Johnny Giraffe (Best Bop of all time)

Johnny Giraffe from The Giraffe Collection is a definitive favorite and 100% guaranteed to be stuck in your head for years to come. What’s the proof? The second this song comes on everyone starts BOPPING.

What do you do when your favorite song comes on? It’s probably hard to sit still right? If you are listening to music you love, it's hard NOT to sway a bit from side to side or jiggle your foot. Learning music through movement is instinctive, inherent, and a very important objective of The Music Class.

There is SO MUCH research about the benefits of learning through movement, but the person who really crystalized the idea of learning music through movement was Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. Dalcroze taught us that the best way to learn rhythm is by moving our bodies to the beat. He taught us that moving our bodies in different ways is the best way to understand different rhythms. He taught us that there’s no wrong way to move to music; instead, any way that the music motivates you to move is valid and beneficial to your understanding of the song.

Rob Sayer (the founder and director of The Music Class) studied for many years with Robert Abramson (the founder and director of the Dalcroze Institute at Julliard.) Rob studying with Rob influenced many of the songs and activities we created for The Music Class, including Johnny Giraffe. We jump and march while singing Johnny Giraffe to learn the beat and encourage kids to move in whatever way they want to express themselves and the music!

I now bring you some fun and creative ways to move to Johnny Giraffe in daily life, featuring adorable children!

1. GO FOR A HIKE. Go enjoy nature AND music by getting outside and singing! March to the beat down that path! 

2. WEED THE GARDEN. This is a pro-mom move by our Wallace family. Doing chores while singing make it way more fun! It’s like the little kid version of folding laundry while listening to a podcast, plus it helps with their rhythm development.

3. GO FOR A DRIVE. Yes, technically the car is moving and the kids are strapped into their seats, but look at how they’re still wiggling and clapping to the beat!

4. TURN ON THE MUSIC AND DANCE! If you're registered for the fall session simply turn on your Music Class app and go! Or enjoy watching this video and dance along in your living room. 🤗