About Music for Aardvarks

Music for Aardvarks is a refreshing alternative to the traditional music class for kids. The program was created in 1997 in Brooklyn, NY by rock musician/composer and father of three, David Weinstone. Music for Aardvarks is distinct from other children's music programs in that all classes are based around Mr. Weinstone's original songs, rhythms, and chants. With influences of rock, blues, ballads, folk, jazz and pop, Aardvark songs uniquely reflect and celebrate the lives of children growing up today.

The music is innovative, intelligent, and irresistibly appealing to both kids and their parents. Our informal, spirited classes are geared toward children 3 months to 5 years old and incorporate singing, dancing, musical storytelling, instrumental jam sessions, and more. It's an interactive musical experience that the whole family can genuinely get excited about!

Adam Roberts, Director/Teacher

Adam is an accomplished acoustic bassist, who also plays guitar, drums and whatever other instruments he can get his hands on. He received a Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of Michigan and a Master of Fine Arts in jazz performance/acoustic bass from SUNY Purchase. Upon graduating from Purchase, Adam began touring with TONY award winner Melba Moore. He has appeared on numerous recordings and has played at major clubs and festivals around the world including the St. Lucia Jazz Festival, The Detroit International Jazz Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, Shea Stadium, Irving Plaza, Blues Alley (DC), Majestic Theater (Detroit), Hnita-Jazz Club (Heist-Op-Den-Berg), L'archiduc (Brussels), Manchester Craftsmen Guild (Pittsburgh) and Telluride Bluegrass Festival. His bass playing can be heard on the big and small screen in such films as "The Cooler" (Lions Gate Films) and Sundance Channel's "Iconoclast." Adam regularly performs with Broadway stars Gavin Creel and Shayna Steele as well as SBT (Steve Blanco Trio), Dutch vocalist Aafje Van Summeren,

Hayes Greenfield and Betty's Diner, Walter Parks, The Goldsparkle Band, and Patchen & Roberts, among others. When time allows in his busy schedule as a sideman, you can catch him leading his own group, The Adam Roberts Tree, Yo! Adam is also very active in music education. He was assistant band director at the Manhattan Village Academy and taught preschool music classes at Citibabes in Soho. He is also an active member of Hayes Greenfield's Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz, an interactive show introducing children of all ages to the world of jazz. Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz tours internationally in workshop and concert settings, while also performing assemblies in countless school cafetoriums around the country. Adam is also the Music Director for the Rock and Roll Playhouse introducing the live Rock and Roll concert experience to children and their families all over the country He taught Music for Aardvarks classes for 3 years in Westchester, before bringing this exciting, interactive musical experience for children to Hoboken in 2007. His sons Lucas and Hudson are big fans!

PHILOSOPHY

  • A SIMPLE PHILOSOPHY

    Provided with a stimulating and fertile musical environment, positive role models, gentle guidance and encouragement, young children will have enriching and vital musical experiences that help them gain a sense of themselves and a connection to the world they live in.

  • GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS

    A Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals class is a place where children can experience music in a rich variety of ways. Whether actively participating or simply listening and watching, children are learning in ways that are right for them as individuals, and at their own pace. A more instructional approach, with a focus on specific results, is not only age inappropriate, but totally unnecessary for their musical development. Exposure to musical experiences, guidance, and parental modeling allows young children to explore and learn on their own without the anxiety of other’s expectations.

  • PARENTS AS MODELS

    Parent/caregiver participation in class activities is strongly encouraged. Whether you consider yourself to be musically inclined, or someone who can't carry a tune to save your life, is of little importance when it comes to the positive impact your participation will have on your child. Your willingness and enthusiasm are invaluable assets to the group as a whole and exemplify for your child that joining in is not about "performing" but having fun. And by the way, if Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals isn't fun, demand your money back. Hope to see you in class!

The following is an excerpt from an interview with David Weinstone

(Creator of Music for Aardvarks) by Fabra Kate of Kid's Cuts Radio

Fabra Kate: You have obviously hit a nerve with your audience. What is it about your music that children respond to?

David Weinstone: I think it's a matter of getting into their heads and trying to see the world from their eyes. I wrote the song "Velcro" because my son was learning to dress himself but couldn't tie up his sneaks. We bought him the velcro kind and he was like master of his feet. There are dozens of trials and tribulations in the day-to-day life of children and sometimes the little things can mean a lot. I write about things that really happen to kids and they recognize the situations

FK: The first time I listened to your music was in my car driving home from work and I found myself laughing out loud. I remember thinking how witty and sophisticated it was at times, but there is also this element of ridiculousness likened to a Three Stooges movie. Can you talk a little bit about the humor in your songs?

DW: I don't know why but I never liked The Three Stooges. Could you change that to The Marx Brothers or The Keystone Cops?

FK: And how do you answer that?

DW: I don't know, it always stumps me.

FK: Parents I've talked to speak passionately about your music, but some of your critics have suggested that you sometimes cross the line between what is appropriate for young children, and what is really more adult music.

DW: Is that a question?

FK: Is there any music you do consider inappropriate for children?

DW: Yes, most children's music.

FK: Seriously.

DW: I am serious. Music that's dumbed-down and full of corny cliches is offensive to me, and I think it does our children a great disservice. Kids are smarter than that and deserve better from us. Of course, I'm opposed to music with violent themes or foul language for children. I would like to see us (as a culture) introduce music to children with the same kind of intelligence and creativity we introduce them to the other arts. We have a wonderful theater for them. Wonderful children's literature and art. Why should they be listening to the equivalent of stick figure drawings?

