What Experts Say
The award-winning Love Me Playful was recently named as one of
the “Top 100 Children’s Products for 2005” by well-known
industry analyst Dr. Steveanne Auerbach (DR. TOY: Institute for
Childhood Resources/San Francisco). Her review and product
assessment follows. NOTE: Information
about Dr. TOY is found in the Press
Release.
Love Me Playful (Rhapsody Records)
This is the second CD in an innovative research-based music
series entitled Songs of Peace and Play. Recordings in
the series were developed over a three-year time frame by
Gwendolyn McGraw, award-winning children’s artist and early
childhood music specialist who is Chair of Music Education at
The University of Southern California. The 16 selections on this
CD were composed and arranged to be responsive to the
perceptual, cognitive, motor, and social-emotional capacities of
babies and toddlers—while still being enjoyable for older
listeners.
Love Me Playful offers almost 50 minutes of happy,
interactive musical adventures for young children and their
parents. Songs are gentle and provide a playful music framework
that encourages healthy social-emotional connections during
early development. In the 20-page booklet, McGraw presents ideas
for using the CD during the period of “receptive learning,” a
time when little ones learn by watching, listening, and
doing—but don’t necessarily respond by singing. Some songs
feature movement and dancing, playing instruments, and baby
games like peek-a-boo or patty-cake, while other selections
include the use of puppets, balls, and bubbles. With a great mix
of traditional favorites along with songs composed and arranged
by McGraw, there is also plenty to engage those who would prefer
to listen or sing along. The winning collaboration of McGraw
with Sacramento engineer/producer Craig Long has resulted in a
recording recognized for wonderful arrangements and vocals. The
high quality and outstanding production values make this a CD
with great appeal for listeners of all ages.
“What a beautiful voice!
These CDs are nothing like what I expected. The songs are soft and
soothing yet interesting.
I sure don’t remember children’s songs like this from my day.
How about a CD of Italian lullabies and I will start my
childhood over again? Musically you’re right on the money with
these high quality recordings. Your voice is absolutely
beautiful! “
Jerry Del Colliano
Jerry Del Colliano founded the industry
magazine Inside Radio out of a bedroom in his home in New
Jersey in 1975. In 2002, after building a worldwide reputation
as arguably the most powerful radio trade publication in the
radio business, he sold the magazine to Clear Channel
Communications. In addition to traditional as well as internet
publishing, Mr. Del Colliano’s career has included radio
broadcasting, program management, and television news. He is a
graduate of Temple University’s College of Communications in
Philadelphia. He currently serves as Director of Executive
Programs and Clinical Professor of Music Industry and the
Recording Arts at the University of Southern California.
“I finally had the joy of listening to Love Me Tender.
What a gift it is! From the very first note, I held my breath
and then just smiled. You have remarkable gifts to contribute to
changing the sound of what is available for the very young! Your
voice is beautiful and the accompaniments are musical, tasteful,
and spare—adding to the feeling of gentleness. The melodies
shine through!
You’ve done a great job with the scholarly/informational part of
this. If you publish this as an accompanying handbook for
parents, I think it will add a great deal to the usefulness. It
is truly educational. There is a crying need for work of this
quality in the arena of children’s recordings. Your reasoning is
right on and your gifts enormous.”
Dr. Carol Scott-Kassner
Dr. Carol Scott-Kassner has been a
professor of music education and Seattle Pacific University and
the University of Central Florida. She is a founding board
member of the Early Childhood Commission of the International
Society of Music Education and former chair of the Music
Education Research Council and Society for General Music
Education. She is an author of three music series for Silver
Burdett Ginn and co-author of Music in Childhood: From
Preschool through the Elementary Years. She also authored
chapters in both editions of the Handbook of Research in
Music Teaching and Learning.
“Within the early childhood music education community, we often
bemoan the lack of high quality recorded music available for
young children (this has been an area of my own research).
Gwendolyn McGraw’s lullaby recording project is remarkable in
that it not only provides an extremely high quality musical
model, it is also based on meticulous research and investigation
into best practices in the profession.
Her lovely singing voice and beautiful arrangements demonstrate
high levels of musicality and artistry. I am confident that
through this project, Dr. McGraw’s work will be disseminated
widely and have a positive impact on a large national audience.”
(I love the CDs and hear the smile in your voice)
Dr. Wendy Sims
Dr. Wendy Sims, a specialist in early
childhood and elementary music education and research, is active
as an author and researcher, publishing articles regularly in
national and international journals, and editor of the book
Strategies for Teaching Prekindergarten Music. Her leadership
positions have included chair of the Music Education Research
Council of MENC-The National Association for Music Education,
membership on the Editorial Committee of The Journal of Research
in Music Education, chair of the International Society for Music
Education (ISME) Early Childhood Commission, membership on the
ISME Board of Directors, and ISME Publications Committee Chair.
“The CD Love Me Tender by Gwendolyn McGraw is a
refreshing change to much of the poor quality children’s music
literature on the shelves today. Here is superior quality that
deserves the highest support from the commercial music industry.
The wide range and choice of the material is perfectly
appropriate for the babies and infants for whom it is
designed--and the entire family will gain the benefits of its
exceptional musical beauty and standards.
Research has shown that musical learning and memory begin in the
womb, supporting the need for a high quality musical environment
in early childhood. In the same way that infants learn speech
through constant exposure that begins from before birth, they
acquire the music of their culture. No matter how complex the
vocal language, infants learn to speak whatever language is in
their environment. Similarly, they can learn high quality music.
Too often, children are given musical toys that are out of tune
and played CDs with inferior standards of musicality. Research
shows us that humans are innately musical, being able to
discriminate the components of music—pitch, duration, timbre,
and intensity—from birth, and that this musical perception
develops in the final months in the womb. Children will learn to
imitate the music of their environment in the same way that
infants begin to speak after lengthy exposure to complex
language. Parents and society play a vital role in determining
the quality of the musical environment that will challenge the
potential for musical learning in the child . . .
I am proud to fully endorse these lullabies . . . Love Me
Tender sets a new standard by which future children’s music
will be gauged.”
Dr. Sheila Woodward
Dr. Sheila C. Woodward teaches Music
Education at the Thornton School of Music at the University of
Southern California, USA. A native South African, her research
has been published internationally and she has given
presentations in many parts of the globe. She serves on the
Board of Directors of the International Society for Music
Education (ISME). She has directed numerous multicultural
children’s music festivals in South Africa and community
outreach programs in both South Africa and in the USA.
I have never been so touched and emotional listening to any CD
for children like this! I came home Thursday night, sat down,
turned my computer on at home, and put one of the CDs in the
player. I was busy typing away while the CD was loading up. Then
the music started and I stopped typing, having become completely
mesmerized. Your voice is absolutely beautiful. My fiancé
absolutely loves it as well.
Thank you for letting me borrow this CD and for sharing some of
your music with me. I’m so proud that my mentor, my professor,
made such a beautiful CD for children!
Email: University of Southern California
Doctoral Student
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