Category: Lessons

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Kumbaya

Introduction

Skip To Songwriting

This is a really important folk song.  Folk music is an important part of our history as humans.  It is a way for regular, ordinary people like you and me to have our voices heard and our stories told.

Folk music can be as simple or as complicated as you want or can make it.  The main purpose is the words and the story that they tell.

Kumbaya means “come by here” which has different meanings depending on what the other words are.  Sometimes it can mean “come and help me” and other times it can mean “come with me”.

Video

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed in F

Slower in F

Full Speed in C

Slower in C

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Songwriting

Folk songs provide a unique opportunity for students to experience the art of songwriting. The simple, repetitive nature of folk music makes it the perfect platform to explore.

Kumbaya is a song that originated in the Congo and the word ‘kumbaya‘ means ‘come by here‘ or ‘come over here‘. Think of it as what a friend might say when they are inviting you over for a play date. The rest of the song is different based on who is singing it and what they are singing about.

Some example lyrics are as follows:

Kumbaya, ya Kumbaya (3x)
Ah, ah, Kumbaya

We can play here, Kumbaya (3x)
Ah, ah, Kumbaya

We’ll have fun now, Kumbaya (3x)
Ah, ah, Kumbaya

Sing a song with me, Kumbaya (3x)
Ah, ah, Kumbaya

As you can see, there is a pattern to the verses. Simply follow it, and you can write your own version of this classic folk song. All you have to do is pick a topic, and think of some things to sing about that topic. In my example, my topic could have been Things To Do During A Playdate.

Write down some of your own words then use this player to sing along with!

Kumbaya Example

Enrichment

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Frère Jacques

Introduction

This is a beautiful song in French.  It is usually sung as a round, meaning that it is sung by more than 1 person starting at different times.  When sung that way, it is even more beautiful.

I’ve posted some videos down below to show how this works.  Make sure to check them out.

Video

Singing In A Round

Try singing Frère Jacques as a round by singing along with this video.  Sing along with the singer on the left in the pink sweatshirt each time.  She will start at a different time each time they sing the song.

Just watch and listen the first time.

Here are the words:

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques
Dormez vous, dormez vous?
Sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines,
Din din don! Din din don!

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Enrichment

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Eency Weency Spider

Introduction

This is a fun nursery rhyme.  Even though it seems like it might be a simple song, the rhythm can be tricky, but it’s one of the things that makes this song so enjoyable.

As you play, keep the melody in your mind.  It will help you understand and feel the rhythms more easily.

Have fun!

Video

The Lesson

Sheet Music

Piano
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Enrichment

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Whistle

Introduction

This is a fun song from a movie called Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  It’s a song about how much music helps make it more fun to do something, even something that can be boring, like cleaning your room!  Try it.  It helps to whistle while you work!   If you can’t whistle, that’s ok.  Singing, humming or just listening works too!

Just like the song before it, Ode to Joy, this song uses the fifth finger, your pinky, for the first time.  There is a new symbol in this song called a flat.

It looks like this and it does something to the note that it comes right after it.

When you see this symbol before a note, it means that instead of playing the key that you normally play for that note, you play the note that is halfway down to the note below it. That is the black key.

Video

The Lesson

Rhythm

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano Challenge Version
Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

Enrichment

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Jingle Bells

Introduction

This is a song about doing something fun with your friends. A lot of people think it’s a Christmas song, but it really isn’t!  Believe it or not, it’s really just a winter song.

In the song, the main character has a fun time riding in a one horse open sleigh in the wintertime. It is actually a pretty funny song because after the first verse, (that’s the part that goes, “dashing through the snow…”) something funny happens to the sleigh in each verse afterward.

Here are the lyrics with an explanation.

Lyrics

The Words

Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh

O’er the fields we go, laughing all the way
Bells on bob tail ring, making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing, a sleighing song tonight!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago, I thought I’d take a ride
And soon, Miss Fanny Bright was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank, misfortune seemed his lot
He crashed into a drifted bank and there we got upsot.

A day or two ago, the story I must tell
I went out on the snow, and on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by in a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed at me as there I there lay, but quickly drove away.

The Explanation

Dashing is going fast and a one-horse open sleigh is a sleigh that has no top and is pulled by one horse, like the photo above. The bells are on the horse, a bobtail.  Making spirits bright means making everyone happy.

I think Miss Fanny Bright was his girlfriend, (yuck) and they went for a ride together.  Lean and lank means skinny and weak; not good things for a horse to be.  A drifted bank is a pile of snow blown by the wind. The horse crashed into a pile of snow and the sleigh flipped over.  “Upsot” is a poetic way of using the work “upset,” which is a play on words.  They flipped the sleigh and got angry, or upset.  Get it?  Hee hee.

This verse is simple.  He walks out on the snow and slips and falls on his back, (or backside) and some guy drove by in a one horse open sleigh and laughed and him and drove away.  Ouch!  How embarrasing!

Listen

The Lesson

Sheet Music

Piano
Piano ALTERNATE CHALLENGE VERSION

Looking for more of a challenge?  Try this one!!
https://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/score/JingleBells.html

Note: There are 2 G Clefs and 1 F Clef in that sheet music.  Here’s how they work:

Ukulele
Guitar
Recorder
Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!

For Enjoyment