The Music Podcast for Kids!

“It’s Great to be a Kid” - Interview with Fred Mollin

Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite had the pleasure of sitting down to chat with Fred Mollin. Fred Mollin is an American and Canadian record producer, musician, film and TV composer, music director, music supervisor, and songwriter. He has produced records for many famous singers, and has composed music for movies and television for more than forty years. 

As an artist, he has written and produced music for a series of children's albums, including Disney: Lullaby Album: Instrumental Favorites For Baby, peaking at #6 on January 26, 2001, on Billboard's Kid Album music chart; and Disney's Princess Lullaby Album, which peaked at No. 23 on October 25, 2002 (Billboard). He created the musical group Fred Mollin and the Blue Sea Band, composing and producing albums such as Finding Nemo-Ocean Favorites, Lightning McQueen's Fast Tracks, and others, primarily released on Disney/Pixar albums.

Here's a short video about the new CD! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFcErmrkUOk

Check out his new record label Melody Place Music here: www.melodyplacemusic.com

 

Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdGhqK_DWpRIKS45ICqN3eQ

 

***Classroom and Homeschool Teachers*** 

Find our digital resource to help enhance your classroom HERE!

 

Like us on Facebook! 

 

Mr. Fite

Check out original fun and educational music from Mr. Fite at 

https://brucefite.com/music and subscribe to Mr. Fite’s YouTube Channel

 

Mr. Henry

Are you looking for affordable piano lessons for your 6-10-year-old? Start the music journey with Mr. Henry by taking a sneak peek into the Premier Membership with the free mini-piano course! https://www.mrhenrysmusicworld.com/piano

 

Let the music begin in 3, 2, 1... Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite, exploring along with you. Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite love hanging out with you. The Music Podcast for Kids!

 

Hello and welcome to The Music Podcast for Kids we're your hosts Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite - Music educators extraordinaire! The Music Podcast for Kids is a fun and educational podcast where we learn and explore the best subject ever -  music!  

 

Legendary record producer film and TV composer musician musical director and songwriter and now record label president of Melody Place BMG, Fred Mollin is Walt Disney records most successful lullaby album artist. He has produced and written best selling children's music since 1998 and has sold over 3 million children’s CDs. He has worked on over 30 Disney album projects including Disney's best selling lullaby albums and album projects for Finding Nemo Lilo & Stitch cars and many more. We had the pleasure to talk with Fred about his first solo children's album called It's Great to be a Kid. So let's get to the interview with Fred Mullen.

 

