Many of us grew up watching Mr. Rogers.  He was on the kids’ show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood that ran in some form from 1963 to 2001.  Here’s a Mr. Rogers video song remix called Sing Together that was just released by PBS (the station that ran his show).  It’s a sequel to the previous Mr....

The IBM 704 was the first computer to sing a song. You can see how big this computer was in the image above.  In 1961, the IBM 704 was programmed to sing the chorus of the song, "Daisy Bell" by Harry Dacre.  You can hear its rendition in the YouTube video below… Here is the chorus...

Italian singer and songwriter, Giada de Gioia sent us the following song with this note, "I’d like to submit this song. I am the author of both lyrics and music. It was awarded in Bimbofestival 2011 as best lyrics of the whole competition. Published by Map Milano Italy." Here’s the mp3 recording, the song lyrics in...

Monique was here visiting from France for the past two weeks and we worked on creating Spanish and French versions of our books and apps. (They should be available soon.) Here’s a link to our current books and apps.

The song "Pussy Willows" used to be taught in schools.  Some people have written to me about it because their grandparents sang it to them as kids.  It’s a sweet little song!  Here are the lyrics to Pussy Willows, with a musical score and midi tune… Midi Tune of Pussy Willows Pussy Willows Pretty pussies down by the...

The Ninepenny Fidil (Fiddle) is a song about playing a fiddle and about meeting a leprechaun.  The song was written by Seosamh Mac Cathmhaoil and arranged by Herbert Hughes to old Irish melody. Below you can listen to a video of the song, followed by the lyrics. The Ninepenny Fidil My...

Written by guest blogger Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou.  Daria performs multicultural music from around the world. No one really knows what music sounded like in ancient Egypt, but we do know what some of their instruments used during that time looked like. A close look at some of the beautiful hieroglyphics found in the pyramids and in archeological...

Sumer is icumen in is possibly the oldest canon in print (circa 1226 a.d.)  It was written in Middle English.  You can read the original here, followed by a translation into modern English and a lovely YouTube rendition by two girls. Sumer is icumen in Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu! ...

Ooh La! Ooh La! is an animated video by the band They Might Be Giants.  It’s about Double Dutch jump roping Double Dutch jump roping is done with two long jump ropes turning inwards at the same time.  The phrase Double Dutch is old slang meaning “to talk nonsense”.  It may be a coincidence, but the...

Paul Simon’s song April Come She Will seems to be loosely based around the rhyme The Cuckoo and an English ballad called Cuckoo Song.  You can read both below… The Cuckoo In April, Come he will. In May, He sings all day. ...

The Three Ravens is a ballad that was first printed in 1611.  I found this reading by Alan Davis-Drake so well done, that I had to post the lyrics here with his recording! I’ve annotated the song within the lyrics and updated the spelling.  The refrain consists of nonsense words used for the sound. MP3 Recording of...

We just added a song from Guinea, Africa.  It’s called Tue Tue Mareema and includes a lovely recording by Abi.  Check it out!

I’ve posted the song My Pigeon House twice already (click the link for one popular version) and see more versions of Pigeon House on my blog.  I know many people are interested in this song, so when I found a version from 1917 in "Primary Education" (Vol. 25), I became very curious.  But before getting...

Artwork by Gracie Gralike

10,000+ historical sound recordings are available online for free at the National Jukebox at The Library of Congress. The Jukebox includes work issued on record labels now owned by Sony Music. Sony granted the Library of Congress a gratis license to stream these acoustical recordings. Most of the recordings were made by the Victor Talking...

American children’s folk singer Ella Jenkins released a new cd earlier this year.  It’s called A Life of Song. Ella’s music is a lovely way to introduce kids to American folk songs and spirituals.  She actually sings some of the songs with children on this cd. The cd starts out with Pick a Bale of Cotton. ...