Review: Mar Harmon – UnFROGettable

Mar Harmon – UnFROGettable
2009, Music With Mar

Maryann “Mar.” Harmon is the creator of Music With Mar.; a nationally known music education program for children. Harmon has produced music for over twenty-five recordings, winning two Children’s Web Awards and one Silver Parents’ Choice Award. Harmon holds a Bachelors in Music and a Masters in Education (Early Childhood Education), and manages to balance education and musical enjoyment for her fans/students. Harmon’s latest CD, UnFROGettable, continues her efforts to educate and entertain toddlers and their parents with the help of her old friend, Mr. Froggy.

UnFROGettable opens with the title track, a song about Mar Harmon's ever-present sidekick Mr. Froggy. The song is a teaching tool, sort of an extended mnemonic device for learning the alphabet, numbers and colors. Dinosaur Dance teaches movement to little ones with Mar Harmon calling the dance. This is a fun one for the kiddos and secretly fun for the parents as well. Chugga Chugga is another movement song that is bound to get your toddlers involved and will work very well in Music With Mar's class environments. Over In A Place uses a rock guitar driven song to learn about animals and where in the US they come from. Harmon takes an urban turn on Bunny Hop Jump, rapping through a movement tune.

I Do Like To Sing is the sort of song that causes parents to bang their heads against walls repeatedly until it's over. Harmon repeats the same phrases over and over to a recognizable melody until it's either you or the CD. Join In The Game is another movement song, this time delivered in Reggae style. A Child In A Circle is an interactive game set to music to help toddlers learn to identify with another. Keep in mind there's nothing overtly original going on here; it's a classic mix of play and educational music for toddlers but works well for the kiddos. Harmon takes on a version of This Is The Way on the way to I Can Count And Sing, which is fairly self-explanatory (and sung to the tune of B-I-N-G-O). Looby Loo is another one of those children's song most everyone is familiar with and it's offered here with a Cajun flavor. Name Song Games is self-explanatory, and I've Been Working on The Railroad is done in a quasi-electronic arrangement that's more Casio than Techno. My Teddy Bear is a great bonding song for the kiddos and leads into I Love You All The Time, a song with sweet sentiment that offers the same ideas as several dozen children's board books you can buy.

UnFROGettable is decent, although after hearing a number of Mar Harmon's CDs, it is quite possible that some of the spark that drove her early recordings has mellowed with time. The material offered here will likely play well with young ones, and Harmon occasionally captures the spirit of her earlier recordings, but there's also a certain blandness that sets in that just isn't quite overwhelmed by the diversity in musical styles. UnFROGettable is a good listen for the kiddies, but not Harmon's best.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Mar Harmon at http://www.musicwithmar.com/. You can purchase UnFROGettable in her online store.

Review: Mar Harmon - Mr. Froggy's Friends' ABCs

Mar Harmon - Mr. Froggy's Friends' ABCs
2007, Music With Mar

Maryann “Mar.” Harmon is the creator of Music With Mar.; a nationally known music education program for children. Harmon has produced music for over twenty-five recordings, winning two Children’s Web Awards and one Silver Parents’ Choice Award. Harmon holds a Bachelors in Music and a Masters in Education (Early Childhood Education), and manages to balance education and musical enjoyment for her fans/students. Harmon’s latest CD, Mr. Froggy’s Friends’ ABCs continues in the same vein Harmon has followed since her debut in 1993.

Mr. Froggy's Friends' ABCs opens with the title track, capitalizing on the mascot of Music With Mar's shows, Mr. Froggy. Mar explores the alphabet using children’s' names and mnemonic devices to help your young one remember their ABC's. Up next is Green, Yellow, Red, a cute song that helps teach the meaning of the light colors in a traffic light. From having seen it live I can say this is a particular favorite of Mar's fans. Brush Your Teeth is a tutorial set to a catchy rock arrangement that will be fun for both parents and little ones. The song provides a fun teaching moment from parent to child that has both educational and social value.

Mar. puts her own spin on Old McDonald, injecting a little more action and her trademark sense of humor into the mix for a fun listen/play along song. Five Hip Hoppy Frogs is a counting song that was a big hit with the kids when we saw her live. Set to a mild hip-hop beat, Five Hip Hoppy Frogs is a fresh approach that the kids will love. Tell Me The Word is a teaching song about objects in the sky that seems to play well with the kiddos, and Colors helps to learn primary and secondary colors in a fun music setting. Five Monkeys Swinging In A Tree was one of the real crowd favorites when we saw her live show. The song features a message on how to act that is as apt for adults as for their children, and also features Mar's monkey squeal, which you really have to hear to believe. Mar closes out with Watch The Monkey That Moves, a funky action song that will get your kids moving around (and you too!).

Mar Harmon has been doing Music With Mar shows since her debut album in 1993. There are a number of local classes in various parts of the country these days (particularly in Western New York). If you get a chance to check out one of the classes with your little one(s), they're a treat. But the CDs are great listening for the kids and provide a great opportunity for interactive learning between parent and child or for playgroups. In a market glutted with children's albums, Mar Harmon rises with the cream on Mr. Froggy's Friends' ABCs. Check it out.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Mar Harmon at http://www.musicwithmar.com/. You can purchase Mr. Froggy’s Friends’ ABCs in her store.