 We have a very special guest with us today on the music podcast for kids. Legendary record producer and composer Fred Mollin thanks for being on the show. I'm delighted to be on the show. So since we are a music podcast for kids we always like to ask our special guests how they got started with music so did you play music as a kid may be in school take private lessons? What kind of journey did you have when you were growing up with music? Apparently I didn't have much of a choice because as a young child I was quite musical and generally was found in the backyard playing drums on garbage cans. So I think my parents knew I was probably trouble. And so all my life literally as a young child till now I've been a musician. And did you take private lessons? Like did your parents eventually go okay we need to get Fred some lessons or how did that how that work out? Well I grew up middle-class in Long Island New York. My parents were not what we call... My parents were civilians because people in show business are not civilians. And I just had such a tremendous love for music and wanted to make music but it was really it was mostly self-taught. That's amazing. And so for many years you were writing music for Walt Disney records producing lullaby albums based on the movies that were coming out from Disney at the time. Can you tell us more about these albums? Yeah I mean I had a very deep life in music and then from really from 72 when I was a kid still 1998 I had done record production of many records and then I became a TV and film composer from 85 till till about 2001. But then in 1998 a few years before I stopped writing TV and film I got a call from one of my favorite people Jay Landrews who was very much sort of my patron of the Arts on many levels cuz he always would give me opportunities to produce except for during his life as an A&R person. And he had moved to Disney records and he said I have a great idea and asked to do an instrumental lullaby album. This was 1998 to do an instrumental lullaby album of Disney songs and other songs, do them very calmly with piano and strings or guitar and strings. And I thought it was a wonderful idea and I did that album which was called Disney's lullaby album. And it wound up doing really well. And I wound up doing seven others. And one thing we’re always fascinated with is the writing process of each composer. So Eric Whitacre he's someone we talked to he’s a choral and instrumental composer and he'll have like a musical idea then create a map. Like actually hand write it out to take the audience on a journey and you know so that that was his process? So what type of process do you have and maybe that process even changes from song to song? Well if we’re talking about the lullaby albums in particular ‘cause I've done so much different kinds of work. But the lullaby albums I would work with another person. Generally a piano player who is even better than me. And we would just talk about the ideas of the arrangement I would sort of sit with him at the piano and say I hear this or that I hear this and then he wouldn't embellish it. And then my dear pal my best friend in life Matt McCauley would write the strings for it. And it was a very organic process. I don't know because I came from a world of teaching yourself. I didn't come from an academic musical life. A lot of what I do is very much based on my musical instincts but not based on writing things out and handing them to people. right yeah that's interesting cool. So and now you're the president of a record label called Melody Place BMG and there's a new album coming out called It's Great to be a Kid. Can you tell us first what inspired the writing of this album? Well first of all thank you I started the label 2 years ago with my partner Lee Shockey and um you know I've always wanted to run a record label. But it's a small passionate boutique record label. And one of the projects that we did is very near and dear to my heart in total. I've probably done about thirty kids' albums for Disney records since 1998 till about a couple years ago. So I know kids music really well. When the pandemic hit I was here in Nashville and I was very much alone. And I was missing my two grandchildren who were one and three living in Toronto. And I decided to use some of my time that I was sequestered during and I decided to write some songs about the great things in life that they would get to experience. And I would go down to my studio every day and in this time I think it was approximately April or May. And there's not a lot of hope going on because of the pandemic. But I went down to the studio every day you know walk downstairs and went into my home studio and I'd write a new song each day that talked about things that I thought they would love to be able to experience especially once the pandemic was over.  And so things like you know the love of animals, the weather, the taste of food having your parents or caretakers put you to sleep at night. So I just wrote about twelve songs. And you know it was the first time ever that I've done it where it wasn't for hire where it wasn’t like Disney records was calling me saying can you write this. So I sort of became my own record label. And I didn't tell my partner who was more the business partner in the company. But I went and I spent my own money and recorded it with my great friends and musicians. And then I sent it to my partner and I said what do you think? And she goes we got to put this out. And so originally it was really done for my grandchildren. But now I hope it's for everyone. That's awesome. So the CD arrived at my house. Thank you for sending that. And my first impression when I opened it up was man I really love this CD cover. So to describe it I have it in my hand now the audience can’t see it but it's it's written it's written in crayon and it's just it's just it's a very simple but super cool. I just don't know why I just when I saw it I was like I thought I just love this cover. It just felt good. So my kids they’re three and five and we actually spent our time in the basement just playing. They like to play mean guy where I'm the mean guy you know. And we were listening to the CD to listen to the whole CD and just had a lot of fun and what I really loved about it was the diversity. So there was a lot of and not just in the content but also the sound of each song. Very catchy and very educational. And that the first song Play Time has a really fun groove. I really liked the groove. I mean it just I think it just really sucks you right into it. So I was just curious what inspired the song Play Time? Well as I said I would go down to my studio every morning early in the morning and that would just let my imagination you know go a little bit. And one of those days I just hit my little sequencer and computer and I got sort of an up tempo groove on the drums. I started to play Play Time. so there's not much to really analyze here.  I wanted to write songs about different experiences children would have in their young years. And one of the great experiences you have as a young child is to learn how to play. So there's not much more to it except you know I think I was inspired a little bit by the Paul Simon song Me and Julio by the Schoolyard which has that sort of you know vibe rhythmically. Yeah. And so when I wrote it I said it must have been inspired a little bit by that and then when I cut it with my musicians in Nashville I really you know was able to say to them have want this sort of  vibe here on the drums, I want this on the you know and it just became a little bit of a of a slightly up-tempo very uptempo. But a slight homage in a way to the Paul Simon song. And speaking of musicians, there is a variety of artists that you have on the CD. Musically that just brings a great amount of diversity so can you tell us more? I saw the EPK on YouTube where you give little introduction to some of the songs that was really fascinating to see the overlay of the folks in the studio and then hearing the audio it was really fascinating. So can you tell us more about some of the artists you work with and maybe how the collaboration process can bring life to the music in the studio? Well if you know I'm very used to bringing a lot of great musicians on the floor of the studio that's what I do. And except for the 17 years I scored TV and film from about 85 till about 2000-2001 where it was really done very much on my own. My favorite thing to do in the best thing I do is to work with live musicians in the studio on the studio floor. And in Nashville we have the greatest musicians in the world and the greatest singers and the greatest studios. So it’s effortless to make records. But on this project I picked a certain bunch of guys that I just love working with and we went in one day and we cut 12 songs in one day. And it was just you know again you have to remember that this is what I do well. And I think I stink at most things but I think I'm good at making records with live musicians. And so I have wonderful musicians to work with. The collaboration is effortless. And then what I decided to do on this record was to cast vocals so that I knew I wanted to do maybe four or five songs by myself. But I had other people in mind do other songs. I didn't want to sing every song myself. so I called in Tania Hancheroff. And I called Troy Johnson both top Nashville background singers and demos singers. They're fantastic. And I love their voices and their variety of sounds. And then also um I brought in Caryn Richman from L.A. who is an actress and a voice actor. And I thought she'd be fun to have on some of those songs as well. So we just spread the wealth a little bit and it was just done again like you said create different colors, you know. Yeah yeah that's cool and I was talking about this earlier about how the content that you chose was really great too. And I was going to ask about you know what inspired these different pieces of content. But you kind of explained that it was something that you wanted your grandkids to experience you know especially post-pandemic here. But I did want to mention some of the things like you talk about the kitty cat and the weather and animals and ice cream and cleaning the house and in the Bedtime one.  so you know it was just it's such a cool diverse bit of content as well. and I really saw this as something that kids could not only you know you would hope that they would experience it but even just learning about it you know learning about these things. And I saw it as something that little kids can listen to in an educational setting for sure. So was there something to that as well like when you are writing it, like almost like you wanted to educate kids as well through these songs? Well I don't know if I felt I wanted to educate although that's a lofty feeling. I would love to feel that way but I just wanted to write songs that celebrated all the things they could look forward to. And as a bonus on the CD are the interactive tracks where the kids can perform along with the music and with a little help from the singers. So thanks for that it's really as music teachers we were we really appreciate that cuz it's it's always good to have a in a great backing track in just a little bit a little bit of a nudge there for the kids to get moving so it's perfect for teachers out there who want to have the kids perform. Was there a did you what was the what was the goal with that was that to what was the goal to have it work out that way? I'm nothing but a veteran.  I've done so many records over my lifetime and so much music it just seemed obvious to me for children's albums of which I told you for Disney I’ve  probably done at least 30 that it will be great to have some sing alongs type songs or act along songs or join in songs. So I just decided I'd give three bonus tracks where the children you know the simpler songs you know the ones that we really had a sing-along vibe to them. So for instance on Kitty Cat very obvious that's the only song I had written before. I wrote that song in 1986 for my two-year-old son and it became a family favorite over the years. And I put that on the album. But I remember my son singing along so the Kitty goes meow the Kitty goes meow and he would do the sounds. So that’s what really gave me the idea. Why don't we do some you know alternative mixes where the children can join in and I wasn't thinking really about education as much as just you know that children tend to want to sing along or join in. Yeah that's awesome so yeah as we wrap up our time together what advice or bit of wisdom could you share with our listeners as they explore the world of music around them?  In working for so long as a freelancer and then for two years running Disney records A&R I learned so much about children's music that I am well versed in it. So I think what's critical is to make music for children that the caregivers also enjoy. And I think it's really important that the music has a certain I wouldn't say sophistication but I would say that music has a certain elevation so that the children are able to enjoy the moments of listening and then maybe they join in. So there's not a lot of like I said there's not a lot of analyzing and you know intellectual thought that goes into my making of music for children except that I just want them to be able to enjoy the different colors that I provide. And because I've done so much of it this record was particularly a joy to do. And I wanted it to be something that the children could feel comforted by. It's great. Well Fred Mollin we want to thank you again for all of your great music especially in this new album It's Great to be a Kid. The album is available on March 12th 2021 and it's great for listening at home in the car or if you're a teacher it's even great for the classroom. So we will have a link to the website in the show notes and hope everyone listens, grab the copy to enjoy. So Fred thanks again for taking the time to chat with us on The Music Podcast for Kids today and we wish you all the best. Thank you so much for having me on.

 

Time to wrap it up folks! Thank you so much for tuning in to the Music Podcast for Kids. We hope you enjoyed the show, and most importantly, learned something cool today about music. Remember to send in your jokes or even a topic in music you would like us to discuss by visiting our website themusicpodcastforkids.com. If you are interested in awesome educational and fun songs for your kids to listen and sing along with, please visit brucefite.com. Music is available to download with iTunes, CD Baby, and Facebook streaming platforms like Spotify and Amazon Radio. Links will be found in the show notes. If you are interested in learning how to play the piano with a fun and engaging curriculum geared toward kids, please subscribe to Mr. Henry's YouTube channel called Mr. Henry's Music World. Links would be found in the show notes. Please visit iTunes to leave a review of the podcast and also share the podcast with friends, relatives, aliens, whoever! Again we thank you so much for tuning in! 

 

St. Patrick Rap

St. Patrick’s Rap

March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day! To help you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Mr. Henry wrote a crazy catchy rap song about … well… St. Patrick! There’s some fun rhythm play alongs. You’ll also learn a little bit about the history of St. Patrick as you’re grooving along. We hope you enjoy!

 

Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdGhqK_DWpRIKS45ICqN3eQ

 

***Classroom and Homeschool Teachers*** 

Find our digital resource to help enhance your classroom HERE!

 

Like us on Facebook! 

 

Mr. Fite

Check out original fun and educational music from Mr. Fite at 

https://brucefite.com/music and subscribe to Mr. Fite’s YouTube Channel

 

Mr. Henry

Are you looking for affordable piano lessons for your 6-10-year-old? Start the music journey with Mr. Henry by taking a sneak peek into the Premier Membership with the free mini-piano course! https://www.mrhenrysmusicworld.com/piano

 

 

The video of the St. Patrick’s Rap can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDKcJ-FqOf4

 

Listening Challenge Answers:

1. Different
2. Same
3. Different
4. Same
5. Different

 

Hey there Music Podcast for Kids listeners!  This is Mr. Henry, and we just wanted to sincerely thank you so much for tuning into the show,  listening to the show. And if you could do us a huge, huge favor, if you could leave a review, that would just be absolutely fantastic. With reviews we can get more people to listen to the show and spread the love of music. So, if you could just take a little bit of time to leave a review, that would be absolutely fantastic! So thank you so much again and we hope you have a great week!

