They started playing a game last week where they would hum and song and then have the others guess what it was. I showed them how we could do it on the with the ipod hooked to the stereo. So that’s what we’ve been doing in the car lately. I’m surprised how many song titles they know; I usually just hit play and listen. I’m even more surprised by the number that, even though they don’t know the title, they can name the artist or sing the lyrics.
After a week of playing stuff they know – they can nail Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult in the first note – today I played some classical pieces. I knew they wouldn’t know the names, but they recognized the distinct sounds. I started with William Tell Overture by Rossini, Bolero by Ravel, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, which they actually recognized from the tv show Little Einsteins and knew was by Mozart, and In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg, which D knew that name of. They are each distinct pieces and easy to recognize.
So now I’m trying to think of iconic pieces of music for different genres. If you were only going to recognize a handful of classical pieces, jazz, blues, opera or oldies, what should they be?
I surprised myself by the number that popped into my head when I started thinking about it. Here are my suggestions. Etta James version of At Last, Harry Belafonte’s Dayo, Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World, Marlene Dietrich’s Falling in Love Again, Patsy Cline’s Crazy, Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, Hank William’s I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (preferably the B J Thomas version-Hank William’s could write music but he certainly couldn’t sing), The Beach Boys’ Kokomo, old Beatles such as I Want to Hold Your Hand or She Loves You, Madonna’s Material Girl, Eric Clapton’s Leila, Janis Joplin’s Me and Bobby McGee or Mercedes Benz (my personal favorite), Amazing Grace, O Sole Mio, Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Pagliaci, Sleeping Beauty Waltz-to name a few.