We Are Little Candles

Stepping down the staff while singing the major scale. Upper grades transfer reading skills to keyboard and recorder.

Description

Grade: First
Origin: Traditional
Key: C Major
Time: 4/4
Form: rhythm: ABAB – pitches: ABCD
Rhythm: beginners: | ta ta ta ta | ta (ta ta/a) |
Pitches: intermediate: Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do
Musical Elements: notes: quarter; rests: half, quarter; stepping down the descending major scale
Key Words: Hanukkah, holiday, menorah, candles, flames, dance, play, growing, smaller, melt, watch
Recorder: intermediate: excellent sixth (6th) tunefor upper grades, following the Beginning Recorder Songs, challenge students to perform the tune: forwards and backwards
Keyboard: advanced: upper grades, excellent tune after completing the C Major Scale Fingering Chart

**“We Are Little Candles”**
We are little candles, See our flames that dance and play. Watch us growing smaller ’til we slowly melt away.

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We Are Going Down the Numbers

Advanced rhythm: sixteenth followed by a dotted quarter, dotted quarter followed by a sixteenth, and contrast between dotted rhythms and straight eighths.

Description

Grade: First
Origin: Nigerian Folk Song
Key: F Major
Time: 4/4
Form: ABCDE
Rhythm: advanced: | ri ti/ ti/ ri ti ti ti ti | ta/a/a ti ti |
| ta ta ta ti ti | ti ti ti ti (ta) | ri ti/ ti/ ri ti ti (ta) |
Pitches: intermediate: Ti Do Re Mi Fa So
Intervals: intermediate: Fa\Re, Re/So, Mi\Do, Re\Ti
Musical Elements: notes: dotted half, quarter, dotted eighth, sixteenth; rest: quarter; pickup beat, vocal slur, common ending Re\Ti/Do, syncopation
Key Words: geography, Nigeria, Africa, counting backwards, numbers
Keyboard: intermediate: excellent five finger exercise for both right, left, and two hands together

**“We Are Going Down the Numbers”**
We are going down the numbers 1 by 1. We are going down the numbers 1 by 1. We are going down the numbers, going down the numbers, going down the numbers 1 by 1.

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Wayfaring Stranger

Introducing 3/2 time with a minor tonality.

Description

Grade: Third
Origin: USA – Spiritual
Key: D minor
Time: 3/2 – where the half note receives one beat
Form: AABA
Rhythm: intermediate: | ta/a/a ta ta ta |
| ti ti ta/a ta ta ta | ta ta/a ta ta ta |
Pitches: intermediate: So La Do Re Mi So La – pentatonic scale
Intervals: intermediate: La/Mi, Mi\Do, Ti\So, Mi/So, La8\Mi, So\Mi
Musical Elements: notes: dotted half, quarter, eighth; pickup beat; tempo: moderately
Key Words: sacred, world geography, stranger, wayfaring, world, woe, sickness, toll, danger, bright, roam, Jordan, clouds, gather, steep, rough, beauteous, fields, beyond, souls, redeemed, vigil, crown of glory, bright, shout, Salvation’s story, concert, blood-washed, band, Saviour, praises, forevermore; contractions: I’m (I am). she’d (she would); abbreviations: tra’ling (traveling), thro’ (through), ’round (around)

**“Wayfaring Stranger”**

		1.	I’m just a poor wayfaring stranger A tra’ling thro’ this world of woe; But there’s no sickness, toll nor danger In that bright world to which I go; I’m going there to see my father, I’m going there no more to roam, I’m just a-going over Jordan, I’m just a-going over home.
		2.	I know dark clouds will gather ’round me I know my way is steep and rough; But beauteous fields lie just beyond me Where souls redeemed their vigil keep. I’m going there to meet my mother She said she’d meet me when I come I’m just a-going over Jordan I’m just a-going over home.
		3.	I want to wear a crown of glory When I get home to that bright land I want to shout Salvation’s story In concert with that blood-washed band. I’m going there to meet my Saviour To sing His praises forevermore I’m only going over Jordan I’m only going over home.

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Waves

“Songs of a Little Child’s Day”
By the Sea

Introducing the coda.