 

(Theme Song): Let the music begin in 3, 2, 1... Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite, exploring along with you. Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite love hanging out with you. The Music Podcast for Kids!

 

Hello and welcome to The Music Podcast for Kids we're your hosts Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite - Music educators extraordinaire! The Music Podcast for Kids is a fun and educational podcast where we learn and explore the best subject ever -  music!  

 

And now, the music joke of the day. We love jokes, so if you have a joke, please visit our website themusicpodcastforkids.com to submit your joke. And guess what? It doesn't even have to be a music joke; it can be any joke. We will read and enjoy your joke on the podcast and also let everyone know who it came from and where you are in this great big wonderful music world. 

 

Our joke of the day is

This joke comes from Maggie, a listener of the show. Did you hear about the light bulb party? It was lit ! 

Make sure to send in your jokes by visiting our website themusicpodcastforkids.com a link to the website can be found in the show notes. 

Thank you so much for listening. We hope you are enjoying the show so far. Please subscribe to the podcast to receive the latest episodes and leave a review through iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Also get updates on what we are up to Facebook and Instagram by finding us at Music Podcast for Kids. Links will be found in the show notes. On to the show!

 

To continue our celebration of Irish music and to get ready for St. Patrick's Day, we present the Saint Patrick Rap. The St. Patrick Rap can be found in video format at Mr. Henry's Music World YouTube channel. A link will be in the description box. We hope you enjoy! 

 

The music podcast for kids is brought to you by brucefite.com. Our very own Mr. Bruce Fite has truly fun and educational songs for kids to listen and sing along to. Music can be purchased through iTunes, CD Baby, and other downloadable websites. Stream Bruce's music through Spotify, Amazon Radio, or wherever you listen to music. Bruce also performs live events. visit brucefitet.com for more information on his music and booking live events.

 

Time for the super duper music challenge. It’s time to test your ears. Test your ears? I don't think you can really give your ears a test Mr. Henry. I mean how do your ears hold a pencil without bleeding? Oh no Mr. Fite, when I say test your ears I mean listening to something and trying to figure it out through hearing it. Oh right of course. Time to play the music podcast for kids super duper music listening challenge. A little bit long of a title? We’ll have to work it out we will. We’ll work it out. Okay onto the challenge. 

 

For today's challenge we are going to listen to two rhythms and you have to figure out if the rhythms are the same or different. So let's try number one. 

For number one I'm going to play A and then I'll play B. And then for number one you would decide if it's the same or different. Are you ready? Here is number 1 A. Here is B. Are they the same or different? Number two Here is A. Here is B. Are they the same or different? Number 3. Here is letter A. Here is B. Are they the same or different? Here is the number 4. Letter A goes. Letter B goes. Are they the same or different? And the last one number 5 Here is letter A. Here is B. Are they the same or different?

Check your answers by going to the show notes. We hope you did a great job.

 

Time to wrap it up folks! Thank you so much for tuning in to the Music Podcast for Kids. We hope you enjoyed the show, and most importantly, learned something cool today about music. Remember to send in your jokes or even a topic in music you would like us to discuss by visiting our website themusicpodcastforkids.com. If you are interested in awesome educational and fun songs for kids to listen and sing along with, please visit brucefite.com. Music is available to download with iTunes, CD Baby, and Facebook streaming platforms like Spotify and Amazon Radio. Links will be found in the show notes. If you are interested in learning how to play the piano with a fun and engaging curriculum geared toward kids, please subscribe to Mr. Henry's YouTube channel called Mr. Henry's Music World. Links would be found in the show notes. Please visit iTunes to leave a review of the podcast and also share the podcast with friends, relatives, aliens, whoever! Again we thank you so much for tuning in! 

The Music of Ireland Part 2

The Music of Ireland Part 2 

In part 2 of The Music of Ireland series, Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite finally get to Ireland! They enjoy the beautiful scenery and learn about some really cool Irish musical instruments. They also discuss some traditional Irish song forms which are also great for dancing. Oh, and who’s that? Mr. Hairylegs?! How did he get to Ireland? Find out in today’s episode! We also got to chat with Marc Gunn, an Irish/Celtic music podcaster and musician.

Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdGhqK_DWpRIKS45ICqN3eQ

***Classroom and Homeschool Teachers*** 

Find our digital resource to help enhance your classroom HERE!

 

Like us on Facebook! 

 

Mr. Fite

Check out original fun and educational music from Mr. Fite at 

https://brucefite.com/music and subscribe to Mr. Fite’s YouTube Channel

 

Mr. Henry

Are you looking for affordable piano lessons for your 6-10-year-old? Start the music journey with Mr. Henry by taking a sneak peek into the Premier Membership with the free mini-piano course! https://www.mrhenrysmusicworld.com/piano

 

 

Marc Gunn’s podcast can be found here: https://www.celticmusicpodcast.com/

 

Listening Challenge Answers:

1. 2nd instrument
2. 1st instrument
3. 2nd instrument
4. 2nd instrument

(Theme Song): Let the music begin in 3, 2, 1... Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite, exploring along with you. Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite love hanging out with you. The Music Podcast for Kids!

 

Hello and welcome to The Music Podcast for Kids we're your hosts Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite - Music educators extraordinaire! The Music Podcast for Kids is a fun and educational podcast where we learn and explore the best subject ever -  music!  

 

On today’s episode, we are learning about Music of Ireland Part 2. In this episode we continue our journey and even get to interview an Irish music specialist to learn more about music of Ireland.

 

And now, the music joke of the day. We love jokes, so if you have a joke, please visit our website themusicpodcastforkids.com to submit your joke. And guess what? It doesn't even have to be a music joke; it can be any joke. We will read and enjoy your joke on the podcast and also let everyone know who it came from and where you are in this great big wonderful music world. 

 

Our joke of the day is... Well first we just wanted to say that we have been getting your jokes, which is awesome. So keep them coming. Here are a couple from our listeners. This joke today comes from Niko. Okay what is Beethoven's favorite fruit? Banana banana. Great joke, Niko. This joke comes from Emma. What is the mountain that sleeps forever? Mount Ever-rest. 

Make sure to send in your jokes by visiting our website: themusicpodcastforkids.com. A link to the website can be found in the show notes. 

And now, the music word of the day. In part one of the Music of Ireland adventure we discussed meter as the music word of the day. We further discuss the meter of music from Ireland in our continuation of the journey today so wanted to recap the word meter. There are many sides to meter, but the one angle to recap on is the combination of how music sounds and its relation to meter. If you hear music that has a marching feel to it, it’s using in meter of 2. If you can hear music that makes you sway back and forth, it can be in a meter of three or a compound meter which we discuss further in today's episode. And music that makes you want to bop your head while you dance is in the most common meter of Western music...meter of 4. 

Another word to discuss today is the drone...and not like a drone that flies around and also not like when someone keeps droning on and on and on about their life story- like that one time when I was riding my bike on the fresh new pavement that the pavement guy just put down, such a nice smooth ride on my super sweet bike, so excited to get out on the fresh new, hot blacktop, I didn't even put my shoes on, and of course I had to stop to see something, so as I stopped I hopped off with my bear feet right on the fresh new Hot blacktoooooaaah.

