be singing songs that are . . . well . . . babyish. And yes, these songs are for children-- but really, I think many of his songs fit in well with the "children of all ages" audience group. But what do I know? I'd probably stay in the juvenile section of the library forever, if I didn't have to look for computer how-to kinds of titles once in a while.
Anyway, if you would like to see a very entertaining song-with-animation video, just gather all your kids together and tell them to watch this (that way you can tell them it's kids music for them, even though you're really the one who wants to hear it . . .).
And when I remembered that tuning phrase, it also brought to mind a fairly new link in my memory-- and that is Caspar BabyPants' song by the name of "My Flea Has Dogs." This was the first song I heard of his, and it was so delightful that I had to stick around on his YouTube videos page and watch several more.
You would think that a performer who uses the name "Caspar BabyPants" would be singing songs that are . . . well . . . babyish. And yes, these songs are for children-- but really, I think many of his songs fit in well with the "children of all ages" audience group. But what do I know? I'd probably stay in the juvenile section of the library forever, if I didn't have to look for computer how-to kinds of titles once in a while.
Anyway, if you would like to see a very entertaining song-with-animation video, just gather all your kids together and tell them to watch this (that way you can tell them it's kids music for them, even though you're really the one who wants to hear it . . .).
And here is another favorite of mine, from Caspar's collection, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." What I like about this song, besides the very clever use of fingerless gloved hands in acting out the story, is that there are so many interesting verses. I know "Itsy Bitsy" is a variation on the "Eency Weency" Spider song, but I have never ever heard a second verse to that one (except in a Spanish version where they had the "great big spider'-- la arana grandotota). So here is the "Itsy Bitsy" Spider song, with a great assortment of verses, as sung by Mr. Babypants. And by the way, Caspar has a regular name, that he uses when he isn't performing songs for young children -- it is Chris Ballew. He also sings and plays bass in an Alternative Rock Band called the Presidents of the United States of America.
Now that was really fun. I like the way those harmonicas come in and get shaken every now and then. Just don't stop to think about how harmonica music relates to harmonicas being shaken . . . It is all part of a total effect of imagination and delight. Another thing I really like about this particular version of the traditional song is that the melody is a little different, and it sounds a little more bluesy. I guess that goes really well with the harmonicas.
If you'd like to learn to play and sing some of Caspar Babypants' songs, you can find chord sheets for them for FREE on his website. He has been most gracious to put these up, and also offers every single one of his songs as individual downloads (right there on the website) for the baby-sized price of $ 0.50 each.
Caspar has recorded 7 albums, with each one having 19-22 songs; so that is a huge collection of children's songs! I think he is dedicated to enthusiasm, too, since every one of his album titles ends with an exclamation mark . . . for example, the album with "Itsy Bitsy Spider" on it is called More Please! and the album with "My Flea Has Dogs" is called Sing Along! Some of the other albums are Here I Am! (first album), This is Fun! and I Found You! His newest album is Baby Beatles! This is a collection of Beatles cover songs, designed for young children.
If you have heard Caspar's songs before, what are your favorites? And if they are all new, come and see what you find-- and if you'd like to, make a comment about which ones you especially like.
If you'd like to learn to play and sing some of Caspar Babypants' songs, you can find chord sheets for them for FREE on his website. He has been most gracious to put these up, and also offers every single one of his songs as individual downloads (right there on the website) for the baby-sized price of $ 0.50 each.
Caspar has recorded 7 albums, with each one having 19-22 songs; so that is a huge collection of children's songs! I think he is dedicated to enthusiasm, too, since every one of his album titles ends with an exclamation mark . . . for example, the album with "Itsy Bitsy Spider" on it is called More Please! and the album with "My Flea Has Dogs" is called Sing Along! Some of the other albums are Here I Am! (first album), This is Fun! and I Found You! His newest album is Baby Beatles! This is a collection of Beatles cover songs, designed for young children.
If you have heard Caspar's songs before, what are your favorites? And if they are all new, come and see what you find-- and if you'd like to, make a comment about which ones you especially like.
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