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Winter Holiday Customized CDs are Back for 2019!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
CUSTOMIZED CHRISTMAS CDs from MISTER BRADLEY!
A Music CD containing 23 Holiday tracks. Select tracks will feature your little one’s name in the lyrics! And I will interact with them directly during spoken-word transitions!


Q:
Q: What do you mean by “customized?
A: Your little one gets to hear their name sung in Christmas songs! There will also be spoken-word and interactive transitions where I will address your child by name. I may alter lyrics to accomodate new rhymes. The child’s name will also be integrated into the album art and title. Each one is unique and is assembled by hand.
Q: Who are you?
A: Why, Mister Bradley, of course! I’ve been making kids music for years! You can hear some of my other music here: http://www.MisterBradley.com.
Q: What age is the CD for?
A: Kids from one to ninety-two!
Q: When can I expect the CD.
A: Since each CD is different when the names are sung, I need time to “patch in” the names properly, so that it flows naturally. Each CD has to be mixed separately. The sooner you order, the sooner I can make it!
Q: We don’t do CD players. That’s so 2001. What do we do?
A: You can purchase the Mp3 version. Digital over art will still be unique.
Q: I’m digging this! How much?
A: Customized CDs: $75 and (includes shipping and handling. Customized Mp3 Download: $45 (cover art will still be unique)
Q: How do I order?
Send me an email with your child’s name and I’ll get back with you!
bradblanco@gmail.com.
Q: One last question, what if I just want Mister Bradley’s Winter’s Holiday but I don’t need it customized.
A: Regular mp3 Album Download is $20 and you can get that here:
Mister Bradley’s Winter Holiday Digital Download
“When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song. You’re buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of failures. You’re buying days, weeks, months, years of frustration and moments of pure joy. You are buying nights of worry about paying rent, having enough money to eat, having enough money to feed the children, the birds, the dog. You aren’t just buying a thing, you are buying a piece of a heart, part of a soul, a private moment in someone’s life. Most importantly, you are buying that artist more time to do something they are truly passionate about; something that makes all of the above worth the fear and the doubt; something that puts the life into the living.” – Rebekah Joy Plett
Mister Bradley performing this Saturday & Sunday at Houston’s Children Museum
I hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic!
And I want to spread the word: Mister Bradley will be performing at the Houston Children’s Museum this Saturday and Sunday in the auditorium. 3:00pm on both days. Come on out! And make musical merriment with us!
Details here:
http://www.cmhouston.org/event/mister-bradley’s-musical-jam-childrens-museum
Love,
Bradley
TIME TO SIGN UP FOR SUMMER!
Summer Is Here, Rockstars!
As the Spring session wraps up, I wanted to update you all again on what kind of musical mahem we’ve been up to!
More awesome success with learning music theory: We’ve spent a lot of time practicing different note patterns using the “Do Re Mi” method of notation. However, I have also introduced the idea of the “musical alphabet” and we learned what the difference is between the ABC alphabet which has, “lets count them”, 26 letters and starts on “A.”
But the musical alphabet is weird and wonderful. It starts on the letter “C and when it gets to “G” it doesn’t go to “H” of course, but all the way back to A. There are only 7 letters in the musical alphabet but it can repeat going lower or higher.
So we practice singing our musical alphabet (singing a C Major scale)
Children took turns playing boomwackers and handbells, which took lots and lots of patience and listening.
We sang Jingle Bells, Farmer in the Dell, Old MacDonald, BINGO, Three Blind Mice, Row Row Row Your Boat.
Children also took turns playing different rhythm patterns lollypop drums and tested “Billy Bird” to see if he could play the same thing. So they had to listen to each other very closely.
We also, learn more about different instrument families, continuing on with what we began at the beginning of the session. We learned about the string family: Viola, Violin, Cello, and Double Bass.
We also enjoyed listening to the different Saxophones and The Pink Panther theme played on the baritone saxophone was very popular many of the students. Here is the version they heard (I ripped the sound from the youtube video and we listened on a blue tooth speaker). We talked about how the music sounded “suspensful” and “sneaky”.