 

Mr. Q: Hey Mr. Henry! 

 

Me: Oh hey there Mr Quarter, well you scared me.

 

Mr. Q: Well Mr Henry, you keep droning on and on about your life story while we are trying to learn the music word of the day...drone. 

 

Me: Oh right I got a little carried away with that story...  

 

Mr. Q: Yeah, so about that story Mr. Henry 

 

Me: oh yeah...that story...um…

 

Mr. Q: Sooooo, you walked on hot blacktop...with no shoes...didn't you Mr. Henry 

 

Me: Ummm well… uhhh..yeah let's get back to the music world of the day: Drone. In music a drone is a note or couple of notes that is held out for a long period of time. The note sustains. Let's take a listen to this drone…. We will learn about this instrument from Ireland today, that has a bottom end note that sustains or is held continuously, as the other notes are played over top  Awesome! And that’s the: “Music Word of the Day!”

 

Thank you so much for listening. We hope you are enjoying the show so far. Please subscribe to the podcast to receive the latest episodes and leave a review through iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Also get updates on what we are up to Facebook and Instagram by finding us at Music Podcast for Kids. Links will be found in the show notes. On to the show!

 

And now, the main subject of the day. 

Bill: Alrighty then, got some food and ready to roll. 

 

Bruce: Ah great, I'm starving. Well we best get on our way Mr. Hairylegs. 

 

Hairy: Have a great trip! 

 

Bruce: Thanks! 

 

Bill: Yeah thanks Mr. Hairy Legs, oh and sorry again for smacking ya with the sand anchor… whoops...yeah...

 

Bruce: So how many more days until we reach Ireland…

 

Bill: Well let me look at the hot air balloon app I downloaded...looks like… hmmm it says no map available for this long of a trip…? 

 

Bruce: What? Oh boy...

 

Bill: Oh, I’m sure my signal is just weak is all..once we get back up there it’ll kick back in...no worries… here we go!!! 

 

(in a goofy voice) Two Hundred, twenty five days, 4 hours, twenty five minutes, and 32 second…later... 33 seconds...ummm 34 seconds… and… there's..

 

Bruce: (annoyed) Ok...Mr. Henry….maybe we put the penny whistle away…..phew are we there yet? I’m kinda getting sick of these granola bars. 

 

Bill: Wait a tick! I think I see it….IRELAND

 

Bruce: Wow...IRELAND. Look at those cliffs?  

 

Bill: Yeah those are the cliffs of moher. See I knew we would make it. 

 

Bruce: Yeah I guess you were right. 

 

Bill: Ok, let's make sure we land this thing nicely…. Lift this thing up... And throw out the sand anchor and…. (throws and hits

 

Bruce: Look out! (smash)

 

Bill: . Mr. Harylegs? 

 

Bruce: Yeah Mr. Hairylegs? How did you get to Ireland? 

 

Hariy: Well, when you said you were going to Ireland, I decided to get on a plane to check it out. Been here for almost 6 months now. I love it! 

 

Bruce: 6 months?? You mean we have been in the hot air balloon for 6 months? Mr. Henry!  

 

Bill: Oh yeah, it went by fast though Mr. Fite...time flies when…. your having….fun..hey what's that sound? 

 

Bruce: Wow cool. Those are the uilleann pipes. They are just like bagpipes.  

 

Bill: A yeah bagpipes...that's when you have a bunch of little pipes in a big bag and you shake it around like a percussion instrumen…? Why are you looking at me that way Mr. Fite? 

 

Bruce: Oh boy Mr. Henry...no bagpipes sound like this….. (bagpipe sound).......to play bagpipes you use your air to fill up a bag, then you press the bag with your arm as you place your fingers on different holes to create different notes and sounds.

 

Bill: Oh cool….I hear a droning sound too. 

 

Bruce: Yeah, exactly. We learned about the drone sound when learning about Music of India, in episode number 7.  

 

Bill: Right! The droning sound is when you have a continuous note or set of notes that constantly play while the melody or tune is performed.  

 

Bruce: Right! We hear a drone in the bagpipes as well. 

 

Bill: The bagpipes and uillena pipes are a little different. To play the bagpipes the musician uses their air to fill up the bag, but the uilleann pipes do not require the musician to blow into the bags, rather there are bellows that are pressed by the arm to generate the air into the instrument. 

 

Bruce: Bellows?  

 

Hairy: Elbows? 

 

Bill: No Mr. Hairylegs….not elbows. Bellows. A bellow is a device that you press together to create a large amount of air. Bellows are found in the uilleann pipes to pump air into the instrument making that cool sound. 

 

Bruce: Pretty cool stuff. 

 

Bill: Oh I hear more music coming from that restaurant over there...let's go check it out.  

 

Bruce: Yeah, lets get some food too! 

 

Bill:  Oh yeah I am starving. (music plays) Boy that music sounds great. Traditional Irish music is known for its storytelling. 

 

Bruce: Yeah for sure and a traditional music session or play along is known in Irish as a seisiun (sheh-shun). 

 

Bill: Sweet looks like there is a violin, acoustic guitar, bodhran and that little box thing with buttons on it? 

 

Bruce: Ahh yes, that's the concertina. The concertina became more popular in a revival of traditional irish music. The concertina is also called a button accordion. There are a bunch of buttons that you press while squeezing the instrument back and forth to make a sound. 

 

Hairy: Makes me want to get up and do a little jig-a roonie

 

Bruce: Yeah Mr. Hairylegs! Actually a jig is a type of music that has a certain feel, that in “total musical nerd” talk is in compound meter. 

 

Bill (nerd voice): Yes, compound meter or also known as compound time consists of a beat in a measure that is broken up into three separate parts.  The numbers typically associated with compound meter include 6, 9, 12, 15 and more. Theoretically, compound meter could be translated into simple time but the use of….

 

Bruce: Ok..ok Mr. Henry, that probably went (phew) straight over our heads. 

 

Bill: . ah, yes sorry about that. Maybe we just focus on how compound meter sounds and feels. 

 

Bruce: Yeah, good thinking. We talked about meter as the music word of the day today. Compound meter has a sound like this….. When you hear music in compound time it usually has us swaying back and forth within our movement or dancing. 

 

Bill: Exactly, and the jig was a popular feel in Irish music that allowed people to dance and feel a certain way. Music is pretty powerful in its ability to get people to move and feel great while doing it!  

 

Hairy: Oh yes, I’m feeling happier and happier with this here jig! 

 

Bruce: Nice moves Mr. Hairylegs! 

 

Bill: Oh yeah get it going Mr. Hairylegs! Some of the most popular traditional irish bands are the Dubliners, Chieftains and Clancy Brothers. 

 

Bruce: Yuppers! So if you're ever in the mood for some great music, check out those cats. 

 

Bill: Cats? Ummm. they are not cats Mr. Fite

 

Bruce: Oh, that's just a figure of speech...back in the day in jazz music they would call a cool musician “cats” which… oh boy...that confused look again...ok forget it. 

 

Bill: Yeah, Well, this has been a pretty cool adventure. So much cool music in Ireland. Let's sit and enjoy the music and food. Then! We will get back home in our hot air balloon.

 

Bruce: The hot air balloon? Yeah right Mr. Henry, you won't drag me on that thing again. 

 

Bill: Oh come on we can play “What instrument does that cloud look like” the whole way home..it’ll be great, i ‘m getting pretty good at that penny whistle, oh  then we can stop too see Paris, and Italy, and Greenland..oh and I always wanted to see Egypt and…. 

