40 Musical Ways to Introduce a Song
Whatever else we do in elementary music, it begins with the repertoire. The repertoire is the curriculum.
Because the repertoire is the curriculum, we want to be sure we’re introducing songs in a way that is musical and exciting - both to us and our students.
When I consider how I want to introduce a song, I think through the song’s musical purpose. Logically, I want students to experience the point of the song as it aligns with my musical objective. When I know the musical purpose, I know the pathway I want to use to introduce it.
I also plan to speak as little as possible. When I think through how to introduce a song, I look ahead to where I could get “trapped” verbally explaining directions. I make a plan beforehand for any visuals or specific wording I need to think through so students are active the whole time.
Perhaps the most common way to introduce a song is through echo singing. Another common way to introduce a song is simply to sing it until the students are familiar with the melody and words. When they’re ready to join in, they sing along.
These ways are tried and true, and they’re the go-to method for teaching a song for a reason!
However, it’s refreshing to mix up our methods so they reflect the varied types of musical skills and understandings we want our musicians to experience.
40 musical ways to introduce a song
Melody:
Echo sing four beats at a time on text.
Echo sing four beats at a time on solfege.
Read graphic notation on the board. Create a melody that follows the melodic contour of the song.
Trace the melodic contour with a “musical paintbrush” while the teacher sings.
Write the melodic notation on the board but leave some measures blank. Students improvise the melody of the blank measures on barred instruments.
Write the melodic notation on the board but leave some measures blank. Students dictate the missing solfege.
Sign a melody silently while students inner hear.
Read the song (or a portion of the song) from standard notation on the board.
Read the song from standard notation on the board. The teacher asks if it’s a known song (give three examples) or a new song.
“Does this song have ___ (low la, high and low, do, etc.)__ in it?”
“The lowest pitch in my song is __(do, mi, etc.)__ What is the highest pitch in my song?”
Rhythm:
Echo clap the rhythm four beats at a time
Echo clap the rhythm four beats at a time and have students dictate the new rhythm.
Students count the total number of steady beats in the song.
“Does this song have __ (sixteenth notes, a quarter rest, etc.)__ in it?”
How many __ (sixteenth notes, quarter rests, etc.)__ are in the song?
Students listen and identify the meter.
Tell students the time signature. Students play a hand drum on each downbeat as they listen.
Write the rhythm of the song on the board but leave some measures blank. Students improvise the rhythm of the blank measures.
Write the rhythm of the song on the board but leave some measures blank. Students dictate the missing rhythms.
Write the rhythm of the song on the board. Students play the rhythms on body percussion.
Form:
This song has an A section and a B section. Please figure out the order (AABB, ABBA, ABAB, etc) with a partner.
“Do you hear anything in my song that repeats?”
How many sets of eight are in this song? Students create eight-beat motions with a partner. Perform while the teacher sings.
Students count how many times the teacher takes a breath in the song (teacher breathes at the end of each phrase).
Partwork:
Students sing an ostinato while the teacher sings the song.
The teacher points to a solfege ladder. Students sing the root of the harmonic outline while the teacher sings the song
Students sing the call, the teacher sings the response (Introduce aurally)
Students sing the response, the teacher sings the call.
Students sing a known song while the teacher sings the new song as a partner song.
First, sight read the rhythm of a song. Second, read the rhythm in a round (the teacher starts second). Third, read the rhythm with the class split in half. One half begins the round, the other half comes in after.
Text:
What is my song about?
How many times did I use the word, ___?
Introduce a song or rhyme with a story
Students make up a story about what happened after the song
How many rhyming words did you hear?
Movement:
Perform an action every time you hear a word (Bow Wow Wow: Stamp every time you hear “bow”; Down to the Baker’s Shop: Hop every time you hear “hop”)
Move in open space. Freeze in a __(big / small / high / low) __ shape when the teacher stops singing.
Move in open space. Be back in your spot by the time the song is over.
Act out the song as the teacher sings.
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“Elemental music is never just music. It’s bound up with movement, dance and speech, and so it is a form of music in which one must participate, in which one is involved not as a listener but as a co-performer.”
The application of musical knowledge in a new listening experience involves making sense of musical elements. As they listen, students are putting what they hear into categories - do I like it, do I not, is it known, is it unknown, was it fast / slow / high / low, etc. The way students are invited to make sense of music is itself a creative experience.
When we expand our students’ categories by introducing songs in new and varied ways, we open up new possibilities for creative listening and sense-making. And just as importantly, we invite ourselves to do the same.
We are involved in the listening and sense-making experience together - not as listeners - but in the creative application of knowledge into categories, as active co-performers.
