Ultimate Free Guide to J.S. Bach for Your Baby

Ultimate Free Guide to J.S. Bach

This Ultimate Free Guide to J.S. Bach for your baby is part of a series about composers. The first post in this series explored Mozart. He was the obvious choice because Eine Kleine Nacht Musik is the first piece of music that babies listen to in the Suzuki Early Childhood (SECE) Baby Class.

You can learn even more about Suzuki ECE Baby Class by signing up for the Your Musical Baby Newsletter and get your free “7 Steps to a Deeper Relationship With Your Baby”.

This resource includes a printable PDF of the Suzuki ECE Concepts. It will help you better understand the Suzuki ECE philosophy. You will also find out how Baby Class can help you and your child gain skills to:

• build a deep relationship with each other
• become life-long learners
• and have lives that are filled with beauty and purpose

This free resource is a stepping stone for you and your baby to begin your “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey”.

Part of that journey is exploring composers’ music that babies listen to in the Baby Class. We will also learn about other composers including women composers , BIPOC women composers, and BIPOC composers in general. We will especially learn about the composers’ music found in the Suzuki repertoire.

Why Are These Guides Called “Ultimate”?

These posts are called “ultimate guide” because you are busy parents. You don’t have time for Music History 101! But, you are probably curious about who wrote some of that beautiful classical music.

So, each post in the series will introduce a different composer that you will want to know. Next, there will be one listening recommendation from the composer’s compositions. Then, there will be a suggested book about the composer.

Goals of the Ultimate Free Guide to Composers

The goal of this Ultimate Free Guide to Composers is to keep it short and simple. First, the guides begin with a brief biography of the composer.

I promise it will be short: when the composer was born, the MOST important things about their life, and when they died.

Next, the listening recommendation will be only one piece of music written by the composer. This is an effort to keep this activity short. Then, you can use it as a springboard for finding more music by the same composer.

Finally, you will be given a suggestion for a book to read about the composer. If here is not one available, another suitable title from the Suzuki ECE book list will be substituted.

How to Use the Ultimate Free Guide to Composers

Once again, the goal for this Guide to Composers activity is to keep it short and simple. You can begin fairly quickly. The bio of the composer will be in the post itself. You can read that information to find out about the composer and when they lived.

Next the music selection may be included as a link in the post. It can also be downloaded from Amazon, iTunes, etc. That way, you and your baby can start listing to the music right away.

There are a variety of ways to get the suggested book. It may be available at your library. As we begin to recover from the pandemic, I would strongly suggest buying it at your local bookstore, if possible.

They will need our continued support for a long time to come. Often, I can supply a link to a website that sells the book. Of course, the book most likely is available on Amazon.

Yes, there is some expense involved. However, please think of these purchases as part of your baby’s education. You will be nurturing your baby’s heart and mind, as well as, your own.

The research shows that music and reading are so vital to the growth of your baby’s brain. They also have other tremendous affects on baby’s life as they grow.

So, now you can start the activities in the Ultimate Free Guide to J.S. Bach!

Johann Sebastian Bach

• Born March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany
• After his parents’ deaths, he lived with his older brother, Christoph who taught him to play harpsichord and organ
• He also learned to play the violin
• Was a church musician for most of his life
• In 1703, he began to compose music
• Through out his life, he had various church or royal court musician jobs
• Was able to study all styles of music throughout his career
• Composed music for keyboard instruments, string orchestras, and small instrumental groups
• Wrote in all musical forms and styles, except opera

His most famous works include:

• Brandenberg Concertos No. 1-6 for orchestra
• 2 Violin Solo Concertos
• Concerto for Two Violins
• The Well-Tempered Clavier for keyboard
• The Art of Fugue for Organ
• Mass in B Minor for chorus and orchestra

J. S. Bach’s Music

Bach composed massive amounts of music. So, there are many favorites. But, I want to choose music appropriate for your baby or toddler to listen to. So, you will be listening to Prelude 1 in C Major from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier written in 1722.

You will be listening to the Prelude performed on piano. It is only a couple of minutes long. The style of the piece is is a series of continuous notes that move up and down.

There is a calm feeling followed tension that then resolves again. It is perfect for your baby to mildly react and then relax to the music. It is also pleasant to listen to repeatedly.

Keep in mind that your baby will not get tired of listening to it repeatedly the way adults do. Use this link to listen to Prelude 1:

https://youtu.be/iWoI8vmE8bI

Ultimate Free Guide to J.S. Bach “Bonus Activity”

For this activity you will need:

• You, your child, and your favorite comfy chair
• While listening to the Prelude, gently keep the beat on your baby’s tummy. Then move to tapping their nose, arm, knee, hand, leg, elbow, etc. You get the idea. You can even tell them the name of the body part when you begin to tap.
• The Prelude would also be the perfect piece of music to simply snuggle in the rocking chair with your little one and rock to the beat.
• Either way, your baby will begin to internalize the beat and recognize the music.
• The best part of all is you and your baby have spent time together!

Read About J.S. Bach

Most children’s books about composers are typically written for a third grade reading level or higher. But, I have searched out board books about composers specifically written for babies.

There are a few out there. Then, I discovered JamJam Books. Believe it or not, they do specifically write and publish board books for babies about composers and music!

For the book selection in this guide, I chose “My First Bach”. You and your little one will enjoy the delightful illustrations in this book. Also, each musical clip in the book is 20-40 seconds long. This is just right for your baby’s attention span.

The incredible part is that the publishers have licensed the musical clips from major orchestras around the world. Hence, the sound quality is far better than the typical synthesizer/midi audio of many “sound” books.

Check out JamJam Books. Have a look at their selections. Order “My First Bach” to add to your baby’s library of books about composers.

Enjoying the Ultimate Free Guide to J.S. Bach

I sincerely hope that this Ultimate Free Guide to J.S. Bach will help you bring the joy of Bach’s music into your home. Play the Prelude 1 in C major for your baby many times everyday. Read “My First Bach” every day as well.

Keep the few biographical facts you learned about Bach in the back of your mind. Then, when your child is old enough to understand, you can share that information with them.

They will be already be very familiar with Bach’s music and life. You can then read and explore more about his life as they grow.

“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul”

J.S. Bach

So listen, read, and do the Bach “Bonus Activity” everyday to have the joy and refreshment of music and learning together with your baby in your lives.

On the “Beautiful Heart Musical Journey” with you,

Susan

Comments and Share

If you have questions, comments, or would like to share how you and your baby liked the Bach “Bonus Activity”, put them in the Comments below. I would love to know if you liked the activity!

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