 

Bruce: And that's the...Together: Music of Ireland! 

 

The music podcast for kids is brought to you by Mr. Henry's Music World YouTube channel. If you are interested in learning how to play the piano with a fun and engaging curriculum geared towards kids please subscribe to Mr. Henry's YouTube channel called mr. Henry's Music World. Links will be found in the show notes. Again we thank you so much for tuning in. Time for the super duper music challenge. Time to test your ears. Test your ears? I don't think you can really give your ears a test Mr. Henry I mean how do your ears hold a pencil without bleeding? Oh no Mr. Fite, when I say test your ears I mean listening to something and trying to figure it out through hearing it. Oh right of course. Time to play the music podcast for kids super duper music listening challenge. A little bit long of a title? We’ll have to work it out okay onto the challenge. In today’s episode we learned all about the music of Ireland and got to hear some cool instruments that are a part of traditional Irish music, so we wanted to test your listening skills. I'm going to play two examples and you have to guess which instrument is from Ireland. One.  Here is the first instrument. Here is the second instrument. Two. Here is the first instrument Here is the second instrument. Three. Here is the first instrument. Here is the second instrument. Four here is the first instrument.  Here is the second instrument. Check your answers by going to the show notes we hope you did a great job.

 

Marc Gunn is an American musician and podcaster and known for his performances on an instrument called the autoharp. Marc has and continues his amazing, award-winning podcast called Irish and Celtic Music podcast. It was great to talk with Marc about the music of Ireland, so let's get to the chat!  

 

Hello Marc Gunn, and welcome to the Music Podcast for Kids! 

 

So Mark we always like to start out by asking our special guests about their music background as a child. So what experiences did you have as a child in the school setting and maybe outside of school as well? I didn't do much in school. Most of mine was outside of it. My family both my mom and dad, both played musical instruments so I played the piano. Got lessons for about a year. It didn't take very well, I didn't like to practice nearly enough, but it was a lot of fun. In high school I picked up the guitar and got lessons again outside of school and that cooked a little bit more aside from the problems with my guitar which was it was a really big instrument and cut off the circulation in my arm. So it wasn’t until college I think I really really started nailing down playing the guitar. So as a guitarist who were some of your big inspirations as you began your guitar career. It wasn't so much about playing guitar as it was being Elvis Presley. He was my idol growing up and so I wanted to be a songwriter like him. It wasn't much later that I realized that he didn't write any songs but I fell in love with this music and I I did it. The first thing I started learning was how to play songs by Elvis Presley. And it just went from there. Awesome. So the guitar you were performing in high school you were performing in college, but the instrument that you perform now is the autoharp. So yeah super interested in this instrument and kind of how it works and giving our listeners a little more idea of you know what it looks like and how it's played and things like that. So could you tell us more about the autoharp? Alright yeah the autoharp is a sort of triangular instrument. You usually find it like you know grade school but it's basically a very simple instrument because it's you press a button and it creates a chord and all you do is strum and it creates this gorgeous sound. It's got this very full body. It’s  got five octaves. It’s based on the zither which is a much older instrument and about a thousand years old. But the modern adaptation started the late eighteen-hundreds 1890s. And it's just got  a beautiful sound. And it's so simple to play. And again all you have to be able to do is press a button and strum and that strum will be everything in the cord. And it's just, it just sounds fantastic, it’s gorgeous. And having it being an instrument that is a little easier to play it would be a great instrument for kids to get just to start experimenting with things so yeah yeah that's cool. And actually Bruce I don't know if this was the deal for you, but when I so we're both Marc we’re both Elementary music teachers. Right and so I've been teaching for 15 years. When I first came there autoharps what must have been the rage. Like in elementary school for kids. Well they were like the ukuleles of today. The toughest part of the autoharp is the tuning. There are 36 strings and they go out of tune fairly easily. I spend at least a good 15 minutes making sure that the instrument is in tune before I even start playing. And once it's in tune you know it'll usually last at least a good solid 30 minutes if I’m  not playing it too hard. But sometimes it'll go for the full hour or whatever before I have to sit back down and make sure all the strings are in tune. And you start hearing little notes out of tune in the process. So you went from being Elvis or wanting to be Elvis to Irish and Celtic music. So could you give us some insight on what instruments you might see in a traditional Irish Celtic band? Yeah, so the autoharp is not one. The autoharp is an American folk instrument created in the late 1800s. It’s based on a German design. Popularized through Sears catalog. And it’s not one of the instruments but it is a great singer's instrument, a great folk instrument. If you like to sing its a wonderful instrument to have. Now in the Irish music world typically, you're going to have one of my favorites which is the fiddle, the flute or the Penny Whistle, the Irish the octave mandolin and the mandolin, a derivative of the fiddle. You have also have uilleann pipes which are a form of bagpipes for the Irish. There's the Irish drum which is called the bodhran and those are the types of instruments you usually find in an Irish session. And you’ll also find a guitar. Guitar has become very popular as well. Although there’s usually a slightly different tuning from most guitars. Yeah that's cool. Something that I saw it with I was lucky enough to travel to Ireland and it was like an acoustic Duo and and I guess you could you know this could be all across the world but it was the first time I'd seen it. They had put a microphone inside the case of their guitar and they used that as the like and they would stomp on it. like oh nice yeah. I was like oh that's so cool like I never even thought to do that but it just fit that driving music so well that we find. In the musical styles that are most common in Ireland, you have the Reel and The Jig. and and when that sounds like a very much great tactic for a reel because reels are a  driving four four beats you know. It’s got this really great driving sound. Whereas the Irish jig which has this lilting.  Yeah that's cool. 

 

So, in jazz music players in other following types of form which for listeners that's basically a way of saying like the way the music's organized. Like when you're in that situation as a jazz musician everyone that you can understand where you are in the music and there's a lot of improvisation and even though it may not seem like to a listener watching that it might not seem like you're communicating but there's a high level of communication. Is there something similar in traditional Irish music? New Orleans was interesting to me, was one of the top three immigration spots for the Irish during the potato blight in the 1800s and a huge Irish influence in New Orleans. Which of course New Orleans is also where the place is considered the birthplace of jazz. I have a friend who actually wants to do a research paper on the idea that Irish music was one of the big influencers of jazz because musically yes Jazz has it definitely has a you know a solid form and such. Irish music has a very solid form as well. You know you have  the reels in the Jigs and what not but there is less of the Improv aspect that you find in Irish music than Jazz. Usually what you'll have is a tune and the tune is a Melody that fits into a certain form again reels, jigs, polkas, mazurkas or whatever. They might be you're going to have all these very specific formats and then during the set you might change to a different tune and it might be the same key, might be a different key but it's very different. But at the same time if you know them once you know the melody you know it's very easy to follow along because all the sudden you're in that same format which is again it very much like the Jazz sessions where they might include a little bit more improv and variations and whatnot. In the Irish session you might have a little bit less of that but it's there still the same structure that the Jazz session will have so it's a really interesting comparison between the two I find. 