FK: You also write songs that deal with birth and death, feelings of separation, and anger. How do you make more complex subjects accessible to a child?

DW: Well, I don't think the examples you mentioned are necessarily complex from a child's perspective. If your kid gets upset you pretty much know why immediately. They were denied a toy or they were scared of a new situation. Maybe they just needed a diaper change. When adults get upset or react to things with fear or anger it may really be about something else that happened to them twenty-five years ago. You can broach these topics with kids because it's easier to pinpoint the source of their feelings. So instead of writing a fluffy song about how it's okay to be angry, you write a song about the elusive Buzz Lightyear toy or something. I wrote a song called "Little Flower." The flower is born, blooms, almost gets trampled; falls in love with the sun then withers and dies. It's an epic tale in a minute-and-a-half about love, vulnerability, triumph, and finally death. Is it too complex for a two-year-old? No, it's a song about a flower.

FK: O.K., Seinfeld meets The Keystone Cops.

DW: Everybody needs a good laugh now and then. Despite all the mood swings, I think kids are pretty easily amused, especially by their own antics. I wrote a song called "I Crack Me Up" about that giddy state of mind kids can get to where they're laughing for its own sake. I also like to poke fun at kids in a way that lets them laugh at themselves, like in the song "Grumpy" or "Meltdown." Humor is a great healer but sometimes funny is just funny, like when a child asks, "How many more minutes until I have to go to bed?" You say fifteen more minutes and they ask, "How many is that?"

FK: Well, I guess it's really two questions: What is the appeal to parents? And, how do you respond to your critics?

DW: I think the parents find the stylistic diversity in the music exciting. The element of surprise both musically and lyrically. The different energy levels. And I also think they recognize it as being authentically original and intelligent compared to other children's music. As far as the music being inappropriate for young children, I think that's ridiculous. My writing is full of traditional folk, pop and jazz, classical and Latin influences, but I've grown up listening to The Ramones, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Lou Reed and Nirvana. If some of my songs seem over-the-top to a few people I say "buy something else." I'm not crossing a line. Hopefully I'm erasing one.

FK: How do your kids like your music?

DW: I think they like it. Unless they're just being polite.

The fantastic history of music for aardvarks and other mammals

4.5 billion BC to 80 million BC:

Molten lava hardens, mountains and oceans are formed, the first protein meets the first amino acid, fish grow feet, big lizards, apes walk upright, etc...

80 million BC to 6000 BC:

People stop wandering around and plant food.

6000 BC to September 6th, 1996:

Pyramids are built, Greece and Rome's stuff happens, the Italian Renaissance, (some decent art) lots of wars, the industrial revolution, and a guy named David Weinstone loses his job as a waiter.

October 1996 to July 1997:

David Weinstone takes a job teaching for a national music program for pre-schoolers and plays in a grunge rock band at night.

August 1997:

Weinstone checks out some other children's music classes with his toddler, decides kids need better music, writes a few songs about taxis, skyscrapers, bagels, boogers, and stuff, and friends say "Yeah!"

September 7th, 1997:

The first Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals class is held in the basement of a restaurant in the East Village of Manhattan, six families attend and leave with big smiles.

It should be noted that the incredible events following that first class are hazy at best. Historians believe that the six original families were each given a cassette of Weinstone's songs for their children to listen to at home. Bootleg copies were made and circulated around the neighborhood and within a few weeks angry (well, at least disappointed) mobs of stroller-pushing parents were being turned away at the door. It is well documented that Fox 5's Good Day New York, Metro Guide TV, NYU Arts, and many small local papers and radio stations ran features on the music and the classes. This, along with strong word of mouth and the continued spread of the tapes transformed a fledgling music program into a bona-fide local phenomenon. Within one year of its conception, MFA had become a household name in New York City.

The children's songs by David Weinstone, originally intended for use simply as a reference to class activities, have since captured the imagination and touched the hearts of families all across the country and around the world. Today MFA continues to enjoy astounding success and praise with recent full-page profiles in Time Magazine, The New York Times, and The New York Daily News. National exposure seems imminent as more and more music educators discover the music that so many children have already come to treasure, and utilize it in their school programs.

Experts agree something very exciting and new came into being that fateful day 4.5 billion years ago, and then again on September 7th, 1997. What impact these events will have in the grand scheme of things both past and future is yet to be seen, and yet to be written.

Hoboken Aardvarks appeared on MSNBC

FAQ

  • A confirmation email will be sent right after you register. If you do not receive a confirmation within an hour after submitting your registration, please call us to confirm that we have received it. Class placement will be confirmed via email once payment is received.

  • Please see the Classes page for pricing. Children under 6 months accompanied by an older sibling are free. All payments must be received on or before the first day of class. If you are going to miss your first class, please be sure that your payment has been sent to reserve your spot. Spots are held upon payment received.

  • You are welcome to makeup as many classes as you miss. Please schedule makeups with the teacher.

  • You may occasionally schedule to bring a guest with a child to class provided there is room. Adult family members and relatives are always welcome.

  • The tuition fee is fully refundable before the first day of the semester begins. Up until two weeks after the semester has begun 50% of tuition fees will be refunded for remaining unattended classes at the time of cancellation. No refunds after two weeks.

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