Music Review: Creative Movement and Rhythmic Expression

Have you heard of the plenteous Hap Palmer? He's a been a very influential children's singer for decades. He's one of my favorite kindie musicians and I haven't heard all of his albums yet. My storytime good-bye song is one of his songs. Today's CD, Creative Movement and Rhythmic Expression, does not have the good-bye song I use, so I'll have to share that on a later date.

The goal of Creative Movement and Rhythmic Expression is to give children a way to freely express themselves during music. Lyrics are included in the CD insert, but instructions are not included. The songs explore listening, movement, shapes, and colors. The songs have a great pace for kids to follow along with the song. They are not too fast and give instrumental "pauses" from the lyrics to give listeners the chance to move! I also like that many of Palmer's songs "repeat." (Similar verses with different movement options.)

If you're hearing a song for the first time, it can be intimidating to move right away when you don't know what's going on. When verses are repeated in similar fashion, listeners can pick up on what to do and wade into moving more. It's also easier to create your own verses for a more personalized version of a song!

You can get a preview of Hap Palmer's songs at Educational Activities, Inc. Below is the track list and a few notes from me. The italicized tracks were some of the songs I would consider using during storytime:

Track List --
1. - Moving Game I - listen and move (tree in the wind, jet plane, riding a horse, rocket ship)
2. - Fishing Trip - story song - listen and move - instrumental sections throughout for plenty of time to move during the song
3. - Colored Ribbons - ribbon song - body song - color song - instrumental sections throughout for plenty of time to move during the song
4. - Teacher Who Couldn't Talk - instruments song - movement song
5. - Percussion Instruments - memory song  that follows "Teacher Who Couldn't Talk"
6. - Grandpa Builds a Table - story song - listen and move - tools song - movement song - instrumental sections after each tool mentioned
7. - Fast and Slow March - movement song (just as the title says) - slow, fast, slow so there is recovery time
8. - Out to the Country - story song - traveling song: city to the country in a car
9. - How Many Ways - shapes song (square, circle, triangle, figure eight) - instrumental sections after each shape mentioned
10. - Moving Game II - listen and move (elephant, bird, ball/sports, clown)

Reviewed from a personal copy.

Album: Creative Movement and Rhythmmic Expression
Artist: Hap Palmer
Label: Educational Activities, Inc.
Genre: Kindie / Family
Length: 28:16
Release Date: 1998 (originally 1971)

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A to Z Challenge - Letter C - Creative Movement and Rhythmic Expression - Hap Palmer