Abbot Kinney Festival 2013!

Abbot Kinney Festival 2013!

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Venice on Sunday, and I was invited to start the day at the Tot Lot stage, hosted by Books and Cookies, at 10 a.m.  After the parade came by shortly thereafter, I started my set, playing "Hello Hello," "Get Ready for the Day" and "How Do You Do That?" on my guitar.

I switched over to the uke to sing two more songs from my CD - "Yes and No" and "Wash Your Hands."  Books and Cookies provided instruments for everyone, so all the children were participating in some way or other!  I went over to my trusty keyboard to do a "Happy Dance" mix of "If You're Happy and You Know It" as well as a dance mix of "This Old Man," counting from one to five.

I closed out the set on the keyboard with "Thank You" and put on some dance music while I blew bubbles into the crowd.  It went by extremely fast, and I had so much fun!

New Teacher Davis Video!

                                               Sprout Host Hunt Audition!

I was watching the Today Show on July 30, and I found out the Sprout network is looking for a new host to add to its Sunny Side Up Show, a morning program for preschoolers. I just HAD to try out!  Each applicant has to introduce his or her own "chica" (which is actually a chick puppet that co-hosts the show), present a theme for the week, tie the theme into an upcoming program on the channel, and THEN sing the Sprout Happy Birthday song!  I chose a dalmatian puppet I have to be my "chica," and I decided to sing the song with my ukulele!

Teacher Davis -Sprout Host Hunt Audition Video                                       

  

We filmed the video on August 17 in the afternoon at my home, and I e-mailed it to Sprout the following week.  It's posted on the Sprout Youtube channel, and so far I have 300+ views, and I'm really hoping I can be one of the final three to audition for the Sprout producers in Philadelphia in early September!  However, if that doesn't happen, it was a great experience to prepare and film the audition, and I think it's going to help make me a better entertainer and teacher, especially for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year.

Hope you get to check it out with the link above!  Enjoy!

CBW Show on July 13, 2013

CHILDREN'S BOOK WORLD SHOW - JULY 13!

I'm so excited to be playing at Children's Book World again!  The show will be at 10:30 a.m. on Pico Blvd. near Overland in West LA.  I really like this venue -- I'm surrounded by books, and the staff there is wonderful as well.  If you're reading this, I hope you can bring your children and enjoy the show this Saturday morning!

May 2013

A great month of music and we're in the middle of it! We've been reviewing our musical notes, going over "piano" and "forte" with percussion, and rehearsing our Mother's Day songs for the big event this past Sunday!  

I was also able to play a show at Children's Book World on Saturday, with songs on the guitar, uke and tabla from India!  It's always great letting kids know that music is healthy AND educational.  It's one of the most - if not THE most - effective way of learning!

"Where ...?" Video!

Hello hello!

Well, another Teacher Davis video is done and ready to be viewed!  It's another track off my debut children's album, SPECIAL SONGS for SPECIAL KIDS, and it features the wonderful Teacher Amanda, who has done shows with me in the past at The Zimmer Museum, The Levitt Pavilion and other places!

This video was directed and edited by the lovely Connie Tsai.  Take a look and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEIBMfLB4SU

Let's March for March!

Let's March for March!

Ah, the beautiful month of March is in full swing!  No Saturday concerts this month - I did play at Books and Cookies in January, The Westchester Library and Children's Book World in February, but this month is a month to teach during the weekday and also work on the next Teacher Davis album, which is all about the basic components of music and different activities regarding movement.

This month we did some singing for St. Patrick's Day and also a song for Passover.  A lot of older students are really understanding musical notes and being able to play them on shakers, bells, tambourines and drums.  Some other friends really look forward to the "Yoga Song" once a week in which we are learning basic yoga poses such as the tree pose and downward dog.  I also enjoyed playing "We'll Be Dancin' 'round the Mountain" (my adaptation of "She'll Be Comin' 'round the Mountain") with three different instruments from the three musical families -- the guitar from the string family; tambourines from the percussion family; and the harmonica from the wind family!

After the spring break, we'll be gearing up for more fun during the Music Day Hooray! Spring Quarter 2013, when we'll be singing new songs, doing new activities and learning new things!

February 2013 - A Busy Time!

It's February!
 
We're singing about so many things this month ... Chinese New Year ("Gung Hay Fat Choy"), Valentine's Day ("Valentine's Day"), Purim ("Hag Purim," among others) and the upcoming Presidents' Day holiday.  Also, thanks to one of the teachers at Mar Vista Montessori who requested a song about not talking to strangers, I adapted "If You're Happy ..."  into a song called "People We Don't Know":
 
Do we ever talk to people we don't know? No, no!
Do we take things from people we don't know?  No, no!
Do we get in cars of people we don't know?  No, no!
You can never be sure with a stranger
It's better to be safe than in danger
Do we ever talk to people we don't know?  No, no!
 
A lot of children have gotten the chance this week to strike the Chinese gong that I have brought to all my schools, and it's also "sitar week," where we sing our ABC's and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to this lovely instrument that is SO hard to lug around as well as keep in tune, but oh boy, do the children have a blast seeing what it is!

   

Here I am with the sitar performing at the Westchester-Loyola Village Library on Tuesday afternoon (February 5).  More pictures are at www.facebook.com/musicdayhooray.
 
I peformed at Books and Cookies last month, and I can't wait to make my premiere performance at Children's Book World in West LA on February 23! 



What a fun and festive new year!

We just finished singing about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. last week and are still getting ready for Tu B'shevat (a Jewish holiday on January 26 celebrating trees) with a FUNdamentals song titled "Trees!"

I'm very excited to be playing my first show of the year at Books and Cookies this Saturday!

I'm in the final stages of finishing the new Teacher Davis CD, which should be released in the late spring.  It's an exciting year for me, and I hope it is for you too!