Back-to-school time is an exciting time for students, teachers, and parents. It’s a time of new beginnings and opportunities. There is nothing more exciting to a school band teacher than a classroom full of fifth graders anxiously waiting to get their hands on their new instruments. All this excitement could become overwhelming for a teacher, and you may not know where to start!
So here is the first thing you should do with your music students this Fall.
Once the kids have their instruments, and you’ve demonstrated how to put them together, hold them, and of course play them properly, it’s important to have them learn an easy tune that they recognize. These are the 3, 4 and 5 note songs that they have grown up listening to and singing. Songs like, Hot Cross Buns, Merrily We Roll Along, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
This should be done even before they play a scale or learn basic tongue techniques. They need the instant gratification of playing a complete song before they get into the real lesson plan. When they can hear themselves play a song they recognize they’ll be happy about it, and want to do it again. The students need to feel this sense of accomplishment in the very beginning of their time with an instrument to light the spark and the thirst to learn more.
Here’s a list of some 3, 4, 5 and 6 note songs for your music students with their page numbers in The Yankee Collection.
Hot Cross Buns (3 notes, page 1)
Merrily We Roll Along (3 notes, page 1)
I Like Coffee (4 notes, page 1)
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie (5 notes, page 2)
Ode To Joy (5 notes, page 53)
When The Saints Go Marching In (5 notes, page 55)
London Bridge (6 notes, page 4)
Jolly Old St. Nicholas (6 notes, page 47)
What are some songs that you like to start you student with? Leave a comment below!