Description

Grade: First
Origin: Emilie Poulsson, Eleanor Smith
Key: G Major
Time: 2/4
Form: ABAB, coda
Rhythm: intermediate: | ta ti ti | ta/ ti | ta/a |
Pitches: intermediate: So Ti Do Re Mi So
Intervals: intermediate: Mi/So, So\Mi, So\Do, Do/Mi, Mi\Ti, Mi\So, So/Re
Musical Elements: notes: half, dotted quarter, quarter, eighth; pickup beat, tempo: sostenuto/sustained; dynamics: mezzo forte/medium loud, piano/soft, crescendo, decrescendo, coda
Key Words: sea, seashore, earth science, waves, ocean, roll, roar, rumble, tumble, slow, gentle, rush, roaring, forgot, murmur, hush

**“Waves”**
The waves of the ocean Roll in with a roar. They rumble and tumble Up on the wide shore. But often they come With a slow, gentle rush, Their roaring forgot As they murmur “Hush! hush! Hush! hush! hush! hush!”

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The Water Is Wide

Syncopation in cut time (2/2) with echoed melodic
rhythm patterns.

Description

Grade: Fifth
Origin: England – Folk Song
Key: F Major
Time: 2/2 (4/4)
Form: ABCD
Rhythm: intermediate: | ta/a_|_a ti ri ti ti | (_=tie) syncopation, | ta/a | (ti) ti ti ti | ta/a_|_a ti ti ti ri | syncopation
Pitches: intermediate: So La Ti Do Re Mi Fa So
Intervals: beginners: So/Do (P4), Do\La (m3)
Musical Elements: notes: whole, quarter, eighth; in cut time (2/2, includes beats and rhythm in 4/4), counting half notes, echo song, pick up beats, tied syncopation, vocal slur, repeated melodic rhythm patterns
Key Words: world geography: England; echo song, love ballad, love song, wings to fly, get o’er, boat, true love, meadows, gay, little thought, bush, sweetest, against, oak, trusty, prove false, planted, buds, blossoms, rose, pleasant smell, excel, bound, childish, break my heart, ship/sailing/sea, sink or swim, handsome, charming, groweth, morning dew; abbreviations: o’er (over) gath’ring (gathering), flow’rs (flowers), flow’r (flower), prick’d (pricked), lean’d (leaned)
Recorder: intermediate: introducing high F and G, excellent practice for the high register, tied syncopation, playing in cut time (counting half notes), repeated melodic rhythm patterns

**“The Water Is Wide”**

	1.	The water is wide, I cannot get o’er, And neither have I wings to fly. Oh go and get me some little boat To carry o’er my true love and I.

	2.	A-down in the meadows the other day A-gath’ring flow’rs both fine and gay A-gath’ring flowers, both red and blue, I little thought what love could do.

	3.	I put my hand into one soft bush, Thinking the sweetest flow’r to find. I prick’d my finger to the bone And left the sweetest flow’r alone.

	4.	I lean’d my back up against some oak, Thinking it was a trusty tree. But first he bended then he broke, So did my love prove false to me.

	5.	Where love is planted, O there it grows, It buds and blossoms like some rose; It has a sweet and pleasant smell, No flow’r on earth can it excel.

	6.	Must I be bound, O and she go free! Must I love one thing that does not love me! Why should I act such a childish part, And love a girl that will break my heart.

	7.	There is a ship sailing on the sea, She’s loaded deep as deep can be, But not so deep as in love I am; I care not if I sink or swim.

	8.	O love is handsome and love is fine, And love is charming when it is true; As it grows older it groweth colder And fades away like the morning dew.

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Waltzing Matilda

Beginners syncopation, extended range, tonic and
subdominant arpeggios, diminished sixth (d6),
and an introduction to Australian vocabulary.

