The actual melodies of some lullabies recur across the world – the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, for example, originated in France as a folk song and has been adapted in many different ...

That swingy rhythm is 6/8. For a real-world example of a lullaby in 6/8, listen to the classic ‘Rock-a-Bye Baby’. Now taking the foundations, let’s see if you can cook up your own lullaby?

She provides an example: “My husband and I were singing and playing the Billy Joel song ‘Lullaby Song’ together on piano (he the left hand, me the right). We were always so sad to sing it ...