Sunday, June 25, 2006

Ok, so you HAVE to get this music

I know I posted about this before, but this morning, while Panorama and I built a scale model of a municipal sewage treatment plant with legos, we listened to the whole collection again and I cannot express how much I love this music.

The series is called "Singing Science". The best of the series are performed by Tom Glazer, who is truly a loveable singer and personality. Panorama always asks for "Vibrations" which is on the Experiment Songs album sung by Dorothy Collins. Our least favorite, but still fun, are the Nature Songs.

Describing the music is hard- but is has a broad appeal. It often reminds me of a combination of Show Tunes, Pink Martini, Henry Macini, the best TV themes from the 50's, and the occasionally a Carmen Miranda-esque flavor or an Irish Jig.

You could play it at a wedding and people would dance to it- old and young.

The content is awesome. I have learned things myself. And Panorama may not understand what she is singing about when she sings "Rub your Palms, Rub your Palms together- they get warm- that's friction!" but she likes the hand motions, and always dances around and laughs- so the fun factor is as high as any of that crappy canned disneola garbage that kids get force fed these days.

Lisen to these first- they are my absolute favorites
Grand Coulee Dam
Zoom a Little Zoom
Vibrations

You can download the songs at Jef's site http://www.acme.com/jef/singing_science/

Space Songs
Zoom A Little Zoom-What Is The Milky Way- Constellation Jig-Beep, Beep -Why Does The Sun Shine -What Is A Shooting Star -Longitude And Latitude It's A Scientific Fact Ballad Of Sir Isaac Newton -Friction -Why Are Stars Of Different Colors -Why Do Stars Twinkle -What Is Gravity -Planet Minuet -Why Go Up There

Energy & Motion Songs
What Is Energy (part 1) -Grand Coulee Dam -E-lec-tri-city -Engines -Solar Energy -Energy In Roundabout Ways -What Is Energy (part 2) -Kinetic And Potential Energy -Jets -Ultra Violet And Infra Red What Is Chemical Energy -How Do We Measure Energy -Motion, Motion Everywhere Thumbnail Sketch Of Atomic Energy

Experiment Songs
-It's A Magnet -Vibration -We Know The Air Is There -We're Making Heat -Ice Is A Solid -Why Do I Have A Shadow -Rocks And Gems And Minerals The Earth Goes Around The Sun -Why Is It Raining Raindrops -Where Does The Sun Go At Night -What's Inside Our Earth -Where Does The Sun Rise How Many Colors Are In The Rainbow Who's Afraid Of Thunder -It's A Magnet, reprise

Weather Songs
-What Makes The Weather Where Is The Stratosphere The Water Cycle Song -Why Does The Wind Blow -How Clouds Are Formed -Warm Fronts, Cold Fronts What Is Humidity -The Hurricane Song Why Is It Hot In The Summer -Highs And Lows -What Makes The Lightning -Stratus And Cumulus -Snowflake, Snowflake -What Does The Glass Of A Greenhouse Do -What Is Climate What Makes The Weather, reprise

Nature Songs
-Introduction To Nature Study -Why Do Leaves Change Their Color -What Are The Parts Of A Tree -What Is An Insect What Is A Mammal -How Do The Fish Swim -Song Of The Rocks -The Birds Have A Language -How Does A Bird Sing What Does A Bird Have That I Have Not -How Silk Is Made What's In The Ocean How Do The Seeds Of Plants Travel -The Balance Of Nature

More Nature Songs
-Metamorphosis How Does A Frog Become A Frog -What Is An Animal -Bobo The Bear -Song Of The Fossils -How Does A Cow Make Milk -Eohippus -The Conservation Song -Why Is The Sky Blue -What Makes A Rainbow -Let's Wander Thru The Seasons Why Does A Bee Bzzz -What Are The Parts Of A Flower -The Face Of The Earth Is Changing

1 Comment:

Anonymous said...

I grew up with these tunes playing on the HiFi while we played with our toys. The lyrics stuck with me through school and helped me through the science classes. I also let them be background noise while my kids played and they loved it. I am now downloading Jef's MP3s for sing-a-longs with my grandchildren.