Description

Grade: Fifth
Origin: Australia – Banjo Paterson, 1895 – (unofficial National Anthem)
Key: D Major
Time: Common Time (4/4)
Form: AB – verse/refrain
Rhythm: beginners: | ti ti ti ti ta ta | ti ti ti ti ti ti ta |
| ta ti/ ri ta ti ti | syncopation, | ti ti ta ta ti ti |
| ta ti ti ta ta | ta ti ti ta (ta) | ta ti/ ri ta ta | syncopation, | ta ti/ ri ta ti/ ri | syncopation,
| ta ti ti ta ti ti | ta ti ti ta/a |
Pitches: intermediate: So La Ti Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do – extended range
Intervals: intermediate: Mi\Do\La descending submediant arpeggio (vi,Bm) Do\So (P4), So/Do/Mi/So8ascending tonic arpeggio (I, D), So\Mi (m3), Mi/Do8(d6, diminished sixth)
Musical Elements: notes: half, quarter, dotted eighth, eighth, sixteenth; rest: quarter; syncopation, tonic and submediant arpeggios, diminished sixth (d6), two double barlines, vocal slur, melodic rhythm patterns
Key Words: world geography: Australia; Australian vocabulary: swag (portable shelter that is rolled (usually with belongings inside) and carried on a person’s back), swagman (temporary worker, who travelled by foot carrying the traditional swag), Matilda (bag carried over one’s back), billabong (backwater river branch/stagnant pool), coolibah tree (Eucalyptus tree), billy (pot for boiling water), jumbuck (sheep), tucker bag (lunch/dinner bag), squatter (temporary landlord); holiday: Halloween; grabbed, glee, stowed, mounted, thoroughbred (horse), catch, ghost; contractions: you’ll (you will), who’s (who is), who’ll (who will), you’ve (you have); abbreviations: camp’d (camped), watch’d (watched)

**“Waltzing Matilda”**

		1.	Once a jolly swagman camp’d by a billabong Under the shade of a coolibah tree. And he sang as he watch’d and waited till his billy boiled, “You’ll come a waltzing Matilda, with me.”
			Refrain:
			“Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.” And he sang as he watch’d and waited till his billy boiled, “You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.”
		2.	Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong, Up got the swagman and grabbed him with glee, And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag, “You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.”
			“Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.” And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag, “You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.”
		3.	Down came the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred, Up came the troopers, one, two, three, “Who’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?” You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.”
			“Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me. Who’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag? You’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.”
		4.	Up got the swagman and jumped into the billabong, “You’ll never catch me alive,” said he, And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong, “Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?”
			“Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda, You’ll come a waltzing Matilda with me.” And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong, “Who’ll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me?”

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Walk Along, John

Dotted quarter note syncopation.

Description

Grade: Third
Origin: USA – Folk Song, Playground Song
Key: F Major
Time: 4/4
Form: rhythm: AABB – pitches: ABCC song: AB
Rhythm: intermediate: | ta ta/ ta/ ti |
syncopation, | ta ta ta/ ti | syncopation,
| ti ti ta ta ti ti | ti ti ti ti ta (ta) |
Pitches: intermediate: So La Do Re Mi So La – pentatonic scale
Intervals: intermediate: La8\Mi, Mi/So, Mi\Do, Do\La/Do, So/Do, Do/Mi
Musical Elements: notes: dotted quarter, quarter, eighth; rest: quarter, syncopation
Key Words: hush, talking, join, walking, paper collar, squawking; contraction: let’s (let us)

**“Walk Along, John”**

		1.	Come on, boys, and hush your talking, All join hands and let’s go walking. Walk along, John, with your paper collar on, Walk along, John, with your paper collar on.
		2.	Come on, boys, and stop your squawking, All join hands and let’s go walking. Walk along, John, with no shoes on, Walk along, John, with no shoes on.

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Wake Me, Shake Me

Introducing syncopation.

Description

Grade: Kindergarten
Origin: USA – Folk Song
Key: G Major
Time: 4/4
Form: ABCD
Rhythm: intermediate: | ta ta (ta/a) | ti ta ti ta ta | syncopation, | ta (ta) (ta) ti ti | ta/a (ta/a) |
Pitches: intermediate: So La Do Re Mi
Intervals: intermediate: Do/Mi, Mi\Do, So/Do, Do\La
Musical Elements: notes: half, quarter, eighth; rests: half, quarter, syncopation
Key Words: sacred, golden gate, wake, shake, sleep, bright, early, morning, swing; contraction/slang words: gotta (got to), gonna, (going to)

Wake me! Shake me!
Don’t let me sleep too late!
Gotta get up bright and early in the morning.
Gonna swing on the Golden Gate.

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Wade In the Water

Minor tonality pitch in the relative major, intermediate
syncopation and a raised dominant (Si) functioning
as a leading tone to the parallel D Major.

