Our Music: A Look Back and a Look Ahead
Ken and Lili recording in 1988
and one of our original cassette tapes
The earliest Music Together® recordings were simple, with just our coauthors Lili Levinowitz and Ken Guilmartin singing accompanied by egg shakers, piano, or guitar. They had none of the (sometimes literal!) bells and whistles heard on your current Music Together playlists. Families were given cassette tapes (because 1980s) and photocopied song sheets to help them learn the melodies and lyrics.
As Music Together began to spread across the US and around the world, plans for more sophisticated recordings were put into motion. By 1988, it was time for the tapes given to families to reflect the high quality of the compositions. So time at a professional recording studio was booked and professional, high-caliber instrumentalists and vocalists were hired to bring the song arrangements fully to life.
The OG Recording Family
The Original Music Together
Recording Family
Most children’s music from the 80s featured either adults OR children. Since the “together” in “Music Together” is about family music-making, our recordings feature a group of grownups AND children singing like the parents, caregivers, and children did at home. Today, millions of parents, children, and teachers the world over recognize the voices of Mommy, Uncle Gerry, Daddy, and Grandma Yvette—and our recording family continues to expand as we add more music that reflects the world around us.
The original quartet of grownups heard on all the Music Together song collections includes Lynn Lobban, a Broadway actress who was the first person to bring Music Together to NYC; John McVey, an award-winning singer, music producer, and sound engineer; Gerry Dignan, a (singing!) Spanish teacher who, in his retirement, travels the world hosting Music Together family concerts; and Yvette Glover (1940-2020), a gospel singer and mother of Tony Award-winning dancer and choreographer Savion Glover. The recordings also feature a rotating cast of child singers, some of whom are now grown up and parents themselves. (Read more about them on our website.)
Music that Supports Children’s Learning
Thanks to the depth and breadth of our compositions, professional production, and top-notch recording artists, our music is rich and interesting, and loved by both children and adults. This means that you can listen to your child’s favorite song as many times as they want without accidentally-on-purpose deleting it from your phone. Plus, there are developmental benefits for your child.
Ongoing exposure to the many sounds and rhythms of music supports children’s music-learning, which naturally supports their overall development. An essential part of music development is lots of time singing, dancing, and jamming with the grownups they love. And the learning that happens in class is reinforced when those same songs are sung again and again at home. (Yes, the repetition is all a part of how children learn!) That doesn’t happen if the music children request isn’t enjoyable for everyone!
Back in the Studio
We’ve come a long way since those cassette tapes and photocopies. We now have a professional recording studio at our international headquarters in Hopewell, NJ, and beautifully illustrated songbooks that go home along with digital downloads. The studio is super-busy these days as we work to expand the Music Together repertoire to include different voices and a wider variety of instruments and sounds, in line with our commitment to have music that represents a diverse range of music traditions, cultures, and genres.
We’ve been adding updated versions of classic Music Together tunes and brand new songs to Music Together and Rhythm Kids collections since 2018. And, as the Music Together recording family has grown, we’ve continued our tradition of including singers and instrumentalists who are outstanding in their fields and who more fully represent the diversity of the world we share.
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