Parents often come to Rhymetime saying that they need to learn new songs, and new verses, but actually I think we all have a memory bank of songs in our brains, tucked away, ready to be revitalised. Those songs we learned as children, with our parents or at school, are usually bursting to get out. Constant repetition of Old MacDonald is wearing, I give you that, but when we sing the tunes that our mothers and fathers sang to us, even if we don’t remember it consciously, we sink into the feeling of being safe, as if we are being wrapped in a musical comfort blanket.
By coming to Rhymetime and singing at home we are rebuilding this musical culture, reappropriating old songs, drawing in the new, and weaving a new blanket for our own children. As our families grow, these songs, sung together, are musical rituals that bond us. The simple tunes become common currency to smooth our course through the day. We can sing them with different words (“This is the way we zip our coat”), or bellow them to distract a hungry child as we tramp through East Street. These songs become part of our lives, to sing again and again and again and again.
Have a good week!