Description

Grade: Fifth
Origin: USA – African American Spiritual
Key: D minor (pitched in F Major)
Time: 4/4
Form: ABA – refrain/verse/refrain
Rhythm: intermediate: | ta/a/ ta ti | syncopation,
| ta/ ta/a/ | syncopation, | ta ta ti ti ta |
| ta ti ti ti ta ti | syncopation, | ta ta ta ta |
| ta ta ti ta/ | syncopation, | ta ti ti ti ta ti | syncopation, | ta/ ta/ (ti) ti | syncopation,
| ta/ ti ti ta/ | syncopation
Pitches: intermediate: Si La Do Re Mi So La – pentatonic scale with a raised dominant Si (functions as a leading tone to the parallel D Major)
Intervals: intermediate: La/Do\La (m3), La/Mi (P5), Mi/So\Mi (m3), Mi/La (P4), La\Si/La (m2), Mi\Do (M3)
Musical Elements: notes: half, dotted quarter, quarter, eighth;rest: eighth; syncopation, raised/sharp dominant (Si), tied notes, tied rhythms, vocal slurs, D.C. al Fine, Fine, two double barlines, refrain/verse/refrain, minor tonality
Key Words: USA history, African American history; world history: Israelites; sacred, spiritual, Bible stories, God, Moses
Recorder: advanced: introducing G#, high F, G, and A, syncopation

**“Wade In the Water”**

			Refrain
			Wade in the water. Wade in the water, children; Wade in the water. God’s goin’ to trouble the water.
		1.	See that band all dressed in white, God’s gonna trouble the water. The leader looks like the Israelite, God’s gonna trouble the water.
			Refrain
		2.	See the band all dressed in red, God’s gonna trouble the water. It looks like the band that Moses led, God’s gonna trouble the water.
			Refrain

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Wabash Cannon Ball

Syncopation and an ascending dominant arpeggio.

Description

Grade: Fifth
Origin: USA – J. A. Roff – 1882
(The Great Rock Island Route)
Key: G Major
Time: 4/4
Form: AB – verse/refrain
Rhythm: beginners: | ta/ ti ta ta | syncopation,
| ta ta/a ti ti | ta/a/a ti ti | ta ta ta ta | ta ta ti ta/ |
syncopation, | ta/a/a ta | ta ta/a ta |
Pitches: intermediate: Fa So La Ti Do Re Mi So
Intervals: intermediate: So/Do (P4), Mi/So8 (m3), So8\Mi (m3), Do\Fa (P5), So/Ti/Re ascending dominant arpeggio (IV, D), Re\Ti (m3), So/Ti\So (M3), Do\So (P4)
Musical Elements: notes: dotted half, half, dotted quarter, quarter, eighth; pickup beat, repeat signs, first and second endings, verse/refrain, syncopation, dominant arpeggio, repeated melodic rhythm patterns, two double barlines
Key Words: USA history, USA geography: New York, NY; St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Minnesota; world oceans: Pacific, Atlantic; world geography: Labrador; fictional railroad, jingle, roar, locomotive, train whistle, thunder, engine, streams along, shore, eastern states, Southlands, western people, rippling waters, Daddy Klaxton, remembered, earthly race, curtain, victory; contractions: we’ll (we will), here’s (here is), it’s (it is) there’s (there is); abbreviation: ’round (around)
Recorder: intermediate: introducing high E and high G, dominant arpeggio, syncopation, repeated melodic rhythm patterns

**“Wabash Cannon Ball”**

		1.	From the coast of the Atlantic to the wide Pacific shore, From he warm and sunny Southland to the isle of Labrador, There’s a name of great importance that is known by one and all, It’s the Western combination called the Wabash Cannon Ball.
			Refrain:
			Just listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar, Of the mighty locomotive as she streams along the shore, Hear the thunder of the engine, hear the lonesome whistle call, It’s the Western combination called the Wabash Cannon Ball.
		2.	The eastern states are dandies so the western people say, From New York to St. Louis and Chicago by the way. Through the hills of Minnesota where the rippling waters fall, No chances can be taken on the Wabash Cannonball.
			Refrain
		3.	Here’s to Daddy Klaxton may his name forever stand. Will he be remembered through parts of all our land? His earthly race is over and the curtain ’round him falls. We’ll carry him on to victory on the Wabash Cannonball.
			Refrain

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