Also, here is a video of my students at the Innovative School singing Do Ra Mi. I have the video in a post on the Mister Bradley’s Musical Jam Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/misterbradleymusic
They sound great and I’m so proud of them.
FINALLY, and the is very important, NOW is the time to enroll for Summer session. This is the LAST WEEK of SPRING SESSION and if your child attends RICE CHILDREN’S CAMPUS, THE CATHEDRAL HOUSE SCHOOL or HEARTSHOME BRIGHT HORIZONS, please don’t be late! Sign up today! You should all have had flyers in your child’s mailbox.
It’s easy to sign up online
https://opusonekids.com/register/houston/
Or, of course, you may leave a check at your child’s school.
If you are on a “Pay-as-You” plan, you’re already taken care of!
Thanks again for taking an interest in your child’s education. It’s an honor for me and it’s been a great Spring. Here’s to the SUMMERTIME!
-Mister Bradley
Spring time, Spring Time, Spring Time!
Greetings, Rockstars!
February was an awesome month for music. Of course, Valentines Day inspired songs of love and I always enjoy a good excuse to play Beatles songs! The kids learned the chorus to ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE and we sang it from the heart!
We also spent more time learning the different families of symphonic instruments. I have flash cards and we talk about what the instruments have in common… what makes them belong to the same “family”. Of course, since I’m a rockin’ roller, I throw a couple curve balls, just because I think it’s always important to experiment outside boxes: “Did you know the guitar can be percussion instrument too?” And I’ll play muted strums, or tap rhythms on the back of the body and sing, “ Pitter Patter Goes The Rain” , BINGO
Also, we’ve been enjoying “Baby Shark”, which helps with developing control over motor skills by making the finger plays gradually bigger with each verse. First snapping baby sharks, then snapping mama sharks, papa sharks, grandpa sharks, and so on. Also, we get to practice dynamics, go from soft to loud or “piano” to “forte”
March:
This month is has become increasingly more important to me to really try and stretch the childrens’ experience with what it is to make music in a GROUP, to increase their sensitivity. For a couple weeks, I used my iPhone to record the kids singing BINGO and making sure they get the right number of claps on each verse. I used to think that it very well could be impossible to get ALL kids counting together. But recording them has been a very interesting experiment. When the kids hear it back, they get to hear themselves and remember what they did. And an extrodinary amount of learning happens in those moments. Because then the second time we record and sing the songs, the level of listening and heightened attention goes way up! And, in several cases, ALL children were on the same page. Amazing.
And here’s the remarkable thing: the lesson hasn’t been forgotten. The last couple weeks have been pretty impressive to me, with regards to listening and making music TOGETHER.
Also it had been a while since we sang with the “shakey eggs”. Some of the classes are getting so big, I’ve had to replenish my egg shaker supply so that there’s enough to go around for everyone.
“I Know a Chicken” (Laurie Berkner)
“Shake It! (Mister Bradley)
“We’re Going To Kentucky” (traditional)
And Spring is approaching so…
“Rain is falling”
“Zip a Dee Doo Dah”
And, most recently, we learned all about Fruit Bats! And were reminded how all things are connected. Trees give us Oxygen, we give trees Carbon Dioxide, and animals help carry seeds to Sunshine.
Can You See The Connection (Lucas Miller)
As always, Thank You for having me be a part of your child’s musical development. It’s a privilege and an honor!
Best.
Mister Bradley
By the way, I have a summer party special! Book today if you are having a party this summer!
The Weeks of June 30 and July 7, 2014
Greetings Rock Stars!
What we’ve had with the “HATS” lessons. We had fun with with Independence Day songs and I wore my big, tall, fluffy American Flag hat.
We sang:
You’re a Grand Ol’ Flag
Fireworks, fireworks (to The Tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Fill the sky, shining on the fourth of July
See them shoot up, see them flare,
See them light up everywhere,
Fireworks, fireworks fill the sky,
Shining on the Fourth of July.