 

So you have a podcast called Irish and Celtic music podcast. So can you tell us more about the podcast and the mission that it has? So I started the podcast in 2005 in the early early early days of podcasting. Yeah I think it was you know less than a year into podcasting when the podcast started. And the show is a music podcast, it’s like a radio show and it features an hour-long show of music by Celtic musicians. And the idea is to celebrate Celtic culture through music. So now not all of the music is traditional Irish music like I was describing these reels & Jigs and such as a lot of songs is a lot of fun sing alongs which is one of the other big things about Irish music is the ballads and such. And a lot more fusions of traditional Irish songs and tunes with a contemporary music the Celtic Rock genre. And the various many different fusions of that. And so my podcast is centered around again celebrating all of these fusions and making them readily available no matter where you are in the world and no matter what style of Celtic music you have around the world because again there. When the Irish I put out a CD called how America saved Irish music and the idea is basically that did you know all this traditional Irish music came out of Ireland and went to the United States and Australia went to Germany and Italy went to Russia and Japan.

 

 And all these fusions came back and created an almost new style of traditional Celtic music. And such that the you know songs like Danny Boy one of the most famous quote unquote Irish songs is actually a song that was as an Irish Melody but it was written by an English lawyer. But it's become an essential part of Irish music world. And so it's fascinating again, the fusion of these cultures and by bringing them all together we are able to more greatly be able to appreciate and celebrate these different cultures with all the influences that have merged together and the diversity of Celtic music. Yeah that's something. Well Marc Gunn thanks so much for being on the show and that we wish you all the best in the future with your music with your podcast. So thank you so much. Thank you very much. You take care. 

 

Time to wrap it up folks! Thank you so much for tuning in to the Music Podcast for Kids. We hope you enjoy the show, and most importantly, learned something cool today about music. Remember to send in your jokes or even a topic in music you would like us to discuss by visiting our website themusicpodcastforkids.com. If you are interested in awesome educational and fun songs for kids to listen and sing along with, please visit brucefite.com. Music is available to download with iTunes, CD Baby, and Facebook streaming platforms like Spotify and Amazon Radio. Links will be found in the show notes. If you are interested in learning how to play the piano with a fun and engaging curriculum geared toward kids, please subscribe to Mr. Henry's YouTube channel called Mr. Henry's Music World. Links would be found in the show notes. Please visit iTunes to leave a review of the podcast and also share the podcast with friends, relatives, aliens, whoever! Again we thank you so much for tuning in! 

The Music of Ireland

Join Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite on an exciting adventure as they take a hot air balloon to Ireland. We run into Mr. Hairylegs and make a snack run before the big trip. This is part one of a two-part series. Wish us luck as we learn about the music of Ireland! 

 

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(Theme Song): Let the music begin in 3, 2, 1... Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite, exploring along with you. Learning music, having fun. That’s what we’re gonna do. Mr. Henry, Mr. Fite love hanging out with you. The Music Podcast for Kids!

 

Hello and welcome to The Music Podcast for Kids we're your hosts Mr. Henry and Mr. Fite - Music educators extraordinaire! The Music Podcast for Kids is a fun and educational podcast where we learn and explore the best subject ever -  music!  

 

(sound of a hot air balloon)

 

Bill: Ok, just give it a little more, put this strap here...and yup I think we are about ready.  

 

Bruce: Hey Mr. Henry, so umm yeah where did you get this?

 

Bill: Oh yeah I got this on Shaz am azon 

 

Bruce: Wow, I didn't know you could get an entire hot air balloon… 

 

Bill: . Oh, yeah. It was a good deal too. So are you ready? 

 

Bruce: Ready for what? 

 

Bill: Oh come on Mr. Fite, ready for our trip with the hot air balloon. 

 

Bruce: Are you certified to operate this thing? 

 

Bill: . Certified? Well it did come with this certificate that says...congratulations you now own a certified hot air balloon...so yeah..I'm certified...Oh come on, just going up and down is no big deal. Plus I read the manual front to back so no worries. 

 

Bruce: Well, ok..it sure does look fun. 

 

Bill: Hop on in! Ok..let's give a little more juice and up we go! 

 

Bruce: Wow, this is pretty cool. Look at the view! 

 

Bill: Yeah I know and imagine the view when we get to our final destination.

 

Bruce: umm final destination?

 

Bill: Yup, Ireland!

 

Bruce: Ireland!??? But that's a bazillion miles away. 

 

Bill: Yeah I know, it’ll be so awesome to travel across the world with this beautiful view to get to ireland and learn all about irish music. 

 

Bruce: Mr. Henry! How are we going to get all the way across the ocean in this thing! It’s impossible. 

 

Bill: Well if you say it's impossible, then it will be ...so just think positive. We will be fine. 

 

Bruce: Fine? What about food and water??? 

 

Bill: Oh I got a couple boxes of granola bars and I figured it would have to rain eventually so just fill up our cups and whala...water! 

 

Bruce: Oh boy...this is definitely not a good idea. 

 

Bill: But look at that view...how can we turn back now. 

Bruce: Well...Ok...It would be cool to see what's going on with music in Ireland. 

 

Bill: Yeah totally...so uhh any idea what this thing does? 

 

Bruce: I thought you said you read the manual front to back. 

 

Bill: . Did I say front to back? Oh I meant the front and back...kinda skipped all the stuff in the middle. Too many words...

 

Bruce: Too many words…? Too many words…? Oh boy

 

Bill: Well I’m sure we can figure it out. No worries. Here we come Ireland! 

 

And now, the music joke of the day. We love jokes, so if you have a joke, please visit our website themusicpodcastforkids.com to submit your joke. And guess what? It doesn't even have to be a music joke; it can be any joke. We will read and enjoy your joke on the podcast and also let everyone know who it came from and where you are in this great big wonderful music world. 

 

Our joke of the day is... This joke today comes from Georgia. Okay Mr. Fite, why did the banana go to the doctor? Because he wasn't peeling well. This Joke comes from and I hope I’m pronouncing this correctly, Sneya. Why didn’t the turkey cross the street? To prove it wasn’t a chicken

 

Make sure to send in your jokes by visiting our website: themusicpodcastforkids.com. A link to the website can be found in the show notes. 

 

And now, the music word of the day. 

Bruce: Before we get to our main subject of the day, Music of Ireland, let’s take a look at the music word of the day: Meter! 

 

Bill: Meter is Music can also be called time signature. 

 

Bruce: Ah yes a time signature..let me just grab my pen here and sign my name..I know you’ve always wanted my autograph Mr. Henry, with being super popular n stuff and...

 

Bill: . No Mr. Fite, I’m not interested in your autograph or signature. 

 

Bruce: Oh whoops..sorry about that. 

 

Bill: I would be interested in Taylor Swift's autograph though... 

 

Bruce: Ok..yeah yeah yeah . 

 

Bill: Right, so anyway...I was saying TIME signature. The time signature or Meter is a collection of numbers found at the beginning of music. There are usually two numbers with one number on top and the other on the bottom. 

 

Bruce: Ah, just like a fraction! 

 

Bill: Well, it does kinda look like a fraction, only fractions have a line that separates the top and bottom number. The meter or time signature does not have that line. 

 

Bruce: Ok, got it, so there are two numbers that are stacked on top of each other.  

 

Bill: . Correct, the bottom number is usually 4, although it can be a different number which is always multiplied by the number 2. 

 

Bruce: Ok, so let me get my calculator out and yes...and hmmm...carry the one… and ok...so 4 times 2 = …….. 8! 

 

Bill: Correct, so the bottom number could be an 8 and other numbers like 16, 32, 64, 128, 256….

 

Bruce: Woah woah woah! 256? 

Bill: . Ok, maybe not 256. The most common numbers on the bottom are 4 and 8. 

