“YES!!!!” You say. “I need this! JUST GIVE IT TO ME NOW!!!” Okay, okay! Here are the links to access the song: Amazon Music, iTunes, Google Music, and Spotify.
For those of you who are curious about the background of the song, while I was reading my Curiosity app (which I LOVE, by the way), I stumbled upon an article on “The Happy Song” that used science and music to create a song to make babies happy. If you are a parent of a baby, you know how valuable that is. When he/she decides to have a meltdown it’s like the ripple effect. The cries emanate 360 degrees from the epicenter and jolt everyone within the audible radius. Some people are understanding while others, not so much.
At the request of C&G Baby Club, scientists Casper Addyman (lecturer in Developmental Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London) and Lauren Stewart (music psychologist) were tasked to create a song based on science that babies would like (from theconversation.com).
They found that not much is known about babies’ music preferences, so they started with what they knew the song should incorporate: it should be written in a major key, have a simple repetitive melody, should be upbeat, and have a mother’s sing-song voice. Imogen Heap, the composer who also has an 18 month-old, started with four tunes and decided on a melody that when tested on 26 babies, 20 seemed to enjoy.
The scientists then asked 2500 C&G Baby Club parents to vote on the sounds that made their babies happy. According to theconversation.com,
The top ten sounds included “boo!” (66%), raspberries (57%), sneezing (51%), animal sounds (23%) and baby laughter (28%). We also know babies respond better to “plosive” vocal sounds like “pa” and “ba” compared to “sonorant” sounds like “la”. Heap very cleverly worked many of these elements into the song.
Since happiness is a shared social emotion, the scientists needed something the parents would enjoy too. After some tweaks to the tempo, lyrics, and sound effects, they had their masterpiece. I rather like it. Especially the babies’ laughter.
Perhaps this is just the song you need before embarking on your holiday travels. This one may even make it onto your favorite playlist! Again, it is available on Amazon Music, iTunes, Google Music, and Spotify. Check out the Youtube link to the song (I love it!):
Filed in categories: Articles
Tagged: Kid Gadgets, Music
Science + music = The Happy Song, to make babies happy (especially over the holidays!!) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 23, 2017 at 8:00 am.
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