We’re still going strong on our New Year’s Resolution! On Instagram I have been promising people I would post this for months- so I apologize for taking so long. It seems like a lot of people want to do this project but get hung up on not being able to think of 52 different bands and artists- my advice to you is just start even if you only have ten! You can always add more later.
Please keep in mind that YOU can customize your jar however you want. I think one of the reasons I was hesitant to show all the music we included is that I don’t want to be judged for not censoring the music Nova listens to enough. It’s a personal choice! I grew up in a universe where Harry Potter was banned so I know all about censorship, and I personally don’t think it’s necessary to censor music (for MY children) very much at all. You do you!
Our goal with our selections was variety. I actually wish we would have added more pop music/new music but we’re enjoying what we have so far. Every once in a while there is one she doesn’t connect with as much, but for the most part she’s loved all the different bands. We spent an extra week on The Beach Boys since it’s one of our personal favorites.
Bands/artists in our jar:
David Bowie, Alvvays, Justin Timberlake, Fleetwood Mac, The White Stripes, Cher, Celine Dion, Abba, Beck, The Beach Boys, Jackson 5, Garth Brooks, The Monkees, Jenny Lewis, FUN, Johnny Cash, Louis Cole, Billy Joel, Dusty Springfield, John Lennon, Roy Oribison, Elvis, Frank Ocean, Chris Merritt, The Beatles, The Supremes, Nancy Sinatra, Andy Williams, The Cardigans, Dolly Parton, The Flaming Lips, Sufjan Stevens, The Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Alanis, Frank Sinatra, Patsy Cline, Sleeping At Last, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Journey, Nirvana, Vampire Weekend, Elton John, MIA, Billie Holiday, Queen, Electric Light Orchestra, The Smiths, Lana Del Rey, Stevie Wonder, Leon Bridges, Shania Twain.
We didn’t include the artists Nova already listened to the most before the year began: Dragon Inn III, Kacey Musgraves, Amy Winehouse and a few others. I think we will 100% continue this into next year. It’s been SO GOOD for her, and for us too since we tend to get “stuck” on listening to the same music. This has helped us to branch way out!
Also- I wanted to add a few notes about our experience so far!
Like I said above there have been maybe two where she just did not like the music and we gave it a couple days of trying and then just kind of moved on.
We listen to whatever artist we are on in the car every day. If it’s a danceable artist we sometimes listen to it at home a lot too- it depends on the week.
We have a playlist of her favorites from each artist so we add a between one and three new songs each week. We play this playlist usually every Saturday in our car so she can sing along to all her favorite songs.
We have only gotten to about half the artists on the above list but so far her favorites are Billy Joel, Dusty Springfield and Johnny Cash- she loves the song “Jackson”. augh!
We also have a very special tradition that came from this where we listen to Frank Ocean’s cover of “Moon River” while laying under a blanket together (in “outer space”) it’s pure childhood magic!
I definitely recommend this experience for anyone who wants to expose your children to a bigger variety of music, but needs some structure in doing so. xx