 

Bruce: Cool. What about the top number? 

 

Bill: The top number can literally be any number on the planet. 

 

Bruce: Sweet, so like my favorite number? 

 

Bill: Sure Mr. Fite, yes your favorite number can be on the top of our time signature. 

 

Bruce: Wanna know what it is? Huh do ya? Wanna know...waaaaaannnna a know what my favorite number is? 

 

Bill: Oh boy! Yeah fine ok, what's your favorite number? 

 

Bruce: Two million, three hundred and forty six. 

 

Bill: Oh boy…… well ok I didn't see that coming...umm yeah sorry we probably would never see your favorite number as the top number in meter..

 

Bruce: Ah darn.

 

Bill: Yeah typically we see number like 2, 3 and 4 on the top part of our time signature. We do also see 6, and 12 as well!  

 

Bruce: Cool! But not two million, three hundred and forty six. 

 

Bill: No

 

Bruce: Right of course! Ok, so the top number could be 2 and the bottom number could be 4…..  2/4. 

 

Bill: You betcha. And lots of the time, music that is in 2/4 has a marching kinda style to it! 

 

Bruce: Sweet, what about 3 on top and 4 on the bottom? 3.4!

 

Bill: Well sure!  ¾ has a swaying kinda sound to it... like this….. It makes you want to sway back and forth as you listen. 

 

Bruce: And what about 4 on top and 4 on bottom? 

 

Bill: Well Mr. Fite 4/4 is the most popular meter of them all. Basically if you hear music you can bop your head back and forth to, as you listen, or dance to, it’s probably in 4/4. Lots of music we listen to is in the meter of 4/4.  It's so common, that they even call it common time!

 

Bruce: Pretty cool. So, these numbers have a big effect on how the music feels. 

 

Bill: That's a great way to put it Mr. Fite. Yes, if a person is writing music and they want to create a sound that makes people move or feel a certain way, they have to be careful with which meter they choose.  

 

Bruce: Right, just like you said, if a composer wants to write music for a marching band at a parade, they have the option to write the music in 2/4. 

 

Bill: Exactly. And that's the word of the day! 

 

TOGETHER: METER! 

Thank you so much for listening. We hope you are enjoying the show so far. Please subscribe to the podcast to receive the latest episodes and leave a review through iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Also get updates on what we are up to Facebook and Instagram by finding us at Music Podcast for Kids. Links will be found in the show notes. On to the show!

 

Bill: And now the continuation of our awesome hot air balloon trip to Ireland. 

 

Bruce: Ok, Mr Henry I think I’m getting tired of the “which animal is that cloud” game. 

 

Bill: Oh Ok, how about which music instrument is that cloud game? I bet we see some instruments from Ireland. 

 

Bruce: Oh, well...ok...I guess. Lets see...oh that instrument looks like the….. tin whistle.!  

 

Bill:  Tin whistle? 

 

Bruce: Yeah the tin whistle is a type of flute, kinda like the recorder.  

 

Bill: Ah the recorder, lots of kids learn to play the recorder in school.  

 

Bruce: Sure do!  The tin whistle is sometimes called the penny whistle. 

 

Bill: Ah gotcha. Yeah so the penny whistle must have been made out of pennies? 

 

Bruce: No, not made out of pennies. It's called a penny whistle because back then, it only cost a penny to buy. It was considered more of a toy played by kids, but eventually became a big part of music form Ireland.  

 

Bill: Cool! 

 

Bruce: Yeah, the penny or tin whistle is made out of rolled tin sheet or brass. It has six holes in the front for your fingers to cover, which creates different notes when you blow into it. 

 

Bill: Wait a second...I saw one of those penny whistles in my attic the other day and grabbed it and placed it…. Ahh here it is. 

 

Bruce: What a second, you have a penny whistle in your bag? 

 

Bill: Yup, I guess I do. Which is awesome, cause i’m itching to play it. 

 

Bruce: Well let's hear it. 

 

Bill: . Ok, here is the sound of the penny whistle. 

 

Bruce: Pretty cool. The penny whistle was used in traditional music from Ireland which we also call Celtic Music. 

 

Bill: Pretty cool. You know Mr. Fite, I’m getting kinda hungry. Best to stop before we start our ‘over the ocean’ part of the trip.

 

Bruce: Yeah, that sounds good….(to himself) still not really sure how we will make it over the entire ocean but...

 

Bill: Oh, look there is a burger stop! I’ll get us close. 

 

Bruce: Well Ok Mr. Henry, just be careful.  

 

Bill: Ok, just a little here, and a little there. And throw out the sand anchor…. (hurls and…) Hairy: (singing) dum da dum dum…

Bruce: Mr. Hairy Legs look out! 

 

Bill: Oh no...look out Mr. Hairyleeeeeeegs!  (hits Mr. Hairy legs)

 

Bruce: Mr. Hairy Legs are you ok? 

 

Hairy: Oh Hey Mr. Henry and Mr Fite, yup I’m ok. No problem at all...

 

Bill: . Woah sorry Mr. Hairylegs. Ok Mr. Fite I will go pick up some food.

 

Bruce: Sounds great Mr. Henry. I’ll take the biggest burger they have! 

 

Hairy: So, what y'all doing in a hot air balloon? 

 

Bruce: Oh, you know, we are heading to...well...umm... Ireland.  

 

Hairy: You're buying an island? 

 

Bruce: (says loudly) No, no we are going to Ireland, to learn more about irish music. 

 

Hairy: Oh Ireland, I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland. 

 

Bruce: Yeah, did you know a popular drum used in Irish Music is the bodhran? (bow-run) (as in bow and arrow) 

 

Hairy: Did you say to shoot a bow and then run? 

 

Bruce: No, no the bow-ran is a type of drum. It’s a flat drum that you hold on its side with one hand while the other hand holds a stick with two beaters on both ends of the stick. You can make some sweet beats!  

 

Hairy: Wow, that sounds like a hoot n annie good time. 

 

Bill: Alrighty then, got some food and ready to roll. 

 

Bruce: Ah great, I'm starving. Well we best get on our way Mr. Hairylegs. 

 

Hairy: Have a great trip! 

 

Bruce: Thanks! 

 

Bill: Yeah thanks Mr. Hairy Legs, oh and sorry again for smacking ya with the sand anchor… whoops...yeah...

 

Bruce: So how many more days until we reach Ireland…

 

Bill: Well let me look at the hot air balloon app I downloaded...looks like… hmmm it says no map available for this long of a trip…? 

 

Bruce: What? Oh boy...

 

Bill: Oh, I’m sure my signal is just weak is all..once we get back up there it’ll kick back in...no worries… here we go!!! 