Bang! Snap! Whistle! Pop! (To the tune of Row Row Row Your Boat)
Fireworks fill the air.
See them lighting up the sky
On the Fourth of July.
We also passed out flags and practiced waving them… being careful to not drop them or hit anyone with them! Counting stripes, counting stars (all the way to 50!) was great fun. And rolling them back up, nice and tight was a new experience for many children.
Then last week, we talked about the early pioneers. I wore a raccoon skin hat and the Howdy Earl puppet shared stories about settling texas. Pioneers didn’t have restaurants or grocery stores and they to hunt for their own food. The also had to build their own homes and entertain themselves with music. I brought the dulcimer again and we sang Ol’ Susanna and The Bear went over the River ( making up new verses, imaging all the places a Bear might go). Some kids had ideas about the Bear going into caves, into homes, over the museum, and up to the moon! Imagination is a wonderful thing… :) We alas went on an imaginary Bear hunt, making sound effects along the way, and snapped a picture of the bear quickly before running back home!
On the video below, from 3:15 to 4:03, is some fun footage of a reenactment of early settlers entertaining themselves with music around a fire. There is a covered wagon in the background and someone is playing Ol’ Susanna on the violin. Might be an interesting thing to show your kids, to match an example with what we talked about in class:
I’m looking forward to the coming weeks and different hats to share. Up next: the Railroad Conductor hat.
Thank You for taking an interest in your child’s musical development.
Best,
Mister Bradley
P.S. I tried to find a good rendition of The Bear Went Over The Mountainto share, but most are a little too cheesy for my taste. I did find this which has a nice acoustic guitar in it.
It’s Rory’s Birthday! (The Week of Feb. 3, 2014)
Greetings, Rockstars!
This past week was my special friend Rory’s birthday. Rory is a snail and he loves to make new friends.
But Rory lives in Austin, so we had to take a little musical field-trip. We got to Austin singing “Driving In My Car” and played with different tempos. We move slowly (Adagio) when going through quiet neighborhoods or near schools; we move quickly (Allegro) when we are on feeder roads and we move super fast (Presto) when we’re on the highway.
Once in Austin, we met Rory who really loves decorations, so we played “Blow the Balloon” and we practiced blowing out on each note of a major scale (do, re, mi, fa… etc.). We also sang a call and response song called “I am a Birthday Cake”, a song sharing the same melody as “I am a Pizza”.
We got to sing Happy Birthday together and Rory reminded us how important it is to share. Which is hard for him because that cake was so delicious he was tempted to eat it all by himself!
Students also got to try their hand with the “Xylopipes”. Which is slightly different from the xylophone because xylophones use solid pieces of metal slats and, of course the pipes are hollow and circular.
Thank You so much for being engaged in your child’s musical development!
Best,
Mister Bradley
PS. I found this adorable video of a young child discovering music making on the xylopipes. It’s very cute!
Mister Bradley in Houston!
Hey friends,
Laura and I have made the move to Houston! I’ll be working with an excellent business called “Opus One” which services numerous private pre-schools with a roster of very talented teaching artists. I’ve joined a team!
So, if you know of anyone in Houston that needs the perfect kids entertainment for a birthday party or family event, lemme know! If they mention the word “sunshine” they get a special discount.
I also have another phone number. It is 512-412-1117
Little Yoga House Grand Opening, This Saturday, September 8th!
Check out the best new place for kids north of Caesar Chavez! THE LITTLE YOGA HOUSE.
I’ll be playing music at their grand opening event tomorrow at 1:00pm
GRAND OPENING PARTY!!
We are so excited to open our doors this week! Come celebrate this weekend with us at our grand opening party.
Details:
10:00 Family Yoga (with children ages 0-5)
12:00 Family Yoga (with children ages 6+)
1:00 Kid’s Musical Jam with Mr. Bradley
1:00-2:00 Open House
6:00 Party – live music, food, drinks!
Bring the whole family! Tell your friends!
We look forward to celebrating with you all!
Peace & Love
abby + an