Charles Goodger
Charles Goodger
Charles Goodger
Charles Goodger had been learning classical piano since age 5, but in his early teens, it was the guitar that truly captivated him. Late sixties and early seventies England was a magical time for music. In his final years at school, he returned to the piano and collaborated with a talented musician, Mark Williams. Together, they composed semi-classical piano duets, one of which was “Capetian Dynasty,” inspired by the medieval period they were studying in history class at the time.
His passion for languages and music emerged after trips to Spain, where he was first exposed to flamenco-related melodies. At 13, he had the chance to study Spanish alongside French. Later, he came to learn Italian and have lived on and off in Italy for many years. Several of the pieces in his album are inspired by places and people in beautiful Italy.
After school, his language and literature studies continued in Oxford and London, unknowingly laying the foundation for his later educational venture, FunSongs Education, a music-based program that teaches children basic English and intelligible pronunciation through action songs and related materials.
Charles set up FunSongs in Windsor, UK in 2000, and since then, it has taken him around the world. From a count of all the schools in 50 countries that have used the program, it is estimated that over 100,000 children have benefited from it. The FunSongs website is where schools, teachers, and parents go to download songs and e-books. He has been told that the key to its success is the strong melody of the language songs. Kids love to learn, sing, and act them out.
An instrumental adaptation of his simple action song “I Love Christmas” was published by PrimaClassic.
In 2020, the world-famous Italian tenor, Al Bano, recorded his song “Terra d’Ambra e di Emozioni” – Land of Amber, an ode to the beauty and spirit of Latvia, where Charles lived for five years while Maria Teresa was teaching Italian language and culture at Riga University.
He has also written for one of the world’s most famous opera singers, the beautiful soprano Marina Rebeka. She recorded his song “Tell the World” backed by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023.
