Chapter 6: More Song-Teaching Strategies

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

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Part of Making Music Live

In This Section

The call-and-response song
From Making Music Live

The call-and-response song is one in which the leader sings a phrase and the group sings a different phrase in response. You can sing “This Little Light of Mine,” for example, by singing, “This little light of mine” and having the children respond each time with “I’m gonna let it shine.” You all…
Teaching songs that have hand movements
From Making Music Live

Adding body movements and hand signs to songs is an amazingly effective way to teach songs to both children and adults. It is especially effective when you are teaching songs that have a lot of words….
The zipper song
From Making Music Live

In a zipper song, most of the verse remains the same each time you sing it, but you substitute one or more words each time. “This Old Man” is a classic zipper song….
Rounds and Canons
From Making Music Live

Rounds and canons are a joy to sing. Participants are required to listen very carefully while singing, and anything that makes us listen is beneficial. There is no single strategy for teaching rounds, but there are some simple guidelines. Teach each round using the strategy that best fits the song.
The partner song
From Making Music Live

A partner song is made up of two songs that are sung at the same time. Dr. Ysaye Barnwell uses “Wade in the Water” and three other spirituals at the same time on her Singing in the African American Tradition CD collection (see Resources). Also see Joanne Hammil’s Rounds & Partner Songs, Vols….
The non-strategy
From Making Music Live

I have discussed many strategies for teaching songs, and so far I have left out one of the most common strategies: the one I call “the non-strategy.” I don’t know what else to call it; it literally means teaching a song without any strategy. How does one do this? Simple….
Storytelling with songs
From Making Music Live

Storytellers have been combining songs and stories for millions of years, and to this day many cultures tell stories in song. Homer sang The Iliad. Praise singers in western Africa chant stories to local leaders, telling of the leaders’ many achievements and ridiculing the achievements of their…
Conclusion
From Making Music Live

First, a review list of the song-teaching strategies you can try: The echo song The rote method Call-and-response Hand signs/movement/dance The zipper song Rounds The non-strategy Storytelling with songs Choose your song and decide on the best strategy for teaching it….