Happy Thanksgiving!

We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving, being celebrated in the United States this Thursday, November 24. Add a musical touch to your celebration. Try singing these words to the tune of “Shake Those ‘Simmons Down'” from the Music Together Flute Song Collection. Sing about what your child is grateful for this Thanksgiving! 

Here's a quick example:

Celebrate Thanksgiving, 
Celebrate Thanksgiving,
Celebrate Thanksgiving,
Celebrate with friends!

I’m thankful for Mommy,
I’m thankful for Daddy,
I’m thankful for turkey,
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!

Wishing you all a joyous day with your families, filled with good food, lots of laughter, and music! 

4th Year Donating to TODAY Show Gift Drive

For the fourth year in a row, Music Together is proud to support the TODAY Show’s 22nd Annual Holiday Gift drive. Our CEO, Susan Darrow, appeared on the TODAY Show on Saturday, December 5, to announce our donation of songbooks, CDs, and Singalong Storybooks. Check it out! 

Since 1994, the TODAY Show gift drive has distributed more than $395 million in toys, books, clothing, and other essentials to millions of underprivileged children across the Unites States and at US military bases abroad. The annual drive distributes gifts to families through homeless shelters, children’s group homes, domestic violence shelters, hospitals, schools and after-school programs. For many, TODAY is the only source of gifts for the holidays.

Being a part of the TODAY gift drive has become something of a tradition for us at Music Together. Since 2012, we have contributed more than $2 million in musical gifts to spread holiday cheer to families in need. We hope our donation of Music Together music and books brightens the festive season for many more children this year!

Now Available on the App Store: Music Together's "Hello Everybody" App

Introducing Music Together's "Hello Everybody App!

Check out Music Together’s free “Hello Everybody” app for iPhone, iPad, or iPhone. It’s an easy way for you to access your Music Together songs, whether you are at home or on the go! Log in with your Family Music Zone account to get your song collections into the app. Then, have fun singing and dancing along from wherever you are. Here are some of the features of the app for you to explore:

• Stream your songs or download them so your family can sing and play along even when you don’t have Internet access. 

• Show or hide on-screen lyrics.

• Turn the vocals up or down—or off completely for an instrumental track to make up your own words.

• Use your device’s camera to record to the music and easily share with friends.

• Flip through the colorful pages of Music Together’s award-winning Singalong Storybook Hello, Everybody!

Download the Music Together “Hello Everybody” app from the App Store today!

Watch "I've Been Working on the Railroad"

Do your summer travel plans include a trip on the train? Does your son or daughter just love transportation? Here's a song for you, our version of the classic folksong, "I've Been Working on the Railroad." (It's in this summer's Summer Songs 1 collection.) Enjoy singing and dancing along with Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Gerry, and Grandma Yvette. We hope you have a musical start to the summer! 

   

Visit the Family Music Zone!

See "Allee Galloo" Performed Live by the Music Together Band!

Log in to the Family Music Zone to sing and dance along with Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Gerry, and Grandma Yvette to "Allee Galloo," from this semester's Triangle song collection. While you're there, be sure to explore the rest of the site. You'll find MP3s of your music, bonus song activities, and more, including our collection of music videos featuring families like yours, plus lots of other "Music Together Live!" concert clips.

• New to Music Together? Create your account by finding your Family Access Code printed on your CD packaging and entering it at www.musictogether.com/account.
• Already have an account? Don't forget to unlock your Triangle songs and activities by logging in to the Zone, clicking "Access Code" from the menu in the upper right-hand corner, and entering your code. 

Check Out Our Children's Artwork Gallery!

Get out your crayons and markers . . . We've turned some of the illustrations from our songbooks and Singalong Storybooks into printable coloring pages.

On the Zone, check out our gallery of children's artwork. Inspired? Print out the page of your choice, then upload a photo of your child's masterpiece. We'll add it to the gallery---and every month, we'll have a drawing for a prize.

Visit the Brand New Family Music Zone

This fall, we introduced some changes to our take-home materials. Each semester you enroll in a Music Together class, you will receive a color, illustrated songbook, twoCDs, and a code giving you access to Music Together's brand-new Family Music Zone. There, you'll be able to download the songs from the Bongos collection and explore fun content created just for you. To access the Family Music Zone, you just need to visit www.musictogether.com/account and create an account using the code found on the inside back cover of your CD booklet. Have fun exploring!

Music Together Concerned with Survey Results

Music Together Concerned with Survey Results Indicating 72% of Parents with a Child under Age 18 Believe You Are Born either with or without the Ability to Carry a Tune

 

Leading early childhood music education expert aims to educate parents that everyone is born with the potential to learn to sing in tune

 

 Results of a new survey commissioned by Music Together LLC and conducted online by Harris Poll, reveal that 72% of parents with children under 18 years old believe that you are born either with or without the ability to carry a tune. The survey, conducted in July among over 450 parents with a child under age 18, also indicates that only a shockingly low 17% of parents sing to their children daily -- yet nearly all (98%) believe that children need music education.

“It is not true that you are either born musical or not,” says Kenneth K. Guilmartin, leading international early childhood music expert and Founder/Director of Music Together. “Just as we are all born with the potential to speak our native language, we are all born with enough music ability to learn to sing in tune and move in time, as long as parents and other primary caregivers provide an adequate music environment during early childhood. Of course, not everyone will emerge as a musical virtuoso, but we also don’t expect every child learning to talk to become a famous actor. But, all children can certainly learn to carry a tune and comfortably participate in music activities throughout their lives.”

Guilmartin continues, “While it is heartening to see that music education is valued by so many parents, the survey shows a misunderstanding of the role of parents and caregivers in their children’s music development. We teach children language by continuously talking and reading to them. Imagine if you only talked to your child once a month! Similarly, the best thing parents can do to support musical growth is to sing and dance with their children, as often as possible.”

According to the survey, nearly 7 in 10 (69%) parents report singing to their children, yet the majority (55%) do it only once a month and 41% do it only once a week. Only 17% of parents sing to their children daily.

“Listening to music is fine, but it’s a good idea to actively make music with your child every day. The good news is that you are likely doing it more often than you might think. Bouncing your child on your knee along with the TV or radio, making up silly songs, singing a lullaby—these are all ways to create the supportive and rich music environment children need to develop their inborn music potential. And keep in mind it is not about how good a singer you are! What’s important is that you model the enjoyment of making music yourself. Some adults feel self-conscious about their own singing and dancing and some may think they need to be a great singer or musician in order to be a good musical role model. But, research suggests that even parents who cannot sing in tune can still provide their child with a positive disposition for music-making. In addition, singing and dancing together can be an important way to bond with your child. Plus, it’s a lot of fun for everyone!”

Other highlights of the Music Together survey include:

• The likelihood of parents to agree that learning music is important to a child’s general development increases with the age of the parent: 18-34 (79%), 35-44 (89%), and 45-54 (92%). 
• Nearly all (98%) of U.S. parents with a child under 18 think children need a music education. The average age these parents think music education should begin is at 3.3 years old. Nearly 3 in 10 (28%) think this education should begin before the age of 1; 52% believe this education for children should begin between ages 1 and 5; and 18% believe this should happen at age 6 or older. 
• Dads are more likely than moms to say that music education should start at a later age (average age to begin music education: 4.0 vs. 2.7, respectively). Dads are more than twice as likely as Moms to say this should start at the age of 6 or older (26% vs. 12%, respectively).

For the complete survey results, please visit: www.musictogether.com/mtsurvey2014.

Survey Methodology: This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Music Together from July 29–31, 2014, among 2065 adults ages 18 and older, 483 of whom have children under the age of 18. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, click here.