Aardvarks are medium-sized nocturnal mammals native to the southern two-thirds of Africa. They’re insectivores, subsisting primarily on ants and termites. And aardvarks have long, almost cartoonishly large ears.
Music for Aardvarks is not, as one might imagine, an incredibly specific sub-genre of music about delicious bugs and gorgeous African nights designed to be played quietly — so as not to hurt aardvark listeners’ big, sensitive ears. No, Music for Aardvarks isn’t a style of music at all. It’s a class and an accompanying dozen or so CDs worth of original music aimed at introducing kids, aged 6 months to 5 years, to music, both as listeners and interactors. And Memphis has its own Music for Aardvarks class, hosted by Joe “Mr. Joe” Murphy, director and head teacher of the Memphis program.
It Came From Manhattan
Songwriter David Weinstone created the program in New York in 1997. “I’ve known him forever. We worked together in a restaurant,” Murphy says of Weinstone. At the time, Murphy, who moved to New York from Wisconsin in 1985, was working as an actor and occasional caterer, where he met Weinstone. “He was always a musician. He went to Berkley School of Music and is a really, really, really great musician. He was doing the rock band thing, always really quirky rock. And he had his first child and had been working for another program, a national program, called Music Together. It’s a big program, kind of the behemoth of the early childhood music thing.”
The music didn’t really speak to Weinstone, though — or to his guitar-playing, actor, and sometimes-restaurant-worker friend. “It’s what you think it is,” Murphy says, politely if not enthusiastically, “overly cute.”
So, Murphy remembers, “David started writing his own songs.” And the former punk rocker developed an alternative childhood education music program, what he dubbed Music for Aardvarks and Other Mammals. And like so many indie and lo-fi bands with a new angle, passion, and a guitar, he had hit on a formula that worked — one that appealed to kids and their parents.
“It just took off like wildfire in the lower east side,” recalls Murphy. “David’s going around hanging out cassettes, and his classes are getting packed. Little by little, it just grew.”
Murphy worked as a Music for Aardvarks teacher in New York before bringing the program to Memphis. But first, he did his homework. “I studied with David,” Murphy says. “I also did get trained at Music Together. And I also went to this place called the Diller-Quaile School of Music to work on pedagogy stuff and just understanding how to teach early childhood music, what that really means from a theoretical standpoint.
“It all paid off because I feel like it gave me my own approach.”
Bring it on Home to Memphis
When Murphy and his wife had their first child, they decided it was time to move. “In New York, it takes full focus on your career all the time,” Murphy explains. “I just was kind of burned out and wanted something different as a lifestyle, especially since I had a child.”
So when his wife mentioned Memphis, Murphy was receptive to the idea. “I had never really spent much time in Memphis, and I came down here and loved it right away. Especially being a music person,” he says. “It kind of reminded me of when I first moved to Manhattan in ’85. Not that it’s like New York City, but it was raw still. It’s just raw. New York is so bought up now by wealth.” In Memphis, Murphy found an authenticity he had begun to miss in the Big Apple — and a path to homeownership and family security that would have been, if not impossible, certainly more difficult to navigate for an actor/music teacher and a teacher in New York.
So Music for Aardvarks, along with the growing Murphy family, moved to Memphis. “I brought it here. It’s been about 14 years now. I kind of gauge it off my son, who’s 14. He was less than 1 when I started. He was like the prop baby,” Murphy remembers, laughing.
“The first space I looked at was in First Congregational Church in Cooper-Young, which has been a godsend. They’re amazing people there, and they just totally embraced me. I’m using their studio for very little rent.”
“I was able to get some families together to try it out,” Murphy says, remembering a time more than a decade ago. “It’s been going strong since then.”
Dance to the Music
So what will kids take away from a Music for Aardvarks class? “First off, music is fun, and it’s something you can engage with. It doesn’t always have to be a passive experience,” Murphy says. “It’s a very interactive class. It’s not a passive class at all.”
That’s part of what makes the program appeal to children of such young ages. Beyond the multitude of musical styles, the understanding that music can be age-appropriate without being all fluff and no substance, there is the simple knowledge that, at the end of the day, music is fun. And it’s more fun when listeners interact — whether by tapping a toe, dancing, or singing along. Music for Aardvarks teaches kids that they can make music, too.
There are a host of other benefits, too, Murphy says. “Rhythm improving, speech improving. I see kids walk early. There are all these little milestones that can be enhanced with music.” It’s about balancing social development with musical development — and simple motor skills. “We work on simple rhythms. And we work on simple melody,” he says. He will sing the melody of a song — one that usually has lyrics — and replace the words with la las or do dos. It helps kids learn the function of melody, how the intervals of the notes are a complementary component of the song. “It’s just working with sound and melody.”
Murphy stresses the social aspect of the class as well. It’s a safe place to learn, move, have fun — and to make mistakes. He shrugs off singing off-key, saying that his aim is to get kids and parents singing. “I’ve seen so many kids come out of their shell in class.” The teacher says he’s had parents tell him that, even though their child is quiet in the lesson, “He goes home and he re-does the whole class.”
Murphy is excited to inspire future music lovers, however their appreciation presents itself. “They want to play guitar. They want to have an instrument in their hands.”
While some other programs focus on prerecorded music, Music for Aardvarks utilizes Weinstone’s recordings alongside songs played live in the class. “They’re seeing me produce music right in front of them.
“Each semester is usually based around one CD,” Murphy continues. “So they’re hearing the fully produced song, but in class we’ll strip it down. Maybe we’re just using the sticks [and focusing on rhythm].” That way kids learn the different pieces that, put together, make up a song. And they can participate to their ability.
One important thing for potential Aardvark parents to remember: They will be expected to join in, too. “It is a parent-child class,” Murphy says. “If you’re gonna be in here, you’ve gotta participate. If the parent’s singing, the kids will sing.” Murphy reminds his classes that it’s OK not to be a virtuoso. “I can sing, but I’m not Bono. I’m not some great singer.”
Music is Healing
Though Murphy’s classes are usually an in-person affair, he’s adapted the next semester to be fully virtual. “The COVID thing hit and that just kind of shifted everything a bit because it had to move online,” he explains. “You can still do it and not have to be in the classroom.”
Murphy says the online classes have exceeded his expectations. They haven’t been without the occasional hurdle, of course, but overall he’s been pleased with the result.
As for adapting to quarantine classes? There are ways. “I say their names a lot. I have them unmute to talk to me, or I talk to them,” Murphy says.
Usually semesters are longer, but right now they’re four-week programs. There are Music for Aardvarks songs on Spotify and iTunes, but Murphy makes sure they get a download code to the CD he’s structuring each semester around. And if parents still aren’t sure if the class is right for their child, Murphy will let parents try out one class for free. Murphy’s confident the program speaks for itself.
After all, he explains, “It’s like growing a relationship with music.”
Find out more at memphisaardvarks.com, or by emailing info@memphisaardvarks.com or calling (901) 871-0227.