Little Boy Blue Note

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn
 The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.

Certain musicians believe that a song is better when children sing as part of it. This trope, however, is the concept taken just a little further; the children are the credited performers.

The reasons vary. Perhaps one of the parents is a musician or a producer and is getting the kids involved young. Perhaps a Stage Mom really wants it to happen. Perhaps this is tied into something commercial. Perhaps the kids themselves are Doing It for the Art. Often, because they don't know what they're doing, they will sound bad; but you can find a Child Prodigy here and there.

The title comes from "Little Boy Blue," an old children's tale, and blue note, an intentionally flat note inserted into the melody of a song (usually a Blues or Jazz song) to add emotion.[1]

Little Boy Blue Note may join a Boy Band as they mature, assuming they can bear to give up the instrument. Indeed, several boy bands initially fit here. Others become Teen Idols.

Not to be confused with Kids Rock, in which a children's choir sings backing to a performer.

Examples of Little Boy Blue Note include:

Fictional Examples

  • The Brady Bunch Kids
  • It is implied that the incomplete ending version of "Dreams Dreams" on NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams is sung by either Helen or Will, depending on who you clear the game as.
    • Even before that, Helen herself is revealed to be good at the violin.
  • Exaggerated in an episode of Family Guy, in which Stewie Griffin tries to get an appearance on Meg Griffin's album.
  • An episode of Baby Looney Tunes saw the cast form a band for Granny. It went as well as could be expected of a gang of infants.
  • Lil' Kunt, actually a puppet employed by British musican Kunt And The Gang.
  • Phineas and Ferb does this for a sizeable portion of its numbers.
  • In an episode of The Flintstones, Pebbles and Bam-Bam become singing sensations. It turns out to be a bad dream of Fred's about her little girl leaving him.
  • South Park often overlaps this with From the Mouths of Babes.
  • Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li portrayed Chun-Li as a Child Prodigy at the piano.
  • The Garbage Pail Kids Movie: featured a rather shoehorned-in musical number courtesy of the titular tykes.
  • Home Movies - in an episode highlighting guitar genius Dwayne's fretting over a competition, Brendon, Melissa and Jason start a band - and they are awful!

Real Life

  • Swedish Cult Classic Arvid Tuba started at 13, although he didn't release stuff until he was 15.
  • Justin Bieber has been playing and singing as early as kindergarten, but although he eventually became a Teen Idol at 15, he still looks and sounds like a middle-schooler, thus subverting the trope.
  • Bjork started out as one.
  • Black Out Band, better known for "Video Games"
  • Cex, oddly enough; featured on the Starship Galactica EP was a version of said song done when he was a little kid.
  • Charlotte Church
  • Experimental band Ctephin comprises, for the most part, a married couple and their eldest daughter, but sometimes invoke this trope when the whole family, some of which aren't even ten, join in.
  • Miley Cyrus began her musical career at 12 going on 13 with Hannah Montana.
  • Dev2.0 a one-off Devo tribute.
  • Included on Dokaka's debut album were some snippets and recordings he did when he was a small child.
  • Harsh Noise musician Elizabeth Floersch claims she has been classically trained "from a young age."
  • Girls With Attitude
  • Hanson, when they started.
  • Libera
  • Menudo used to be.
  • The Jackson Five started as young children.
  • Hailie Jade allegedly held the record as the youngest charting performer for the song "My Dad's Gone Crazy".
  • Kidz Bop
  • Lady Gaga, who started playing piano at age four.
  • Lil Bow Wow started when he was still too young for high school. Indeed, he was once on the Guinness Book of World Records by sheer dint of his age.
  • Lil Wayne started when he was twelve.
  • The Naked Brothers Band, at least initially.
  • Oblive admitted in a May 2011 interview for Musique Machine that when he was eleven, he tried to form a punk band.
  • Two members of The Partridge Family
  • Prussian Blue
  • RedSK started when he was ten.
  • Before getting into the business as Scissor Shock in 2003, Adam Cooley spent from age 12 to his puberty as Stagedive Suicide.
  • Connie Talbot reached second place in the first series of Britains Got Talent in 2007, at the age of six. She has released three albums since.
  • Notoriously, there's the Tangerine Awkestra, a jazz ensemble composed of 3-7 year olds who had been played free jazz recordings and Art Ensemble of Chicago albums.
  • Violent JJ
  • Willow Smith
  • Stevie Wonder, back when he was credited as "the twelve year old genius"—from the beginning, he played the piano, harmonica and percussion and he was about seven in the beginning.
  • Cody Simpson
  • Greyson Chance
  • Tori Amos' Night Of Hunters features four songs that she sings as duets with her eleven year old daughter Natashya Hawley.
  1. ↑ also the name of a venue which featured They Might Be Giants and a jazz label which dates back to 1938, among others
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