History Main / LittleBoyBlueNote

->''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 [[{{Nepotism}} one of the parents is a musician or a producer and is getting the kids involved young.]] Perhaps a StageMom really wants it to happen. Perhaps this is tied into something commercial. Perhaps the kids themselves are DoingItForTheArt. Often, because [[TwainsObservationOnOriginality they don't know what they're doing,]] [[SturgeonsLaw they will sound bad]]; but you can find a ChildProdigy 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. [[hottip:*:also the name of a venue which featured TheyMightBeGiants and a jazz label which dates back to 1938, among others]]

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 Idol}}s.

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

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!!'''Examples''':

[[AC:Fictional Examples:]]
* TheBradyBunch Kids
* It is implied that the incomplete ending version of "Dreams Dreams" on [[NightsIntoDreams 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 FamilyGuy, 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.
* PhineasAndFerb does this for a sizeable portion of its numbers.
* In an episode of ''TheFlintstones'', Pebbles and Bam-Bam become singing sensations. It turns out to be a bad dream of Fred's about her little girl leaving him.
* SouthPark often overlaps this with FromTheMouthsOfBabes.
* ''Film/StreetFighterTheLegendOfChunLi'' portrayed Chun-Li as a ChildProdigy at the piano.
* ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'': featured a rather shoehorned-in musical number courtesy of the titular tykes.
* ''HomeMovies'' - in an episode highlighting guitar genius Dwayne's fretting over a competition, Brendon, Melissa and Jason start a band - and they are ''awful!''

[[AC:Real Life]]
* Swedish CultClassic Arvid Tuba started at 13, although he didn't release stuff until he was 15.
* Music/JustinBieber has been playing and singing as early as kindergarten, but although he eventually became a TeenIdol 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.
* MileyCyrus began her musical career at 12 going on 13 with HannahMontana.
* [=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.
* HarshNoise musician Elizabeth Floersch claims she has been classically trained "from a young age."
* Girls With Attitude
* {{Hanson}}, when they started.
* [[http://www.libera.org.uk/ 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 "[[{{Eminem}} My Dad]]'s Gone Crazy".
* KidzBop
* LadyGaga, 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.
* LilWayne started when he was twelve.
* TheNakedBrothersBand, 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 ThePartridgeFamily
* [[MightyWhitey Prussian]] [[FromTheMouthsOfBabes 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 ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'' 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.
* CodySimpson
* GreysonChance
* ToriAmos' ''Night Of Hunters'' features four songs that she sings as duets with her eleven year old daughter Natashya Hawley.
* TechnicalDeathMetal band {{Decapitated}} recorded their debut album in 1999 when every member was a teenager. Drummer Vitek was 15, bassist Rygiel was 16, guitarist Vogg was 17, and vocalist Sauron was 18.
* Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon was only ''14'' when the band's debut album was recorded. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AooZ9L6L1KU You'd never know that to listen to it.]]
* Salserín, a ''salsa orchestra'' full of these. One of their signature songs is even named "Bebé Salsero", "salsa-singing baby", always given to the youngest member (the kid who first recorded it was about four years old at the time). On first their popularity peak in the mid-to-late 1990's they got a movie and a short soap-operas; then two of their oldest singers, the brothers Servando and Florentino Primera, left the band and became a latin pop TeenIdol duo, in a move that give them another teen soap and a movie deal.

* Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon was only ''14'' when the band's debut album was recorded. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AooZ9L6L1KU You'd never know that to listen to it.]]

* ToriAmos' ''Night Of Hunters'' features four songs that she sings as duets with her eleven year old daughter Natashya Hawley. The results are actually BetterThanItSounds.

The title comes from "Little Boy Blue," an old children's tale, and Blue Note Records, a jazz label which dates back to 1938.[[hottip:*:also the name of a venue which featured TheyMightBeGiants, among others]]

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

* The GarbagePailKidsMovie featured a rather shoehorned-in musical number courtesy of the titular tykes.

whose sister she is.

* わたしのココ has two of these; 鍵盤娘, the band's pianist, who looks like a middle-schooler, and 自称妹, ("Little Sister") her position in the band is unknown--nobody even knows whose sister she is.

* JustinBieber has been playing and singing as early as kindergarten, but although he eventually became a TeenIdol at 15, he still looks and sounds like a middle-schooler, thus subverting the trope.

* Connie Talbot reached second place in the first series of ''BritainsGotTalent'' in 2007, at the age of six. She has released three albums since.

* StreetFighterTheLegendOfChunLi portrayed Chun-Li as a ChildProdigy at the piano.

* Connie Talbot reached second place in the first series of ''BritainsGotTalent'' in 2007, at the age of six. She released three albums since then.

* [[http://www.libera.org.uk/ Libera]]

* Connie Talbot reached second place in the first series of ''BritainsGotTalent'' in 2007, at the age of six. She released three albums since then.

* 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.

* Willow Smith

Not to be confused with KidsRock, in which a children's ''choir'' is featured as backing vocals to an adult performer.

* [[http://www.libera.org.uk/ Libera]]

Not to be confused with KidsRock, in which a children's ''choir'' is featured.

* JustinBieber has been playing and singing as early as kindergarten, but although he eventually became a TeenIdol at 15, he still looks and sounds much younger.

* [[Music/{{Friday}} Rebecca Black]], although at age 13, she barely qualifies.

* The Shaggs, at their start.

* JustinBieber played this straight, then subverted it. He's been playing and singing as early as kindergarten, but although he eventually became a TeenIdol at 15, he still looks and sounds much younger.

* Stevie Wonder -- from the beginning, he played the piano, and he was about seven in the beginning.

* Willow Smith
* Charlotte Church
* Connie Talbot reached second place in the first series of ''BritainsGotTalent'' in 2007, at the age of six. She released three albums since then.