My six-year-old nephew “Aiden” has told his mom (my sister) he wants his own music. He doesn’t have an MP3 player or other device but she’s agreed to download what he asks for, pending approval, onto hers or the family computer.
His first list included Katy Perry 
Sis gently shot that one down.
This is a great chance to nudge Aiden towards better music so I’m trying to come up with some songs for a Christmas present. I’d love some recommendations. Anyone want to help?
early Beatles maybe some Stones . . get him started in the classics and he’ll discover the rest on his own (with a little help–no pun intended)
My kids like the They Might Be Giants kids albums.
They also like Sufjan Stevens.
They also like the They Might Be Giants grown-up albums.
My daughter digs Adele
They like the Beatles and the Monkees.
I’ll note that my musical tastes have almost nothing to do (in fact may be in some opposition to) the stuff my parents liked and had me listen to. I don’t know how universal this phenomenon is, though.
Is there something specific about Katy Perry that gives you the sad face, or is it just a general dislike thing?
Why not check out the real “classics” before he’s worried about his friends’ opinions of cool vs. not? A little Mozart or Beethoven to go with the Beatles or whatever? Seriously, though, it’s hard to shape tastes, so let him enjoy music, so long as he understands that Katy Perry isn’t the only option. I have a toddler who responds to music of every stripe, and has done so since birth. She loves rhythm and tunes, and is exposed to everything shy of gangster rap. I also have a very musical almost-11-year-old, who loves Katy Perry but is also being introduced to lots of other vocalists and music styles in an informed way. She can appreciate Marion Anderson and Janis Ian, but her tastes remain her own. No sense in drawing a battle line over preferences, imho.
Louis Armstrong
Dizzy Gillespie
My son has enjoyed some of Jonathan Coulton’s songs since about that age… one favourite being Code Monkey and another re: Your Brains; there’s also something endearingly cute about a small child singing:
*All we want to do is eat your brains
We’re not unreasonable, I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes…
*
I guess I’m uncool, because I don’t know enough about Katy Perry to know why she might not be appropriate listening for a six year-old.
Apollyon’s Coulton references made me think of Voltaire’s Brains!. Lots of his stuff is fun, but you’d want to pick and choose carefully.
Here’s a sample:
God damnit - now that’s stuck in my head, and I’m at work and there’s no music allowed.
Bloody Christ…
we’re at an impasse here, maybe we could compromise… Gaaaahh!!!
Bad news. Telling the kid he can’t have Katie Perry makes it worse. Let him have the Katie Perry and show him that the other stuff is way more fun. You have to show him, not tell him. If he chooses Katie Perry, let it go, he’ll come back if you’re right.
I say “Go the other route” - get him hooked on Spike Jones, Tom Lehrer and Weird Al.
Obligatory Onion link:
Cool Dad Raising Daughter On Media That Will Put Her Entirely Out Of Touch With Her Generation
The “They Might Be Giants” suggestion was very good. They have four kid-oriented albums (that I love as someone in his late 30’s). My daughter is just turning 6 and we enjoy them together (usually come with a DVD as well). Good clean stuff, though the Science album might make some religious folks upset (songs about evolution, etc).
She has at least one Katy Perry song on her play list. Something about Fireworks. It’s not my thing but didn’t find it offensive. We have some Gaga on there too (if you care to judge me!) While I won’t play her the video for Bad Romance, she does enjoy the Weird Al version. I’m quite proud. We make liberal use of buying single songs on whatever store for 99 cents.
She tends to find female singers more her style. That and things she can dance to. She’ll glom onto songs we have playing like somethings by “The Jezabels” that have strong female vocals. We have some Cold Play on her playlist too. Stuff she’s heard on the radio or on background tracks to videos on YouTube.
Oh, her current play list contains: “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train. “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats, “YMCA” by the Village People, “Particle Man” by TMBG, and “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon. There’s some U2 and Sting on there too.
Turn him on to some Jamaican music. Reggae, ska, rock steady, calypso. Kids can really get into the rhythm of it.
remember that bartender in joseph wambaugh’s book “the secrets of harry bright?” he refused to play any rock-and-roll music in his bar, to the dismay of the young cops.
“maybe you kids don’t have the sophistication to appreciate a song like ‘bewitched, bothered, and bewildered?’ what’s going to be the memory of your youth, ‘wake me up before you go-go?’”
Other than Classical music I can’t think of anything, all my other suggestions would be B.I.G., Snoop and Dr. Dre (I know, I’m an odd bird, what can I say, Beethoven was, in my mind, on the same level as Notorious…but maybe not as OK for kids though ;))
As a 49 year old classic rock lover I see absolutely nothing wrong with Katy Perry.
Pushing prejudices aside she’s actually pretty talented. Lady Gaga too.
You can lead a horse to water, and all that…
My suggestion: Then And Now by The Monkees
I find myself picking up albums or artists that strike my fancy, only to realize later that it was an album that my parents had played when I was younger. I’ve heard more than one song used as part of a movie or TV show soundtrack that I bought only to realize later that my dad used to sing it to me at night when I was little. So, for me, at least, my musical tastes are greatly shaped by my parents’ choices in music when I was little.
Katy Perry sings quite sexualized songs. Firework is a rare outlier praising the general you for being so totally awesome. “You don’t have to feel like a waste of space. You’re original; cannot be replaced. If you only knew what the future holds, after a hurricane comes a rainbow. Cuz baby, you’re a firework. etc. etc. etc.”
My six year old daughter’s all-time favorite song is Fly by Night by Rush. She also loves the Mario theme song, Baby Baby by the Bieb, Crazy Train by Ozzy, and various Buddhist chants, like Green Tara. She digs the repetition I guess.
I say they’re gonna like what they’re gonna like. If he likes Katy Perry maybe find some pretty girl singer who sings some milder songs.