 

Just Chattin’

 

So Bruce we talked about Ireland today, and have you ever been to Ireland? No, I've never been. My wife's mother and grandmother went. They’re big horse people so they actually rode on horseback across all of Ireland basically. So they started in one town they get on a couple of horses , ride to the next town and get on a couple of different horses or maybe sometimes the same one, meet the locals and have a meal or so and then they would sleep there and then they’d ride to the next. It was pretty cool that they put in a lifetime chance. Yeah it's kind of like a hot air balloon. How about you, have you been there?  Actually I yes I've been to Ireland. Yeah and uh beautiful country. It was so cool yeah it was so it was so just was really beautiful like everywhere you looked like it was really beautiful. And so what we did is we did kind of a similar thing we traveled across the country we were doing like Castle hopping. Like a castle tour was really neat and yes oh we oh yeah we started and where do we start it started in I can't remember now we're where we started specifically. But we were on the east side and then I think we've made our way over to the West right yeah I didn't actually think it came back so but. So yeah it was it was a lot of fun and we got to we are driving and it was my wife and I we went and we decided that my wife would be the one to drive and cuz I think we felt like maybe I was better with navigation, but I think it was ultimately because I was a little scared. It was a little weird to get used to. But Annmarie she did such a great job with it. She she picked it up pretty quick there was a little would always be her fault unless I told her to go the wrong way. So yeah it was there was one little episode where maybe we are going down the wrong side of the road, but we quickly figured it out,  so I thought we were a good team getting through ahead and she said I think I'm getting used to this. So pretty neat and the car was Tiny right? Oh yeah so in the United States we are used to bigger cars and I tell you if you took one of our big cars over there you're not getting through. There were sometimes when it was a two-way street right but there's I don't know how they do it because wow we were really like even in a small car you were really close to likes like a Stonebridge yeah yeah so I guess you just take your turn but for some of them it was like not sure what we do here,  so that that was interesting. That was in more of like the country side of it. And I wasn't like that but yeah it was it was really cool a place. And then musically there was a lot of street musicians especially when we went to Galway and a lot of street musicians which was really cool. And one of the experiences we had we just went into a a restaurant and there was a band there but they weren’t like plugged in or anything. They just have their traditional acoustic instruments violins and acoustic guitars and they just kind of sat down in the middle as if they were just guests at the restaurant. Right and they had their instruments and they would just play. And it was it was like you were sitting at your table and eating your meal and you know the table next to was where all the musicians just Jammin away just like hanging out yet like not everybody's on the same same level kind of thing yeah yeah I thought that was really cool so it was yeah I was need to cuz you like really feel the instrument. Yeah yeah so yeah that was the experience musically in Ireland and then now so it was a fun trip. So if any of you ever have a chance to go definitely go it's cool to check out other cultures. And you know I mean it was it's a nice one for Americans to go over too cuz they speak English there so you don’t have to worry too much about that. Cool. 

Time to wrap it up folks! Thank you so much for tuning in to the Music Podcast for Kids. We hope you enjoy the show, and most importantly, learned something cool today about music. Remember to send in your jokes or even a topic in music you would like us to discuss by visiting our website themusicpodcastforkids.com. If you are interested in awesome educational and fun songs for kids to listen and sing along with, please visit brucefite.com. Music is available to download with iTunes, CD Baby, and Facebook streaming platforms like Spotify and Amazon Radio. Links will be found in the show notes. If you are interested in learning how to play the piano with a fun and engaging curriculum geared toward kids, please subscribe to Mr. Henry's YouTube channel called Mr. Henry's Music World. Links would be found in the show notes. Please visit iTunes to leave a review of the podcast and also share the podcast with friends, relatives, aliens, whoever! Again we thank you so much for tuning in! 

The Whatica? Oh.. The Melodica!

What’s that thing that Mr. Henry is playing? A harmonica? A piano?! Nope. It’s a Melodica!!! Reeds and keys and tubes, oh my! Learn all about this cool, unique instrument in today’s Spotlight. 

 

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THE MELODICA!

 

Joke of the Day: 

How do you make a bandstand? 

Take away the chairs. 

 

Bill: (playing melodica)

 

Bruce: (from a distance) Mr. Henry...Mr. Henry? (to himself) What’s that sound? Sounds like a harmonica….. Oh hey, Mr. Henry...well that’s not a harmonica… what is that thing? 

 

Bill: Hey Mr. Fite...it’s called a melodica! 

 

Bruce: Melodica? It looks like a mini piano… 

 

Bill: Yeah it’s true...it does use the keyboard or the black and white keys found on a piano...but in order to make the sound you also have to blow into this tube and press a key to make this sound (plays) 

 

Bruce: Wow, that’s pretty cool. How does it get that harmonica sound? 

 

Bill: Well, inside of the melodica are these small reeds. Reeds are often found on clarinets and other woodwind instruments...but we also use reeds in harmonicas and then of course…. the melodica. 

 

Bruce: Hmmm the reeds...so they are very small wooden reeds inside? 

 

Bill: Well yes, they are small but they are actually made out of metal. When you blow into the melodica and press down a key, the air flows over the reed which vibrates quickly to make a sound.   

 

Bruce: Oh wow! These are pretty cool. It’s like the piano and harmonica teamed up to combined their powers to make “THE MELODICAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH” 

 

Bill: Ok...Mr. Fite...yeah we get it…. But your right, Melodicas are small enough to where you can bring it anywhere. You can even walk around as you play it! 

 

Bruce: I need to get one of these, but I bet they are expensive… 

 

Bill: Actually, they are not that expensive. Now you could get one that is...but you can buy melodicas for less than 20 bucks. 

 

Bruce: That’s not bad at all. About to order one right now… Who invented the melodica? 

 

Bill: Well, a company from Germany named Hohner made the instrument. Hohner makes all types of instruments like harmonicas, accordions and in the 1950’s they came up with the melodica!  

 

Bruce: Oh wow...so it's a fairly new instrument compared to the flute that has been around for over 40,000 years! 

 

Bill: Yeah, definitely a newer instrument and super cool.  

 

Bruce: So this tube goes into the melodica and you blow into it while playing.  

 

Bill: Exactly, having the tube allows the keyboard to stay flat as you play it. You can play the keyboard of the melodica just like the piano.  

 

Bruce: Cool...but what is this part still in the melodica case? 

 

Bill: Well, that’s actually another type of mouthpiece. This mouthpiece looks more like the mouthpiece of a clarinet or saxophone. You can take the tube out of the melodica and put the “horn” mouthpiece in instead. 

 

Bruce: Gotcha...so when you play the melodica with the horn mouthpiece, would you hold the instrument differently? 

 

Bill: Yes, you would hold it kinda like a trumpet. So the melodica would be on its side and you place your left hand on the back of the melodica while your right-hand pushes down the keys on the keyboard. Bring the hon mouthpiece up to your mouth and blow it into it while pressing the keys down.  

 

Bruce: Cool, it kinda turns into a marching keyboard!  

 

Bill: Exactly and super fun to play. Well, I better get going. I have a concert to play for tonight. And of course, using this here melodica for it.  

 

Bruce: Nice, can I come along to check it out. 

 

Bill: Well sure, actually I have another melodica here. You could jam along! 

 

Bruce: Sweet! And that’s the...

 

TOGETHER: MELODICA!

 

App of the Month 

Hey there Music Podcast for Kids listeners. The app of the month is a fun virtual instrument called percussive. Percussive is a super cool app that gives kids and adults the ability to play 5 different types of instruments including the marimba, xylophone, kalimba, vibraphone, and glockenspiel. Choose an instrument and even play with different mallets. The mallet is the stick that has a hard or soft end and is used to hit the bar on the instruments like the marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, and vibraphone. The different mallets give each instrument a unique sound which you can experiment with in this super sweet app. The kalimba is an instrument from Africa, which can also be called the mbira, that you pluck with the fingers. We actually discuss the kalimba in the Music of Africa episode! So, for one, take a listen to that episode to learn more about the kalimba, and while you're at it, check out the app called percussive for some fun instrument jam along time! We have no affiliation with Percussive, we just think it’s a pretty cool app that makes music fun. And that’s the app of the month: Percussive!