This songspeak is thanks to my 3 year old daughter, Quinn. Though it’s not her first.

Our friend Aric Bieganek teaches music at the Northampton Parents Center in Northampton, MA.  He also performs children’s music on occasion in the area. About a month or so ago, we brought Quinn to see him perform at the Cup and Top Cafe in Florence. It was quickly apparent that Aric has quite a fanbase in the 2 to 6 year old demographic. His songs and performance were fun for the whole family, and Quinn fell in love with him.

We purchased his Live at the Northampton Parents Center CD so Quinn could listen to it in the car. On The Rockin’ ABC’s track, Aric starts with a silly recital of the alphabet: “A, B, C, D, E, F…P? (giggles and laughter from the kids). H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O…banana? (more giggles). Q, R, S, T, U…alligator? (the side-splitting hilarity continues). W, X, Y, and…cucumber?” Every single time we listen to this in the car, Quinn belly laughs at Aric’s zaniness. Her personal favorite is the cucumber part, and Quinn always sings her own silly ABC’s because of this track on the CD. It almost always starts out with, “A, B, C, D, E, F…cucumber?” and then she laughs at herself like she’s the funniest person on earth. She’ll usually replace cucumber with something that she can see at any given moment, like ”A, B, C, D, E, F…tree?” or ”A, B, C, D, E, F…firetruck?”

It’s stories like this that prove songspeak is indeed instinctual.

Tags: 00s music, aric bieganek, children's music, cup and top, cup and top cafe, florence, kid's music, live at the northampton parents center, northampton, northampton parents center, rockin' abc's, silly abc's