How to Write the Perfect Lullaby
I loved singing lullabies to my daughter. As a musical theater fan who suddenly had a captive audience (one that was physically unable to reach me), how could I not? While sleeping, before going to sleep, really at any time, I hummed my own versions of familiar classics. A couple of outstanding ones: “Don’t cry for me, baby” (performed to the melody “Don’t cry for me, Argentina”) and a song that I called “Child hypnosis”. To do this, I took the melody ofBrahms’ Lullaby and sang the words: “ Go to sleep, child, you are becoming very sleepy. You are becoming very sleepy, you will be sleeping right now “over and over again. Like clockwork, after, say, 27 rounds or so, the child finally passed out. Lullabies were my jam.
Although singing lullaby babies is a ritual handed down from generation to generation, it has been gaining attention lately. Researchers have found that there is something about these short, repetitive songs that children (hopefully!) Associate with sleep. According to a New York Times article , lullabies can help babies create neural pathways for calming, restore a sense of well-being in those who sing them (one study found that singing to babies was associated with fewer symptoms of postpartum depression ) and an opportunity for parents and children to bond. Dr. Anita Collins, author of the upcoming book The Lullaby Effect, tells The Times : “Hearing processing or hearing in babies is actually the most important feeling they have during the first two years of their life, the feeling that collects most of the information. about their world. “
While the most meaningful lullabies are often the ones you write yourself, not everyone feels completely at ease humming made-up lyrics to the tiny drooling person. You need to relax a little. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Don’t worry if you think you can’t handle a melody. Your child doesn’t care.
Replace your words with familiar songs and sing with simple, personal themes. The Lullaby project is an initiative of the A. Weil at Carnegie Hall, which helps mothers to bond with their babies with lullabies they write themselves. Singer and songwriter Emily Egen, co-founder of the project, explains in this video how you can take familiar songs like “Frère Jaques” and replace them with your own words – try singing about your baby’s day, toys or body parts.
Keep the tunes simple. Katarina Juvancic, a Slovenian singer, songwriter and anthropologist, told the Times that folk lullaby melodies are beautiful because they offer “a time-tested soothing effect, often composed in a five-note pentatonic scale.”
“Give them drugs” in your own voice. Juvancic also adds that you should keep the volume low. “You basically put them to sleep by repeating the same rhythm over and over,” she says.
Don’t stop while your kids are growing. Lullabies can be sung to listeners of any age – and any breed! Pets and seniors make up a great audience. My daughter is now five and we still sing Goodnight Song to all of her friends and favorite stuffed animals. It’s painfully sweet. I will remember these moments. I hope she will too.